Michael Rios Editor & Author

Michael Rios is Chair of the Community Development Graduate Group and Associate Professor of Urban Design and Community Planning at the University of California, Davis. His research and practice focus on marginality and urbanism. He received his PhD in Geography from the Pennsylvania State University, and MArch and MCP from the University of California, Berkeley.

Leonardo Vazquez is a founder and director of Arts Build Communities at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. He was also a founder and director of the Professional Development Institute and the Leading Institute at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. He is a community and local economic development planner with expertise in cultural competency, leadership development, and strategic communications. He was a founding member of the Latinos and Planning division of the American Planning Association, and its first chairperson. Most recently, he was chosen as the winner of the APA's 2012 National Planning Leadership Award for Advancing Diversity and Social Change in Honor of Paul Davidoff.