Kayla Barbour is a sustainability-focused planner and social entrepreneur who strives to integrate human centered practices within projects that prioritize responsible systemic planning, resource conservation, and growth that ,,trickles and ripples”.ÂShe has avidly practiced human centered design since 2017, and is now an industry leader involved with the American Planning Association’s Design Thinking Interest Group for Education & Training, Events, Advocacy & Partnership Development working groups.Â

Kayla completed her Master’s in Community Planning at the University of Cincinnati DAAP School of Planning, focusing on Environmental Planning and public participatory GIS. Though her love for strategic planning and the desire to fuse sustainability and design thinking within economic growth was first ignited at Berea College, through her studies as a B.S. Technology in Applied Design student.ÂWhile at Berea she was also involved with the Entrepreneurship for the Public Good program, which sponsored numerous opportunities for her to travel and learn- including  participation in the prestigious Stanford University Innovation Fellows program!

Kayla began her consulting career while serving as an UIF fab & event facilitator for the annual Silicon Valley Meetups hosted at Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, where she assisted with logistics and event planning alongside UIF & Stanford staff and faculty.ÂShe is also an avid naturalist and mineral collector, and currently volunteers her consultation services for the Ben E. Clement Mineral Museum in Marion, KY.