Joshua Weissman LaFrance

Joshua Weissman LaFrance

United States of America

Through education and experience near and abroad, Josh is a champion of sound urbanism and smart growth. He is passionate about cities, and sees as paramount their development as walkable, transit-friendly, and people-first places. In particular, equity and sustainability are central to his practice.

Josh currently works in affordable housing development and financing. He has previously studied in Madrid and trained in the European Parliament in Brussels. As a student, he was President of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) Chapter. He holds an MS in International Relations, where he focused on EU development aid and policy in developing states. He also earned a Master’s in Public Administration, where he wrote his capstone thesis, “Smart Cities: An inclusive model for peer-produced governance.”

Josh is passionate about bicycling. His goal for the 2020s: To cycle across the Americas, from Alaska to Argentina.

Josh is born and raised in Boston, MA. In the future, he is eager to work and study in the world’s “mega cities”, devoting himself to smart growth and a climate-resilient future for the world.