Episode 19: Verónica Ayala Flores, A person of integrity

Growth is good, but who typically gets left out when decisions about development are made? What does art have to do with equity? I loved this conversation about my hometown of Philadelphia; it broadened my understanding of issues faced by my and other communities, even beyond Philadelphia. Verónica Ayala Flores studied architecture at Temple University and is now Program Manager for the educational arm of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission, called Citizens Planning Institute. 

A few references you may be interested in reading more about:

• Citizens Planning Institute: https://citizensplanninginstitute.org/
• Citizens Planning Institute (CPI) Spring 2021 playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/72k8yLtmMFz8uz1aQsvcda?si=v_3p3Pe0Q_S460X-4k7fqQ&utm_source=copy-link&dl_branch=1
• Grace Lee Boggs, about: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Lee_Boggs
• The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism, book by Grace Lee Boggs
• The Death and Life of Great American Cities, book by Jane Jacobs, about the author: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Jacobs
• Spiral Q: http://www.spiralq.org/ 
• Adrienne Maree Brown: https://adriennemareebrown.net/ 
• Podcast: Getting to the Root of it with Venus Roots
• Organization: The Design Studio for Social Intervention

You can listen to each episode and access a glossary of references at our website: whenyougrowup.org

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#wygupodcast #podcast #career #personalgrowth #professionalgrowth #mentor #rolemodel #Philadelphia #art #cityplanning #justice #equity #activism #communitybuilding #architecture #communitydevelopment

These shownotes reflect additional information provided by Verónica after the recording of this episode.

Verónica’s values:

• Justice
• Joy
• Love for other people
• Cooperativismo – Cooperation (Verónica believes we need to lead horizontally, through collaboratives across organizations, not just vertically, like being a CEO)

Verónica’s tips on gift giving:

• Keep a note on your phone with your loved ones names. Actively listen when they speak: for example, my friend recently was saying she was having hard time finding a cappuccino mug made by a local maker that she could afford. When their birthday comes around, you can reference the list!

Verónica’s definition of architecture: Architecture is the study of space! That definition helps [Verónica] broaden what architecture is understood as.