TSW’s Samantha Castro Recently Moderated a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Panel on LGBTQIA+ Inclusion in Planning

TSW’s Samantha (Sam) Castro, AICP, LEED ND, recently served as moderator for the Kentucky Chapter of the American Planning Association’s (APA) quarterly webinar series on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Sam, director of TSW’s Lexington office, and co-chair of the APA Kentucky DEI committee, moderated a panel of business and civic leaders in a discussion of how companies and organizations can take a more equitable and inclusive lens to the planning profession, and to how the LGBTQ+ Community is impacting planning and policy on a local level.
The panelists discussed a number of ways DEI programs can positively impact community growth and company bottom lines. For example:
Some of the existing tools the panelists explored were:
In addition to TSW’s Sam Castro, panelists included Tom West, economic development director for the City of Covington, Ky., Brit Manor, LGBTQ+ liaison for the Nashville-Davidson County, Tn. Sheriff’s department, Bonnie Meyer, founder of Blue Jay Collective and co-founder and president of the Northern Kentucky Pride Center and Josh Sommer, planner III with the City of Paducah, Ky.
You can view the webinar at the following link: https://www.apaky.org/diversity-equity–inclusion.html