Bobbie Hill, Partner, Director of Planning

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Bobbie Hill is the Director of Planning for Concordia LLC. Through the application of the Concordia Nexus Planning Model, Ms. Hill works with communities to help them realize their potential through consensus building and exploring learning opportunities through collaboration. She is committed to public scholarship by helping communities become healthy civil societies that are interconnected —not homogeneous— but integrated. She is currently directing projects in Camden, New Jersey; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Santa Monica/Malibu, California; and New Orleans.  

Bobbie has organized many local and state-wide networks and associations which are concerned with issues related to education, the arts, and community advocacy. Ms. Hill has served on regional and State task forces such as the Governor’s Education First Committee which developed policy and consensus-building for education reform in West Virginia. Her work on this committee and other organizations has brought about significant change. For example, Ms. Hill worked with government leadership to create legislation that supports community-based planning as a prerequisite for requesting State support for school construction.

Bobbie participated in a two week Women’s Leadership Journey in South Africa (October-November, 2007).  The Journey was led by internationally known author and organizational development consultant, Margaret Wheatley who writes, teaches, and speaks about radically new practices and ideas for organizing in chaotic times. The host organization was the Berkana Institute with local South African hosts from Pioneers of Change. Twenty-two women from around the world partook in the journey. They met with organizations and individuals actively involved in the development of the new democracy of South Africa post Apartheid. Bobbie’s learning and experiences on this trip greatly inform Concordia’s ongoing participatory planning and design work in New Orleans post Katrina and other urban and rural communities.

Bobbie recently completed the Unified New Orleans Planning project during which she provided coordination and oversight services for city-wide and district level planning projects. The outcome of this project, which had an aggressive five month schedule, was a city-wide plan for recovery that was presented to the New Orleans City Planning Commission for review as well as 13 district level plans which will help guide re-development and funding decisions for the rebuilding of New Orleans.

Education: 

· BFA Newcomb College, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA. - 1974

· Cedar Lakes Summer Arts Apprenticeship, Ripley, WV - 1975

· The Fundraising School, Fundraising 101, IUPUI Center on Philanthropy, Indianapolis, IN 1995

· The Fundraising School, Planned Giving, IUPUI Center on Philanthropy, Indianapolis, IN 1997

· Women’s Leadership Journey in South Africa with Meg Wheatly, author & organizational development leader, Oct- Nov, 2007

Experience:

· Partner in Charge of Planning, Concordia LLC, 2002 to present

· Director of Planning, Concordia, Inc. -1999 to present

· Consultant, Community Master Planning, Concordia, Inc., Concordia Architects, Inc., New Orleans, LA - 1996 to 1999

· Executive Director, Museum in the Community - 1983 to 1999

· Part-time teacher Putnam County Schools Gifted Art Program 1984-96

· Teacher Putnam County Schools Title IV-C federal pilot arts program 1977-80

· Sound technician for jazz ensemble 1976-77

· Sound technician for folk rock band 1975-76

· Independent graphic artist 1975-77

· Toy maker for Yesteryear toy company 1974-75

Organizations:

· Council of Education Facility Planners International, member

· West Virginia Commission on the Arts, member by appointment of the Governor

· Advantage Valley, Community and Economic Development Partnership, Strategic Planning Committee, 1999, Huntington, Putnam County and Metro Charleston, WV

· Treasurer, Southeastern Museums Conference (SEMC) 1996-1999

· Executive committee, SEMC 1996-1999

· Board member SEMC 1990-1996

· Program committee SEMC 1994-95

· American Association of Museums, member

· West Virginia Humanities Council (WVHC) Board of Directors 1994-1999

· WVHC Institutional Advancement Committee Chair 1997-1998

· President, West Virginia Association of Museums (WVAM) 1994-96

· First Vice President, WVAM 1990-1994

· Board member West Virginia Arts Advocacy Committee1994-99

Putnam County Rotary, Rotary Education Committee, member

· Putnam County Chamber of Commerce, member

· ArtsCore, WV arts networking group, member

· WV Art Educators Association, National Art Educators Association, member

Conference/Workshop Presentations and Publications:

· Exhibitor: 2008 Smithsonian, Cooper Hewitt, National Design Museum K12 Design Fair: Rebuilding New Orleans.

