Aguerrebere and Elkott are the 2021 Minority Scholarship Recipients

APA Florida is elated to award scholarships this year to two outstanding, up-and-coming planners. Emilee Aguerrebere and Fatima Elkott are the recipients of the 2021 APA Florida Minority Scholarships. Emilee will receive $2,000 and Fatima will get $1,500 to apply toward education expenses.

Let’s meet these intriguing students: 

Emilee, a second-year graduate student in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Florida, will graduate in Fall 2022 with a focus in Environmental and Adaptation Planning. Preceding her journey to graduate school, Emilee received her Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies and Geography with honors from Mount Holyoke College.

As a Miami native, Emilee has seen the urban landscape of her hometown evolve as a result of pressing environmental stressors. This has largely influenced her decision to pursue planning as a career, focusing on social equity and environmental stressors affecting affordable and sustainable housing. 

Presently, she is working for the Florida Institute for Built Environment Resilience (FIBER) as a graduate research assistant, which has led her to dive deeper into interests such as, climate gentrification, climate-resistant housing, defensive design, and participatory and community-led processes in planning. 

Fueled by personal experiences and the rich history of her hometown of Miami, she hopes to extend her knowledge and assistance to surrounding communities to promote a more just and ecologically responsive future.

 

Fatima, a second-year graduate student in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of South Florida (USF), will graduate in Fall 2023 with focuses on Community and Advocacy Planning and Food Systems Planning. Preceding her journey to graduate school, Fatima received her Bachelor of Science in Environmental Biology from USF.

Over the past year, Fatima has worked on projects with Tindale Oliver and Plan Hillsborough, both of which offered career shaping experiences that have led her to realize her passion for advocacy planning. She has worked on several outreach initiatives with Plan Hillsborough including, FLIP Jr (Future Leaders in Planning) and the Hillsborough County Nondiscrimination and Equity Plan. 

Engaging with communities around her has helped Fatima understand her role as a future planner to help bridge a connection and foster a true partnership between planners and the public. Fatima aims to encourage greater representation of all people and the opportunity to have their voices heard. 

It is clear both future planners will be remarkable advocates in the planning community.

Congratulations to Emilee and Fatima!