Michigan Association of Planning Board of Directors

The MAP Board of Directors is elected by the members of the Association, entrusted with the responsibility of assuring the organization is meeting your needs in an effective and efficient manner. This is a responsibility the Board takes quite seriously, as shown by the ever evolving nature of the Association. But to maintain member trust, the Board must take the responsibility to understand your needs and identify ways to build a strong relationship with each member. We call it “linking to the members” and it is the single most important commitment of our Board.

 MAP Board By Laws

2024-2025 Board of Directors

Board Member Time Commitment, Responsibilities and Expectations

1. Attend a minimum of (8) Board meetings annually, currently scheduled the third Friday of the month from 10:00 – 2:00: January, February, April, May, June, August, October and November, or as the board establishes at its first planning meeting. Locations for meetings to vary, and may require distance driving.
2. Prepare for board meetings by reading all board packet materials, occasionally securing guest speakers or location.
3. Adhere to the tenets of the policy governance model of board organization management, including the preparation of assigned monitoring reports.
4. Attendance at the annual conference Sept/Oct, visibility of the board is important, and attendance for all or some of the conference is expected.
5. Participate in new board member orientation, to include association basics, policy governance training, board responsibilities, etc.
6. One to Two-day annual retreat typically scheduled in in January, usually from noon Sunday to noon Monday. The board establishes its policy theme for the upcoming year at the annual retreat, which is implemented throughout the year.
7. Optional participation in leadership capacity on board (executive committee [eligible after serving two years], Chapter President’s Council Rep, Michigan Legislative Liaison, APA Legislative Liaison, APA delegate, Nominating/Tellers Committee, Financial/Audit Committee, Government Relations Liaison).
8. Board members are encouraged to possess upgraded membership classification with MAP (contributing, sustaining, corporate) and/or maintain a group membership for your community’s appointed officials (Planning Commission, ZBA, etc).
9. Board members also take on individual tasks associated with the boards own work plan to link with the ownership. Examples include serving on ad hoc linkage committee; contributing to linkage plan development and implementation; speaking engagements to promote the organization and advance the value of planning; recruiting new members; participation at MAP events (Annual Conference, Spring Institute, Legislative Assembly, and other professional development workshops); serve as ambassador of good will for the organization; possess understanding of MAP’s role, mission, programs, and become conversant with same.
10. Fund-raising assistance through networking and outreach to communities, including membership recruitment and retention.

Board of Director Contacts

Shari Williams President 2026 Detroit Future City 440 Burroughs Street, Suite 229 Detroit, MI 48202 (313) 259-4407 swilliams@detroitfuturecity.com Read Bio	Christina Anderson, AICP Vice President City of Kalamazoo 241 West South Street Kalamazoo, MI 49007 (269) 337-8000 andersonc@kalamazoocity.org Read Bio
Scott Kree Secretary/Treasurer (2025) Oakland County, Senior Planner Executive Office Building 41W 2100 Pontiac Lake Road Waterford, MI 48328 (248) 858-0389 krees@oakgov.com Read Bio	Jill Bahm, AICP Professional Development Officer (2024) Giffels Webster, Partner 1025 E. Maple, Suite 100 Birmingham, MI, 48009 (248) 852-3100 jbahm@giffelswebster.com Read Bio
Mohamed Ayoub Past President City of Westland 36300 Warren Rd. Westland, MI 48185 mayoub@cityofwestland.com Read Bio	Keith Baker, AICP (2026) City of Coldwater, City Manager One Grand Street Coldwater, MI 49036  (517) 279-9531 x 6911 kbaker@coldwater.org  Read Bio
Trudy Galla, FAICP (2025) Fishbeck, Senior Brownfield Specialist (231)714-9293  tgalla@fishbeck.com Read Bio	Christopher Germain, AICP (2026) Lake Superior Community Partnership, Executive Director 101 W. Washington St | Ste 10 Marquette, MI 49885 (906) 430-3600 cgermain@marquette.org Read Bio
Mandy Grewal, PhD (2025) Pittsfield Township, Supervisor 6201 W. Michigan Avenue Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108-9721 (734) 822-3135 grewalm@pittsfield-mi.gov Read Bio	Kristen Gundersen, AICP (2028) City of St. Joseph, Community Development Director 700 Broad St St. Joseph, MI 49085-1276 (269) 983-1212 kgundersen@sjcity.com Read Bio
Kami Pothukuchi, PhD (2024) | Wayne State University, Faculty k.pothukuchi@wayne.edu Read Bio	Kevin Martin (2024) | Van Buren Township, Trustee Van Buren Township Trustee 9405 Madison Dr. Van Buren Township, Michigan 48111 (734) 306-3356 martinkevin34@yahoo.com  Read Bio

Student Representatives

Justin Curry Wayne State University gp1251@wayne.edu Read Bio

Shannon Gaffney Wayne State University gv8357@wayne.edu Read Bio

MAP Board Policy Development and Linkage

Each year at their annual retreat in January, the Michigan Association of Planning Board of Directors deliberates over two days to identify the priority planning issue or topic it wishes to learn more about over the next year. It explores the most pressing challenges facing our industry, and our members, and considers how MAP as a professional association can provide best practices, tools, and resources to address the issues, provoke conversations, identity partners, and develop a policy to inform our work, and that of our members.

Once the theme is selected, the board seeks input from industry leaders, stakeholders, and experts to better understand the issue. This process of learning is called “linkage”. The board typically invites experts from planning-adjacent professions to join them at board meetings for informal conversations and discussions about the topic, heightening our understanding of the connections between disciplines, and how planners can expand the stakeholders they work with, and integrate new ideas into their work.

This “linkage” is foundational to the work of the board, and what we learn is translated into a variety of products. These products include everything from development of a policy that drives the work of the board, and of MAP, and manifests as deliverables to our members like feature articles in our Michigan Planner magazine or E-dition, sessions at conference or at our Spring Institute, partnerships or coalitions formed with other organizations that advance the theme, or securing funding to develop best practice guides that provide instruction to implement. In 2021, the board took their linkage learnings a step further, and developed Board Linkage Briefs, summaries of what the board learned during its meetings with stakeholders and experts, so that our members can learn along with us.

The MAP Board identified Housing as its policy priorities in 2021 and in 2022, and during that time the board met with nonprofit housing providers; Housing Michigan Coalition executive committee members; CDFI’s, banking industry, and the State Land Bank; the manufactured housing industry; and state agencies. We took what we learned from these experts, did some additional research, and developed a series of Board Linkage Briefs to summarize the takeaways and share with our members.

Board Linkage Briefs - summaries of what we learned at linkage meetings

 Allowing Most Housing By Right 
 Building Collaboration: Planners Can't Do It Alone
 What is a CDFI?
 Why is There a Housing Shortage Part One?
 Why is There a Housing Shortage Part Two?
 How to Talk about Housing in Your Community

 2021 Board Linkage Statement – The board provides this narrative to linkage guests to introduce our organization and our interest in housing

 2021 Board Linkage Report – a summary of the linkage activities during 2021

The MAP Board uses various methods to learn of your priorities, including Membership Linkage meetings (the board met with members in the Kalamazoo region in August 2022, and held additional Membership Linkage meetings in 2023) along with conducting membership surveys.