Ashley Z. Hand, AIA is the Director of Local Government Service at the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC), a nonprofit council of governments serving nine counties and 119 cities across the bi-state Kansas City metro. An urbanist at her core, Ashley’s 25-year career has spanned both the public and private sectors in some of the greatest US cities. On the public sector side, Ashley was appointed the first Chief Innovation Officer for the City of Kansas City, MO and Transportation Technology Strategist for the City of Los Angeles where she led a variety of efforts to modernize public policy and processes, fostered new business models, and prepared organizations for inevitable change. Ashley is currently serving as the President of the American Institute of Architects, Kansas City Chapter.