NYC Planning Director Nominated for White House Role

If approved, New York City Planning Director Marisa Lago will be headed back to the White House to serve in the Department of Commerce.

1 minute read

September 15, 2021, 5:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


I picture of Marisa Lago speaking at a table for an event at the United Nations.

Marisa Lago, pictured in 2010 in a previous role at the U.S. Department of the Treasury in the Obama administration. | U.S. Department of the Treasury / Wikimedia Commons

President Joe Biden has nominated Marisa Lago, director of the New York City Department of Planning and chair of the New York City Planning Commission, as under secretary of commerce for international trade at the Department of Commerce, according to a statement released by the White House this week.

Lago previously served in the Obama Administration as the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s assistant secretary for international markets and development, where she "oversaw the U.S. government’s overseas development activities with the World Bank and its regional counterparts," according to the statements. Previous planning-related roles include time as president and CEO of NYS Empire State Development as well as the chief economic development officer of the city of Boston.

Another name familiar in planning circles was on the list of recent nominations by the Biden administration—Jed Kolko, former chief economist and VP of Analytics at Trulia and current chief economist at Indeed (and regular author of articles appearing in the Planetizen newsfeed), has been nominated to the role of under secretary of commerce for economic affairs at the Department of Commerce.

Planetizen published an interview with Marisa Lago as part of its "Planners Across America" series in May 2018.

Monday, September 13, 2021 in The White House

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

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