The California Planning Foundation (CPF) recently awarded the 2019-2020 CPF scholarships for outstanding planning students in the State of California. Fourteen PSR students - five from the University of Southern California (USC), five from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA),  three from the University of California, Irvine (UCI), and one from the University of California, Davis (UCD) received scholarships, along with twenty-two students from additional California Universities.   Their scholarships were formally presented at this year’s APA Conference in Santa Barbara on September 15, 2019. 

From USC, Master of Urban Planning students Kavina Patel and Victoria Urenia received memorial scholarships in the name of Frank Wein and Virginia Viado respectively and Master of Urban Planning student Dongyang Lin received the Los Angeles Section scholarship. Undergraduate student of Urban Studies and Planning, Kareem El-Sisi, and Master of Urban Planning student Isabel Qi were awarded the California Planning Roundtable (CPR) Memorial Scholarships.

Eduardo Galdamez, Master’s student studying Urban and Regional Planning at the UCI received the Richard E. Weaver scholarship. He learned about the scholarship through his professors in his graduate program. “They have been incredibly helpful to me as I build my career and network in the field. I had the wonderful opportunity to network with working professionals from the inland empire at the luncheon. They have inspired me to become an active member in my local planning organization chapters.” Master of Urban and Regional Planning students Vanessa Gonzalez and Prathna Maharaj from UCI received the Orange section scholarship.

Master of Urban and Regional Planning students at UCLA, Amy Young and Amy Zhou received the Outstanding Student Runner-up award and California Planning Roundtable (CPR) Memorial Scholarship respectively. Undergraduate student of Urban Planning at UCLA, Cassie Halls won the Merit Scholarship award. Jorge Canez and Anna Geannopoulos-Solorzano from UCLA won the David Wilcox Scholarship and the Los Angeles scholarship respectively.

UC Davis Graduate student Brianna Banks-McLean received the Sacramento Valley Section scholarship award.

Students were grateful for receiving the scholarships and attending a conference luncheon where they had a chance to meet and talk with CPF board members. "It was an honor to be recognized at the APA California Conference along with other California planning students for our academic achievements!" remarked QI. She found the Student Awards Luncheon a valuable opportunity to get to know leaders in the planning industry who care deeply about student success.

As an international student, Patel is very grateful for being awarded a scholarship as she notes, “not many scholarships are open to international students.” The CPF scholarships benefit various students, including international students like her, and encourage her to participate more in applying for fellowships and scholarships in the State of California.  “The luncheon is a great way to honor the students who work hard and also provide a networking opportunity with professionals from the field,” she added.

The CPF was established by the California Chapter of American Planning Association (APA California) in 1970 as a nonprofit, charitable corporation with the goal of furthering professional practice of planning in California. The primary focus of CPF is to provide scholarships and awards to outstanding planning students across the state of California who are entering their final year of an eligible undergraduate or graduate degree program.

We thank CPF for supporting students and encouraging them to participate and learn more about professional practice of planning in the State of California.