Brief Grant Proposal

1. Your organization’s mission statement and programs.

The American Planning Association’s (APA) mission is to provide leadership in the development of vital communities by advocating excellence in planning, promoting education and citizen empowerment, and providing our members with the tools and support necessary to meet the challenges of growth and change. We are a nonprofit membership organization that includes practicing planners, planning students, elected and appointed officials, planning commissioners, and interested citizens. We have supported the certification of planners in their pursuit to become certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). We work diligently to promote a diverse workforce by bringing employers and job seekers together through our Career Services. APA has sustained national and international partnerships who advance the planning movement and principles of sustainability, inclusion, and nondiscrimination. There are currently 21 divisions in APA open to our members that range from city, regional, rural, and federal to environmental, hazard mitigation, housing, and transportation planning. We attempt to cover every planning specialty and interest area to produce and support the best suited planners for the future. APA has a chapter in every state and new members automatically become a member of their local chapter. Our team is dedicated to advancing the art, science and profession of noble physical, economic and social planning and therefore creating communities that offer better choices for where and how people work and live.

2. Please describe the project/program for which you are requesting funds. How will this project or program further or fit in with your overall organization?

APA has an International Division that is actively promoting information, networking, and professional development opportunities related to international planning. In pursuit of these goals, the division provides a limited number of grants for projects and study abroad. We are currently working hard to restart our popular exchange program for practicing planners. The International Division has members worldwide, based in the Americas, Africa, Eurasia, and the Pacific. They include American planners with an interest in planning practices in other countries, or members who want to maintain contact with the American planning community.

We are therefore seeking a grant of $20,000 to regenerate our International Planner Exchange Program. This program will allow novice American planners to obtain an understanding and experience in the planning of a foreign country. It allows foreign planners to host our United States members and provide them with an immersive introduction to planning in the host’s country. The participant however, is expected to cover travel costs, living arrangements and personal expenses. Minimum duration of the program is two weeks but can be longer if both parties agree.

The purpose of the program is to allow participants to shadow the foreign planner at work to promote an education for our members. This consists of attending public meetings, site visits and observing reports. APA is also devoted to building collaborations between American and foreign planners. This will be an opportunity for novice planners interested in international planning to receive a valuable learning experience while also building valuable relationships. The opportunity to learn about the planning procedures of other nations can subsequently improve America’s approach to planning. We embrace the diversity of knowledge, and hope to strengthen our understandings of foreign planning as a result.

In 2016, we introduced a pilot International Planner Exchange Program between the United States and the United Kingdom. We successfully sent 10 professional planners with at least two years of full time work experience, to shadow professional planners in the U.K. In this pilot we encouraged agreements between both foreign and American planners to hosts each other in their homes in order to keep cost down. This opened doors for future overseas projects with the U.K. by allowing the participants the opportunity to work in each other’s home country. The minimum duration of the program was two weeks and upon completion both participants were asked to submit reports detailing their experiences. We have since improved our relationship with British planning programs who have likeminded missions.

In 2017, we are hoping to relaunch this program but with a few new additions. This year we would like to open the exchange program in The Netherlands for inexperienced planners. The minimum education requirement will be a master’s in a field related to planning. No work experience will be required for admission. This opens up doors for more of our members who are actively seeking to establish themselves as professional planners. The grant will sponsor 20 American planners to significantly reduce their expenses. As new graduates struggle to find work they often struggle financially. Therefore, we are fighting to never be forced to reject access to any of our members due to a lack of funds. This year’s program will not ask participants to stay in the homes of the host’s planner since this is a one-sided journey for the American members. This however, will allow more members to participate this year. We selected The Netherlands to further improve our relationship with the European nation, and learn from their innovative ideas on planning that the APA holds to a high standard.

3. How do you plan to implement this project/program?

The program start date will begin October 1, 2017. We plan to begin accepting applications early summer. From the list of applicants we will determine the need for sponsorships and allocate funds based on demand. Our tentative plan is to sponsor 20 individuals with $1,000 grants. Since we are not requiring work experience from the participants, we understand that many of the members will be low on funds. However, we do not want money to deter individuals from pursuing their goals. The $1,000 will be an aid in helping participants afford a flight, settle living arrangements, and/or provide for personal expenses. Everything outside of the grant will be financed by the participant. We intend to host a workshop in early summer for tentative applicants, and another one in early September for those accepted into the program. These will be funded by membership fees and no funds from the grant will be allocated towards these two workshops. Our research to organize the program will be conducted by our staff who are also funded by membership fees.

4. How will the outcomes be measured?

We plan to keep track of all the sponsored members that will be funded through this project. In our pilot exchange program we asked the participants to provide a one-page report at the end of the exchange, highlighting key experiences and recommendations for improving the program. We also received a high amount of applications of people attempting to participate in the program. From this information we were able to determine the success of the program. From the responses in the one-page reports we got written feedback and we also observed the huge desire of our members to explore international planning. Therefore, we plan to take similar measures to demonstrate the success in The Netherlands exchange program. We plan to carefully vet our applications and offer sponsorships to economically troubled members. Once accepted, we will monitor their progress throughout the program by sending weekly emails inquiring about their progress. For sponsored members we will ask them to present us with a two-page paper about the highlights and recommendations of the program. We will then follow up with all participants by sending a questionnaire survey about the overall experience of the program. This compounded with the number of applications received will be our determining factors on whether or not the program was a success.

References

American Planning Association. (2017). https://www.planning.org/