Priscilla Forde

Within my worlds as a Bajan-American woman, an international development professional, and an emerging spatial justice practitioner, I am motivated by a simple belief: we have shared stake in each other’s wellbeing, healing, and liberation. As this interest involves both local and global intersections, my practice is dedicated to nurturing inclusive, healthy, and resilient communities and serving populations disenfranchised across social, economic, and environmental realms.

As I deeply value my role as a Global Citizen, I am especially passionate about confronting global inequality, advancing multi-dimensional resilience in vulnerable geographies, and exploring liberatory approaches to global development and spatial practice. I am a proud George Mason University Alumna, graduating with a Bachelor's in Government and International Politics and Global Affairs, as well as a current Urban and Regional Planning Master’s Student in Georgetown’s School of Continuing Studies, focusing on international planning in developing contexts. 

I am energized by the power that spatial planning and design practice holds in remedying structural inequities. Mobilizing my passion for realizing more equitable, just communities, I founded Spaces for Souls (spacesforsouls.org), an emerging, globally-focused consultancy that interrogates spatial and structural injustices that distance communities from their inherent value and seeks to build new realities through multi-and interdisciplinary approaches.

As an international development professional, I have advanced project performance, program design, and industry outreach efforts across various technical sectors including climate change adaptation and mitigation, water resources and governance, clean and renewable energy, and urban resilience and governance. Since 2019, I have contributed to $3 million-$65 million proposal development efforts that have focused on an array of urban, social, environmental, and service delivery issues in different regions, such as Southern Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, South and Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands.

During my tenure as a Global Cities Scholar, my research will investigate the relationship between urban social and physical margins, and more particularly, opportunities for spatial practice to accelerate social transformation. I will be focused on the opportunities and barriers for placemaking practice to provide social and economic benefits to communities in post-colonial urban contexts in sub-Saharan Africa.