I have always been drawn to understanding how cities and places work. Growing up in a fast-changing city in central Mexico, I would spend hours reading and learning about new developments, regeneration plans and investment opportunities, large and small, imagining what they could mean for my city and the people who lived there. Looking back, I think I was already trying to understand the questions that still guide my work today: what makes places grow, why they perform the way they do, and how decisions made today can shape a city’s future.
That curiosity began to take shape in Mexico, where I worked on large-scale regeneration in Monterrey and regional strategic planning and policy. Those experiences shaped the way I think about the relationship between economic ambition, governance and the physical transformation of places, and eventually took me to London for postgraduate study in regional and urban planning.
Since then, my work has ranged from economic strategies and business cases to delivery plans, regeneration programmes and public sector transformation, working alongside local authorities, housing partners and place-based organisations across the UK. What I enjoy most is bringing together analysis, engagement, governance and delivery: building a shared understanding of place, convening partners around common priorities, and organising around the actions, decisions and structures needed to deliver change.