Chelina Odbert is Co-founder and Executive Director of Kounkuey Design Initiative, an award-winning design and community development organization. An urban planner by training, Odbert believes that iterative, resident participation is key to sustainable and equitable development. Over the last decade, she has partnered with under-resourced communities in Africa, Latin America, and the United States to transform neighborhoods and simultaneously improve quality of life. Odbert’s research, writing, and practice focus on the intersection of community-engaged planning and design, and economic and social development. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors from Claremont McKenna College and a Master of Urban Planning degree from Harvard University.