Organizational Info and Leadership 

The Land Use Planning Community of Practice (CoP) Board of Directors meets monthly, virtually, to provide leadership for the national organization. The board is structured as follows:

One board member from each Cooperative Extension Rural Development Region (four)

Five at large board members

An Executive Committee comprised of the board: Chair, Past Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer

View our current Bylaws 

Land Use Planning CoP Board – As of June 2024 Annual Meeting

Executive Committee (one year appointments)

Chair - Jake Powell, Utah State Extension, [email protected]

Jake is an Extension Specialist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning at Utah State University. His teaching and extension efforts focus on understanding and improving how the planning and design of communities, sites, infrastructure, and natural areas affect the quality of the environment and the human experience. Explore Jake’s work.

Vice Chair - Michael Dougherty, West Virginia University, [email protected]  

Michael is a Professor and Extension Specialist at West Virginia University. His teaching and outreach work focus on planning and community development activities.  In almost three decades, he has worked in 48 of the 55 counties in the Mountain State. Explore Michael’s work[BN1] .

Past Chair and Secretary - Brad Neumann, AICP, Michigan State University Extension, [email protected]

Brad is a Senior Extension Educator with Michigan State University and focuses on planning and zoning, community development, and good governance programming. He helps manage the Michigan Citizen Planner Program and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). Explore Brad's work.

Treasurer - Kara Salazar, Purdue University Extension, [email protected]

Dr. Kara Salazar, AICP, is Assistant Program Leader for Community Development with Purdue Extension and Sustainable Communities Extension Specialist, affiliated with Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant and the Purdue University Department of Forestry and Natural Resources. Working with multidisciplinary teams, Dr. Salazar oversees program development, delivery, and evaluation to support environmental planning, community development, and sustainable development strategies in communities across Indiana and Great Lakes states. Program efforts emphasize collaborative planning and facilitated inclusive community forums using data and visualization tools to explore policy and management interventions that address complex natural resource management and land use issues. Areas of focus include community resilience, green infrastructure, hazard mitigation, parks and public spaces, renewable energy, and environmental and social justice issues.

Melissa Hamilton, University of Idaho Extension, [email protected]

Melissa Hamilton is a county based Extension educator with the University of Idaho. She is the county chair for the office and focuses her programming on community development, agriculture, and horticulture in Valley County. Melissa is focused on rural regional planning, multi-modal transportation systems, asset/value based development, community food systems, meeting facilitation and capacity building. Melissa holds a Master's of Science in Bioregional Planning and Community Design from the University of Idaho and a Bachelor's of Science degree in Biology from the University of South Carolina. Explore Melissa’s work

Peter Wulfhorst AICP, Penn State University Extension, [email protected]

Peter Wulfhorst is an Economic and Community Development Educator with Penn State Extension in Pike County since 1999. Peter has extensive experience in land use and comprehensive planning having worked prior to Penn State Extension for 12 years with the Pike County planning department.  Peter’s other experience includes assisting communities & organizations in developing strategic plans, conducting grant-writing workshops & volunteer management workshops, overseeing a Penn State Extension land use webinar series and assisting homeowners with their private water supply concerns. Peter is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners.

Deborah McGiffin, North Carolina Cooperative Extension, [email protected]

Deborah McGiffin currently serves as the Moore County Extension Director for NC Cooperative Extension. She is responsible for overseeing the administrative and financial functions of the Moore County Extension Center along with the recruitment, hiring, and the training and development of the County Extension staff. Additionally, she focuses on and promotes programs relating to sustainable and profitable agriculture; community and economic development; and land use. She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia in Child and Family Development from the School of Family & Consumer Sciences, and a master’s degree in Agricultural Extension and Education from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at North Carolina State University. Between the University of Georgia and NC State University, she has over twenty-nine years of Extension education experience.

Kelsey Johnson, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, [email protected]

Kelsey Johnson is the Associate Planning Program Director for Texas Community Watershed Partners, a community planning program. Prior to joining TCWP in 2023, she spent the last 12 years as the Assistant Director and Senior Planner with Mississippi State University's Gulf Coast Community Design Studio. Her portfolio of work has focused on coastal communities and includes watershed planning and implementation; regional housing and fair housing equity assessments; community health impact assessments; neighborhood planning in underserved communities; and community engagement strategies.  Kelsey holds a Masters of Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Michigan, focusing on environmental and land use policy and planning.

 
American Citizen Planner contact - Kara Salazar, Purdue University Extension, [email protected]

 Regional Representatives (three year terms)

East - Michael Dougherty, West Virginia University Extension (through 2026)
West - Melissa Hamilton, University of Idaho Extension (through 2026)
South – Deborah McGiffin – NC State Extension (through 2027)
North Central - Kara Salazar, Purdue University Extension (through 2025)

At Large Representatives (three year terms)

Myra Moss, Ohio State University Extension (through 2026)
Brad Neumann, Michigan State University Extension (through 2025)
Jake Powell, Utah State University Extension (through 2025)
Peter Wulfhorst, AICP, Penn State University Extension (through 2025)
Kelsey Johnson, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service (through 2027)