Special Topic Classes Description Fall 2022
Check out our line-up for Fall Special Topic Classes. These are open to alumni only and will be held virtually.
We hope to offer LIVE classes in spring of 2023! Class descriptions will be updated in Feb 2023.
All classes include time for Questions & Answers with presenters and an interactive group exercises.

Citizen Planners and the Comp Plan
October 12, Wednesday, 6:00-8:00pm
The Planning Commission is gearing up for a “reboot” of the Phila2035 Comprehensive Plan. We’re starting now to plan how we can be more inclusive in the community engagement process. A question for this session is: “How might Citizen Planners be part of planning the process and continue to be involved throughout the Plan phases?”
To stimulate your thinking, we’ll use two on-going projects as case studies on how to plan and manage engagement. SEPTA representatives will discuss lessons learned on the Bus Revolution project, the agency’s first ever bus network redesign. Connect the Dots, consultant for the project- “Framing the Future of the Roundhouse”- will discuss different approaches for a building-specific engagement process. You will also learn about a soon-to-be-launched city guide- The Equitable Engagement Toolkit.
Meet your instructors

Harley Cooper
Senior Service Planner at SEPTA
Harley Cooper
Senior Service Planner at SEPTA
Harley Cooper is a Senior Operations Planner with SEPTA’s Service Planning Department where she coordinates short-range planning for three bus districts and manages the development of new transit modes for SEPTA’s family of transit services, includin...

Marisa Denker
CEO and Co-Founder of Connect the Dots, Professor of Participatory Cities at University of Pennsylvania
Marisa Denker
CEO and Co-Founder of Connect the Dots, Professor of Participatory Cities at University of Pennsylvania
Marisa Denker is the founder and CEO of Connect the Dots. Evolving from Marisa’s Fulbright project in 2014, Connect the Dots now operates across the East Coast in the US and continues to have a sister branch in Dublin, Ireland. Marisa brings deep exp...

Lily Goodspeed
Senior Associate, Connect the Dots
Lily Goodspeed
Senior Associate, Connect the Dots
Lily Goodspeed is a Senior Associate at Connect the Dots and most recently worked at SEAMAAC as Community Building and Planning Coordinator in South Philadelphia. Before that, she worked as Outreach Coordinator at scout (the urban design firm redevel...