Samuel Assefa, Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation Director

Prior to his appointment as director of the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (LCI), Samuel Assefa served as director of the City of Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development beginning in 2016. From 2010 to 2016, Assefa was senior urban designer for the City of Boulder’s Department of Community Planning and Sustainability. From 2004 to 2010, he served as director of land use and planning policy for the Department of Planning and Development and deputy chief of staff for economic and physical development in the City of Chicago Mayor’s Office. Earlier in his career, Assefa served as senior urban designer at SmithGroup JJR from 2002 to 2004, director of special projects for the City and County of San Francisco Department of Planning and Development from 1999 to 2002, and senior urban designer at SMWM Architecture and Planning from 1993 to 1999. Assefa earned a Master of City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.