Taubman College Brittanie Redd, a planner for the City of Indianapolis, has been named Taubman College’s 2022 Sojourner Truth Fellow.
Each year, the Sojourner Truth Fellow engages scholars and reflective practitioners by bringing rigorous attention to issues of race and ethnicity in relation to the theory and practice of planning.
Redd is currently the principal planner for land use strategy for Indianapolis’s Department of Metropolitan Development, acting as the department’s thought leader on land use and development issues. They have collaborated with neighbors and community advocates on regional and neighborhood plans, the design of public spaces, green corridor revitalization, and economic development strategies.
Their passion for social justice shapes their philosophy as a planner and community cultivator. Driven by the belief that people are a community’s greatest asset, Redd’s work centers on giving neighborhood residents greater power and influence over the places they live and the decision making that affects them.
In 2019, Redd was chosen to take part in Transportation for America’s inaugural class of Arts, Culture and Transportation (ACT) Fellows. The #MyRide project, launched by Redd and Danicia Malone (another Indianapolis-based ACT Fellow and urban planner), conducts an equity analysis of the Red Line, which was Indianapolis’s first bus rapid transit system. The project captures user stories to uncover the day-to-day impacts of riders in the face of changing trends and gentrification.
Redd also manages the Peoples’ Planning Academy, a training program that works to demystify city planning in Indianapolis and equip residents with tools to shape the future of their communities. Workshops examine past choices that have shaped the built environment in order to envision decision-making for greater inclusivity and justice in the future.
As the Sojourner Truth Fellow, Redd will participate in a series of remote events during the winter semester, including workshops and conversations with students examining planning’s history and opportunities for restorative justice. Redd will be a panelist for Taubman College’s 2022 MLK Symposium, which will be held on January 20 (learn more).
“I am delighted that Brittanie has joined the urban and regional planning program as our Sojourner Truth Fellow for 2022,” said Larissa Larsen, chair of the urban and regional planning program. “Brittanie uses participatory engagement methods to confront racism and empower residents in her work for the City of Indianapolis. Cities across the country are advancing conversations about just and equitable reparations. Brittainie Redd will help prepare students to move these conversations from ideas to actions.”
