American Planning Association - Illinois Chapter

Rob Kowalski, FAICP is the Assistant Director of the Planning and Development Department for the City of Champaign. He has 28 years of municipal planning experience in both Illinois and Kentucky. He graduated from llinois State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Geography and has a Master’s Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is certified with the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) and in 2018 was inducted into the AICP College of Fellows. Rob also holds an Adjunct teaching position in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His class focuses on the land development process from the perspective of both planners and developers.

Scott Mangum, AICP joined the Village of Lincolnwood as its Community Development Director in 2020. He previously worked as the manager of the Planning and Zoning Division in Evanston, as Senior Planner with the City of Des Plaines, as Coordinating Planner for the City of Chicago, and as a planner with the City of Long Beach, California. Scott graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a double major in Sociology and Afro-American Studies before earning a Master of Planning degree at the University of Southern California.

Roya Nassirpour is a recent graduate University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign where she completed her Bachelor of Urban Studies and Master of Urban Planning degrees. For two years, Roya worked as a Planning Intern with the City of Champaign where she worked on a variety of projects that helped jump-start her career and solidify her passion for planning. She has been heavily involved with APA through school and her internship with Champaign. In June, Roya is as an Associate Planner with MUSE Community + Design based in Chicago.