We are excited to shine the spotlight on the many talented interns we have in our office. Enjoy learning more about them, and what drives their work at OPCD. Read our previous spotlight on Megan.
A proud, lifelong Seattleite, Harriet Wright is an intern on our Community Planning Team, with her work focused on our North Aurora Initiative. OPCD acts as a convening department across multiple City groups and major capital projects to develop a unified approach to assist the Aurora corridor through significant change. This initiative will cumulate in a North Aurora Community Action Plan. Her work involves developing a Public Involvement Plan for the corridor and community engagement such as interview outreach and kickoff event coordination between OPCD, stakeholders, and City departments.
I’ve gained a much deeper appreciation for the complexity of large-scale, cross-departmental work. So many people and agencies are invested in Aurora’s future, yet I have learned that our role here is to convene, coordinate, and hold the bigger picture for the entire corridor. Seeing how to create meaningful change from a convening position, has been such an interesting process to learn about.
Harriet is also learning more about the history of Aurora and its development trends since the 1950’s.
Being at OPCD has allowed me to grow my own knowledge bank of how change happens in this city and how much intention goes into that. It is very exciting to be here and I am overjoyed to be a part of it!
Communities along the Aurora corridor have been advocating for a holistic vision that improves livability in their neighborhoods. Our work aims to take a comprehensive look at the current and future community needs to identify a wide range of strategies and investments to support growth and livability. These equitable values drive Harriet’s work.
I am learning that community engagement work is all about the balance between hearing from communities that have long been asking for change while acknowledging that the infrastructure that is coming places these same community members at risk of displacement. Through the Racial Equity Toolkit process, we’ve been mapping which stakeholders face the greatest impact from anticipated changes but hold the least influence over outcomes. Displacement is a real and present risk here and I find that part of my job is to hold all of that in view and help ensure the planning process prioritizes equity in the corridor.
Harriet will be graduating this year with a Master of Urban Planning degree with a specialization in Historic Preservation. Her thesis explores community-based mourning practices during building demolition; specifically looking at how Seattle residents process and grieve building loss through art, activism, “building funerals,” and social media. Her secret talent is making “absolutely fantastic” gluten-free banana bread, and not-so-secret talent is playing semi-competitive Rugby for the last 10 years, currently playing with the Emerald City Mudhens.
My rugby coach is someone who deeply inspires me. She volunteers her time to coach us because she sees how important the sport is to all of us and through coaching teaches us how to be players and people that are authentic, inclusive, and strong. Seeing how someone can balance a career, life responsibilities, and a large and loving community is something that I aspire to do. She sees each person she interacts with as someone who inherently has value. That is something I actively try to bring into my own work as a planner and as a community member. The people we plan for deserve to be seen and appreciated for what they bring to their own communities.