Gelila mekonnen biography of william

What motivated you to apply for the Public Space Fellowship?

Gelila: I've always been interested in the conversations around equity, diversity and inclusion, particularly in planning.

As I reached the end of my studies, I wanted to ensure that focus was in my professional work. So I thought this was a great opportunity to advance my understanding as it relates to public space practitioners. There’s also the fact that we get to work with one another- getting to learn a lot more from you (Nahomi) is something I'm looking forward to.

Nahomi: I feel similarly to you but I was coming from a public health perspective and was really keen on being intentional about equity and social justice work in my more “professional” capacity.

Just as you said, this such a unique opportunity to think critically about what that means and very tangibly in terms of in public space, as well as put all o