· Presentor: Coalition for Community Schools 10^th Anniversary National Forum, “Nexus Planning in New Orleans,” May 2, 2008, Portland, Oregon

· Juror: 2007 DesignShare Awards Program, the world’s most widely recognized program focusing on the design of innovative learning environment, where the focus truly is all about learning!

· Interviewee: School Planning & Management, Re-Birth of a School System-Part 1, October, 2007

· Panelist: Institute for the Study of Race & Poverty Seminar-Multiracial, Multicultural Coalition Building, July 7, 2007, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA

· Juror: 2006 DesignShare Awards Program, the world’s most widely recognized program focusing on the design of innovative learning environment, where the focus truly is all about learning!

· Philadelphia Education Fund Distinguished Lecture Series, Speaker, November, 2005

· National Summit on Education Design, College Park, MD, October, 2005

· Coalition for Community Schools, Chicago, IL, National Forum presentation, March, 2005

· The Franklin Conference School Forum, Penn Praxis, U Penn, Philadelphia, March, 2005

· Keynote Address Paterson Education Fund, Paterson, NJ Annual Symposium, January, 2005

· University of Virginia School of Architecture, Lecture interdisciplinary architecture and planning , September, 2004

· Paterson Education Fund, Paterson, NJ, Annual Symposium, January, 2004

· University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, Designing Schools: Integrating Learning and Community Development, Workshop Presentation, January, 2005

· CEFPI 78^th Annual International Conference, Phoenix, NM, October, 2002

· KnowledgeWorks Foundation Symposium, Building Our Future, Stories of Community Engagement in Facilities Planning, Columbus, Oh, April, 2002

· CEFPI Southeast Annual Meeting, Myrtle Beach, SC, REFP Workshop: Practicing What We Preach; Making the Planning Process a Partnership, April, 2002

· Learning Environments of the Future, NESSA/CEFPI, Tampa, FL, February, 2002

· Collaborations for Planning Partnerships, Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, Cleveland, OH, November, 2001

· Engaging the Public in Public Schools: From PR to Partnership, the 2001 Ohio Grantmakers Forum Annual Conference, Columbus, OH, October, 2001

· National Design Principles: Focus on Small Schools and Community Engagement Workshop, The Council of Education Facility Planners International 78^th Annual International Conference, Denver, Colorado, October, 2001

· Integrating Community Planning and Education Facility Development, Ohio Planning Conference, Ohio APA, Akron, OH, October, 2001

· Community Engagement in Planning for Schools as Community Centers: Inner City Cincinnati Pilot Projects, Ohio School Facilities Conference, Columbus, Ohio, September, 2001

· Exploring the Significance of Schools in Neighborhoods Symposium, Salt Lake City, May, 2001

· School as Center of Community workshops, Council for Education Facility Planners, International (CEFPI) Norman, OK; Baltimore, MD; Portland, OR: Spring 2001

· American Planning Association National Conference, New Orleans, LA March, 2001, - Planning for

· Public Schools

· The Coalition for Community Schools, Kansas City, October, 2000 – Building Community Schools

· Public Information Resources, Inc. Reengineering School Finance, 2000, Integrating School Operations and Community Resources

· California League of Cities Annual Conference 2000, Anaheim, CA – Schools Becoming Community / Community Becoming School

· Kids Who Know and Do, Autodesk Foundation Conference, 2000, The Concordia Model: Hands on Learning for the Whole Community

· Thomas Jefferson Center for Educational Design, Charlottesville, VA 1999, Cultural Centers: Community and Education

· SEMC 1999, Birmingham, AL – Museums and Joint Use Opportunities

· SEMC 1996, Jekyll Island, GA - Museum and Education Partnerships: A Catalyst for Inclusion and Consensus in Community Development

· SEMC 1994, Memphis, TN - Putnam County ArtWorks Project: Art and the Basic Curriculum

· SEMC 1992, Jackson, MS - "To Be or Not To Be": Using the Performing Arts in Small Museums - West Virginia's Experience

· WVAM 1996,Glade Springs, WV - Raising the Big Money: Your First Capital Effort 

· WVAM 1995, Bethany, WV - Giving Your Community the Programming They Want

· WVAM 1994, Lewisburg, WV - Collaborating with Nontraditional Organizations

· Article: "Authentic Collaboration in Ohio", School Planning and Management, March, 2003

Honors & Awards:

· Putnam County, WV Chamber of Commerce Mayo Lester Annual Award for Outstanding Community Service 1998

· Museum in the Community FOCUS Award, Charleston, WV 1992

· Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Rural Arts Fellow 1991

Project Experience at Concordia

Bobbie Hill has served as Project Director on the following projects:

· District Master Planning for the Santa Monica/Malibu Unified School District:

Concordia is on a team selected to prepare a Facilities Assessment and comprehensive Master Plan that will guide the District’s school improvements for the next 20 years. Concordia is the lead team, and Bobbie is the project director for providing community engagement and master planning services for the combined school districts of Malibu and Santa Monica. 

