Miguel Angel Vazquez, FAICP is an award-winning urban planner dedicated to public service.  Over the past 20 years, he has successfully led multi-disciplinary teams on various high profile projects for the municipal, private, non-profit and military sectors.  The foundation of his success is grounded in a consistent record of integrity, dependability, strategic thinking and effective communication with a myriad of stakeholders. 

Mr. Vazquez’s expertise includes, long range and current planning, environmental compliance, entitlements, master planning, community engagement, coalition building, project management, historic preservation, urban design, communications and strategic thinking.  In recent years, through a creative lens, he has pioneered the integration of healthy and equitable communities planning at the regional scale.

Presently, Vazquez serves as the health equity and regional  planner for the Riverside University Health System-Public Health focusing on strengthening the integration of planning and health equity through collaboration with non-traditional partners, data analysis and community engagement.  He is frequently sought-after to speak and curate conferences and regularly lecturers at various universities.  

Vazquez is the recipient of various awards recognizing his work product, creativity and advocacy.  They include the 2018 American Planning Association (APA) President's Award, the 2020 APA California Distinguished Contribution Award and the 2021 Dale Prize from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
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​Vazquez is a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners, the profession's highest honor bestowed upon a planner.  His professional memberships include the American Planning Association,  the American Institute of Certified Planners, the California Planning Roundtable, where he serves as immediate-past president, and the Urban Land Institute.

Mr. Vazquez holds a bachelor's degree in Urban Studies and Planning from California State University, Northridge, and is pursuing a Master's in Public Health at Johns Hopkins University as a Bloomberg American Health Initiative Fellow.

Education

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The words that describe me best are curious, creative, entrepreneurial and action-oriented.   I enjoy learning new concepts, formulating questions and investigating, but above all, solving problems through idea generation. This inclination has been useful through my journey in urban planning. Although I consider myself as  a generalist, I’m more intimately versed with land use, environmental planning, healthy communities, urban design and community engagement. I am also a sporadic, hybrid artist mainly working with photography and mixed media.  My inspiration is drawn from my profession and from observing interactions between people and places"
Johns Hopkins University
Bloomberg School of Public Health 
Baltimore, MD

Masters in Public Health | Expected 2026

Highlights
  • Bloomberg American Health Initiative Fellowship
    • Environmental Challenges Focus Area
California State University Northridge
Northridge, CA

Urban Studies and Planning | 2001
  • Environmental Planning Emphasis
  • Minor in Geography

Leadership and Technical Skills

 Leadership Skills
  • Strategic Thinking
  • Collective Impact
  • Inter-agency collaboration
  • Coalition building
  • Community outreach and engagement
  • Cultural competency
  • Strategic planning
  • Project management

Technical Skills
  • Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, Visio, One Note and Outlook)
  • Google Docs
  • Graphic design using Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Canva  and other online applications                 
  • Weebly Website Development   
  • Prezi 
  • Environmental review and analysis, including CEQA expertise
  • Grant writing
  • Storytelling
  • Social Marketing
  • Blogging and article publication
  • Public speaking
  • Customer service
  • Staff supervision and training
  • Mentoring
  • Web Design
  • Graphic Art
  • Photography

Languages
  • ​Bilingual English/Spanish

Professional Affiliations and Memberships

 American Planning Association​
  • Diversity Committee Immediate Past Chair
  • AICP Knowledge-Based Governance Task Force Chair
  • Membership Committee (past)
  • Leadership Committee (past)
  • Latinos in Planning Division
  • Planning and the Black Community Division (past)
  • Urban Design and Preservation Division (past)
  • Healthy Communities Interest Group
  • Arts in Planning Division, Founding member and Immediate-Past Chair
  • Health Equity and Planning Interest Group, Founding member
  • Planners4Health California Founder

Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners (FAICP)
Active since 072010
​Inducted in 2024

Board Member at APA Inland Empire Section, roles have included:
  • Inclusion and Diversity Director
  • Section Historian
  • Interim Liaison California Planning Foundation 
  • Vice-Director of Programs
  • Founder and lead organizer of the IES/APA Annual Historical Symposia
  • Founder and lead organizer of the project “Art as a Vehicle to Understand Land Use Planning and Sustainability”

California Planning Roundtable
  • Immediate Past President
  • Healthy Communities Work Group Co-Chair
  • Past VP of Communications
  • Hike to Plan/Plan to Hike Co-Organizer

American Public Health Association

Southern California Public Health Association (Past)

Urban Land Institute- Health Leaders Network | Cohort 6

Toastmasters International (Inactive)

Awards and Distinctions

Awards


​Distinctions
  • American Planning Association​
    • 2019 AICP Knowledge-Based Governance Task Force Chair
    • 2017-2019 Diversity Committee Chair
    • 2017 National Awards Juror
    • 2012-2013 AICP Urban Design Jobs Analysis Task Force
    • 2008-present APA Ambassador
    • Member of the American Planning Association, California Chapter “60 Years of Accomplishment” Committee​
  • Harvard University, Graduate School of Design 2014 LOEB Fellowship Finalist

Email

[email protected]
Website Design: mavurbanplanning 2024