Ellen Hwang (MSCRP ’14) has a background in non-profit management and program development.  She currently works as a Program Manager for Innovation Management at the Office of Innovation and Technology (OIT) for the City of Philadelphia.

“What is essentially the City’s IT infrastructure, OIT is a dynamic department.” Ellen Explains, “In addition to the typical operations of an IT department (Think: hardware, software, web development and applications development, etc.), there’s the Innovation Management Group.  The Innovation Management Group serves to build and strengthen the network of innovative municipal workers across the city.  The main goal is to develop programs that will build the capacity of and increase cross-departmental collaboration within City government, improving the City’s efficiency and effectiveness in its public services.  At the foundation of our work lies the 3P’s:  People, Place, and Process.  To affect change, we cultivate a network of people who work collaboratively and creatively; we provide a physical place for change to happen; and we challenge the old and create new processes that shape the way in which the City does its work.”

Of the Community and Regional Planning program, Ellen said, “Each week, in Planning History and Theory, our class discussed the diverse roles which planners have played from past through present.  I found this class to be of particular importance in guiding me to consider what kind of planner I desired to be in today’s marketplace. As a student in the CRP program, fundamental aspects of my current work were repeated in every class I took such as:  Planning Politics and Administration; Planning Communications; Planning Analysis; Sustainable Community Design and Development; Regional Development.  The program prepared me to be able to navigate and work with complicated organizational systems.  It also equipped me with a holistic understanding of how communities function and operate, which is crucial to understand in any setting and any work.”