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Nana Kusi Appiah is coming to Mesa with diverse educational and in-depth practical experiences in community and regional planning, organization change management, program evaluation, public participation strategies, and strategic planning and management. Nana holds a doctorate degree in Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Dallas, a master’s degree in Community and Regional Planning from Iowa State University, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. Nana is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and has completed the Executive Education Program in Public Leadership at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
Prior to joining the City of Mesa, Nana served as the Development Services Manager for Adams County, Colorado. In this position, he led the transformation of the Development Service Division, streamlined the County’s development review processes, and guided the County’s various development code amendments and land use policy adjustments. Prior to his employment with Adams County, Nana worked as a city planner and planning supervisor for the City of Denton, Texas where he completed complex land use development projects. In addition, he worked on the City’s comprehensive plan amendment in 2014 and downtown revitalization plans. Nana began his professional career in Polk County, Florida where he was a key staff planner and guided the County’s adoption of various development code amendments and implementation of the development regulations and concurrency planning.
In addition to Nana’s practical experiences, he has presented at various academic conferences such as the Urban Affairs Association and the American Society for Public Administrators. Nana has published articles in the Public Administration Times that include topics such as citizen participation in land-use decision making, participatory leadership strategies, and complexity of management in the public sector.
Nana is excited to be joining the City of Mesa’s community and looks forward to working with the city council and residents, the city’s staff and leadership, the development community and all stakeholders. As the Planning Director he will continue transforming neighborhoods in Mesa through collaboration and adoption of sound principles and practices of community planning with well streamlined processes. He is committed to maintaining and attracting healthy businesses and a diverse workforce in Mesa.
