Guest

My name is Cecilia Salvans, I'm 35. Originally from California, born and raised in Palm Springs. I am a senior urban planner within Acom. I don't know if I ever thought I would be who I am today, I knew I loved city planning. And honestly, I always thought I'd be actually working for the city and working with the community. But then as I got an internship and I realized that I have a more influential power to help the communities as being a consultant instead of within the city. I thought it'd be cool to be part of the process and working with the engineers and having access to all these different people and being part of the drivers that put the report that could help influence a community. And right now because a lot of communities are already built out the only spaces left or underdeveloped which are mostly lower income families, both parents are working and the kids are there. So really helping the clients see if you really want the community to understand this project, then you need to go to the community, you can't expect the community come to you. And if we do it this way, not only does the community really understand what you're doing, you're gonna have a different perception within the community. And most part that always works well in the client's are like, okay, that's why we wanna work with you because you're not just going with what we want you're helping us see it from a different perspective. 

If you have someone in your life that does this type of work, reach out to them to learn about what they do. If you don't have a connection like that, I recommend going to City Hall and seeing if there's anyone there who could answer some questions for you. You can gain so much knowledge from the people who are already doing the work. That's a great way to determine if a particular career or industry is right for you.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I just had to take it one day at a time—giving up wasn't a choice. Fortunately, I caught it early enough that my chances of survival were high. I now use my story to help other people.

My days involve project calls, analytical reports, conducting progressing reports, outlining project timelines and actions times for the week, and delegating to team members.

Cecilia LaVariega Salvans

About Cecilia

Cecilia LaVariega Salvans

About Cecilia

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