Joe

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

DISASTER RECOVERY & RESILIENCY PLAN FOR THE ALABAMA-TOMBIGBEE REGION

ISSUE DATE: August 14, 2020 RESPONSE DATE/TIME: August 31, 2020

Please join the Top of Alabama Regional Council of Governments (TARCOG) Board of Directors in congratulating Michelle Gilliam Jordan for being named to the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) 2020 College of Fellows!

Fellowship is granted to planners who have achieved certification through the American Planning Association’s professional institute, the American Institute of Certified Planners, and have achieved excellence in professional practice, teaching and mentoring, research, public and community service, and leadership. Invitations to join the College of Fellows come after a thorough nomination and review process, ensuring the candidate has had a positive, long-lasting impact on the planning profession.

“Individuals who make up the College of Fellows are the true leaders of the planning profession,” said past AICP President Valerie Hubbard, FAICP. “These individuals have made lasting contributions to the profession and have inspired generations of new planners. They are truly awe-inspiring.”

“We are incredibly proud of Michelle’s accomplishments in the Planning profession, and look forward to celebrating her contributions throughout our five-county Region for years to come”, said TARCOG Board President, Thornton Stanley, Jr

Michelle’s most significant contribution is her service and advocacy in supporting African-American planning students in their transition to professional planning practice. Whether in the City of Huntsville, where Michelle was the first African-American and female to lead the Planning Department of Alabama’s economic engine; with the City of Decatur, where she transformed neighborhoods as the Planning and Development Director; or as Executive Director of the Top of Alabama Regional Council of Governments, Michelle has been dedicated to the inclusion and hiring of dozens of Planning students of color, many of whom are making significant contributions to underserved communities and populations throughout the country. Michelle’s role in shaping North Alabama’s growth and development is undeniable, and her efforts to increase affordable housing options and paths to home-ownership, neighborhood reinvestment, and public-private partnerships are just a few of the reasons why she has been selected for admittance into the College of Fellows.

Michelle is one of 53 inductees into this year’s College of Fellows. Inductions are done biennially. This year’s formal induction was scheduled to take place during APA’s National Planning Conference in Houston, Texas; plans are in the works for a formal celebration of this honor at a later date due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

APA and its professional institute, the American Institute of Certified Planners, are dedicated to advancing the art, science and profession of good planning — physical, economic, and social — so as to create communities that offer better choices for where and how people work and live. The American Institute of Certified Planners provides recognized leadership nationwide in the certification of professional planners, ethics, professional development, planning education, and the standards of planning practice. For more information, visit www.planning.org.

Meeting with Governor Ivey for the quarterly Director’s Meeting

Drayton and Noopie Cosby present to Gov. Ivey the 2016 Economic Impact Report provided by the Alabama Association of Regional Councils. This report shows how Regional Councils provide services related to Aging Programs, Grants, Revolving Loan Funds, Transit Programs, Senior Employment and many more deliveries, which reveal their added value to benefit the citizens of Alabama. Pictured: L-R: Nooby Cosby, Gov. Ivey and Drayton Cosby.

AARC Directors invited the new ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell to their monthly Committee meeting held on June 2, 2017. Pictured L-R: Noopie Cosby, Tom Solomon, Greg Clark, John Clyde Riggs, Tyson Howard, Kenneth Boswell, Suzanne Burnette, Robert Lake, Nancy Robertson, Albertha Grant, Jeff Pruitt, Ritkey Rhodes, and Keith Jones