Candidate Statement: Dani Schulte AICP

Dani graduated from Portland State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Spanish Language & Literature in 2014, and went back to complete the Master of Urban and Regional Planning program in 2018. Although she has visited a lot of places in the world, her home has always been Oregon. She has been fortunate to travel abroad and learn how other cultures and countries have solved problems like affordable housing and transportation and bring those solutions back home to consider local applications. She is most passionate about environmental justice, and all the ways other planning realms intersect with it. She hopes to help OAPA connect with and better serve rural planners.

Dani is the Transportation Planner and Interim Transit Program Manager for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation near Pendleton, Oregon, and a descendant of the Oglala Lakota people. She spent 4 years as the OAPA Emerging Planners Group Chair before taking a break to enjoy some dedicated mom time.

She serves on the Northeast Area Commission on Transportation, the ODOT Safe Routes Advisory Committee, and the Walla Walla Valley Policy Board. She appreciates the opportunity to work for a tribal government, where the community takes climate change seriously, and understands that taking care of the land is a critical component of taking care of the people. In April, she completed an overhaul of the Transportation System Plan with extensive community input, and the result was a pedestrian-first plan in a rural community.

On her days off she enjoys doing craft projects, acting as a human jungle gym for her toddler, and hiking with her German Shepherd. Dani likes to read sci-fi and fantasy, preferably in audiobook format so she can read while knitting and hiking.