Flood Resilience Senior Planner
Harris County
Houston, Texas
Vanessa Toro Barragan (she/hers/ella) is a multidisciplinary urban planner and strategist whose most recent experience was as a Flood Resilience Senior Planner for the Harris County Flood Control District. In this role she focused on establishing and facilitating the work of the Harris County Community Flood Resilience Task Force (CFRTF), a community advisory group, which succeeded in implementing an equitable funding framework to allocate $840 million to flood risk reduction projects that invest in the most number of people benefitted and communities with high social vulnerability - a shift away from the traditional focus on funding projects in neighborhoods with high property values that predominately favor white and wealthy communities. She has proven experience leading diverse groups through obstacles and high stakes to reach meaningful outcomes. Her deep background in labor and community organizing is coupled with training as an urban planner, leading to government programs, policies, and plans crafted by community priorities. Her systems change perspective centers equity and racial justice and strives to tackle big problems with a people-centered, empathetic, and joyful approach.
Wednesday, April 26, 2023
1:30 PM – 2:15 PM CDT