The through-line of Libby’s work is trying to understand the narratives that Black people tell (and omit) about our experiences,
and figuring out clear and compelling ways to connect us across the stories and lessons that have been lost to time and trauma.
Libby Viera-Bland, AICP, came to planning and design through a passion for understanding how the narratives of place differ based on whose voice is prioritized. Currently, Libby is the Neighborhood Development Project Manager for Row House CDC, Project Row Houses, and PRH Preservation where she oversees the planning and development of affordable housing across the Third Ward in Houston Texas. Formerly, she was a Senior Associate Planner and Urban Designer at Asakura Robinson where she worked on Harris County’s first affordable housing study, and on the Harris County Transportation Equity Study. Through both of these projects, she worked to ensure that community members who are not typically involved in planning processes are given a voice in the decisions that are made about their neighborhoods. Libby also pursued this focus in the re-launch of the Neighbors program, where Asakura Robinson provides pro-bono design and planning services to communities that are not traditionally given access to professional resources.
She completed concurrent master’s degrees in Architecture and City and Regional Planning with a focus in Community and Economic Development at the University of Pennsylvania. Her graduate thesis between the two departments studied the history of rural, Southern Black placemaking and self-planning from before the Civil War to modern day. After moving to Texas, Libby worked at the statewide housing justice organization, Texas Housers, as a Neighborhood Equity Planner and Analyst, where her research-informed several lawsuits around inequitable housing, and environmental justice issues. Through this work, she also helped local community groups advocate for themselves and their neighbors.
Libby was chosen by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for the fifth cohort of the Culture of Health Leaders. Through this grant, she will be given professional leadership training, and will work in Houston to build an initiative around how affordable housing and supportive services can contribute to a culture of health. Formerly, she was chosen to be a fellow of Katherine McGovern School of the Arts and Project Row Houses’ socially engaged arts fellowship where she continued her studies of how different narrative lenses overlap in rapidly gentrifying communities. She was also chosen to be a member of the inaugural class of Interchange Fellows through the Mid America Arts Alliance where she has continued her research around neighborhood preservation.
. To learn more about me, please feel free to check out my resume.