George Proakis, AICP, Nominating Committee Chair

George Proakis, AICP serves as the Executive Director of the Office of Strategy Planning and Community Development (OSPCD) for the City of Somerville, Massachusetts.  In this role, he manages a team that implements transformative mixed-use development, missing-middle infill projects, a citywide zoning overhaul, multiple neighborhood plans, small business support, workforce development activities, scattered site affordable housing for Somerville families, housing displacement prevention programs, parks, playgrounds, bike infrastructure, traffic calming, tactical urbanism, backyard chickens, dining decks, and dormers.  From 2010 to 2018, George was the Director of the Planning Division at OSPCD, overseeing long-term planning, development project review. George’s work has included the permitting of transformative redevelopment in Assembly Square, the planning for forthcoming development in Union Square and the creation of a new transit-centered neighborhood to be built at Somerville’s Boynton Yards.

Prior to working in Somerville, George worked in a number of roles for the mill city of Lowell, Massachusetts, where he focused on a city-wide comprehensive plan, downtown redevelopment, neighborhood main streets, and the redevelopment of the 15-acre transit-oriented development site called the “Hamilton Canal District”.

Prior to his work in Lowell, George worked for Syracuse Research Corporation, and the New York State Technology Enterprise Corporation on strategies for rural and urban economic development in Upstate New York.

George served as one of the public-sector directors on the board of the Boston Society of Architects from 2017-2020, is a founding board member of the New England Chapter of the Congress of the New Urbanism and a member of the steering committee of the Form-Based Codes Institute.

George has a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Northeastern University, a Master of Public Administration Degree from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, and a Master of City Planning Degree from MIT.