Guerra, Stewart Receive Minority Scholarships

Diego Guerra and Ericha Stewart are the recipients of the 2018 APA Florida Minority Scholarships. Diego and Ericha will receive $2,000 and $1,500, respectively, to apply toward education expenses.

Diego, a former U.S. Marine, is enrolled in the MURP program at the University of South Florida and plans on pursuing a career as an environmental/resiliency planner. He is currently researching a review of legislation, such as the Stafford Act, and how it will further propagate vulnerability within particular social/economic classes whose majority encompass minority populations.

After witnessing first-hand the devastation of natural disasters while on humanitarian operations in Nepal and the Philippines,  Diego understood the necessities of resiliency planning and began to focus his career. He has interned for both Pinellas and Hillsborough County, where he is now a full-time Planning and GIS Technician. Diego is married and has three children and is a caregiver for his mother in law. 

Ericha Stewart is dual enrolled at FSU in the Master of Urban and Regional Planning and Master of Public Health programs. She graduated from FSU in December 2017 with two degrees: Bachelor of Science in African American Studies and Bachelor of Science in Economics.

A first-generation college graduate, Ericha previously interned at Florida Housing Solutions and the Florida Department of Health. After conclusion of her graduate studies as FSU, she intends on being a federal level planner who advocates for equity in marginalized communities, but won't stop there. "In 20 years, this scholarship will reap its optimal return when I am appointed to serve as the 32nd Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. I strongly believe that an investment in my planning career is an investment in the future of public policy, healthy cities, viable communities," she wrote in her personal statement. 

Congratulations to Diego and Ericha!