· Neighborhood Education Facility Planning in Treme, New Orleans:

In early 2007 the Greater New Orleans Education Foundation (GNOEF) entrusted Concordia and the Greater Treme Consortium with the development of a Community Integrated Schools plan for the Treme Neighborhood. This Plan is an opportunity for parents, students, educators and the Treme community to create strategies and programs to maximize the use of school and community facilities in the neighborhood.

This planning process will take place over a three month period with public Steering Committee meetings held each month. The recommendations and strategies developed will help guide the Recovery School District (RSD) and the Orleans Parish School Board in providing post-Katrina integrated neighborhood based educational opportunities.

· Nexus Center Planning, Citywide, and the Algiers Neighborhood:

Concordia has been funded by the Greater New Orleans Education Foundation to develop a citywide plan for Nexus Center development. Nexus is a planning model developed around the concepts of equity, accessibility, environmental sustainability, co-governance and decentralization. The community Nexus center is a public place where a wide range of programs and services are co-located. It is a particular kind of neighborhood center defined as a place where services such as banking, social services, and retail are located in close proximity to create synergy and become a locus of neighborhood activities.

· Disaster Recovery Planning, Unified New Orleans Plan

Bobbie served as a principal on the Unified New Orleans Planning project for which she provided project coordination, oversight and best practices to a team of urban planners covering 13 planning districts and the New Orleans city as a whole. The five month process resulted in a city-wide recovery plan that was presented to New Orleans’ City Planning Commission for approval. The planning process also produced 13 district-level disaster recovery plans that will help guide redevelopment and funding decisions as the city rebuilds after Katrina.

· Community Planning, Central City Neighborhood, New Orleans

Bobbie served as project principal on this project that the City of New Orleans funded along with support from national and local foundations. Concordia LLC was contracted to initiate a community planning process.  This process engaged Central City’s residents and stakeholders in an authentic dialogue that involved sharing ideas, concerns and strategies to develop a comprehensive community plan for the neighborhood’s future.

· Community Planning, 2 Neighborhoods in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The William Penn Foundation funded Concordia to lead the West Philadelphia and Kensington neighborhoods in a seven month community planning process. Using a systemic planning approach, the community explored and identified the community needs and resources, looking for ways to integrate programs and services in the development of their new and renovated schools

.

· Community Education Planning, Camden, New Jersey

Community planning process commissioned by the Ford Foundation beginning in 2003 with a community assessment which highlighted the conditions and opportunities for creating better educational environments as part of the city’s recovery. Currently, Concordia is focused on identifying a “new temporary” site for a MetEast School, assisting the community develop its role as participants in the school board’s search for another superintendent, and the planning and implementation of board leadership development.

· The Community Foundation of the Rappahannock River Region, Fredericksburg, Virginia

-Development of a community based systemic master plan, including an assessment of community resources, opportunities for forging community partnerships and building strategic alliances.

· Community Education Planning, Plainfield, New Jersey

Training of city-wide planning team in the Concordia Planning Process for implementation by this team in the development of community-based educational plans in seven neighborhoods throughout Plainfield, NJ.

Project completed: 2003

· Home Town Perry, Iowa

Perry, Iowa

Organizing community-wide planning team to recruit community-wide steering committee to plan use of soon to be vacated historic Perry High School building in relation to growth and sustainability of Perry community. Conduct community planning process with steering committee.

Project completed: 2003

· KnowledgeWorks Foundation

Cincinnati, Ohio

Training of Children Defense League employees in the Concordia Planning Process for implementation by CDL in the development of community-based educational plans throughout the Cincinnati community.

Project completed: 2002.

· Hope High School

Providence Rhode Island

Planning and preliminary design for the division of Hope High School into to four small schools

Project completed: 2001

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