Rachel Diresto

The Center for Planning Excellence (CPEX) is a non-profit organization with a mission to bring people, culture, and planning together to make great communities happen in Louisiana. CPEX's muti-disciplinary team of urban and community planners, landscape architects, environmental scientists, policy researchers and communications specialists work towards 4 areas of impact: great neighborhoods and quality places; transportation choices; resilient communities; and civic education and engagement. We provide best-practice planning models, innovative policy ideas, and technical assistance to communities that wish to create and enact master plans dealing with transportation and infrastructure needs, equitable housing opportunities, environmental issues, and quality design for the built environment. CPEX brings community members and leaders together and provides guidance as they work toward a shared vision for future growth and development. As a non-profit planning organization, CPEX sees overall community improvement as the bottom line of every project. Our team leverages the unique challenges and opportunities uncovered through community planning to develop resource publications and create educational opportunities to guide stakeholders facing similar scenarios throughout the state. We know that nothing in a community takes place in a vacuum, so our team offers wholistic, systems-based solutions to connect the dots between smart planning, sound policy, strong partnerships, and access to funding -- the building blocks for successful implementation. Vision: Every community in Louisiana made extraordinary through visionary planning.