As a senior vice president at AKRF, Nanette Bourne is a leader in both her firm, her community and her field

Every community-whether a small suburban enclave or a bustling neighborhood within a big city - has a delicate and unique balance of needs, defined by the people who live there. A senior vice president at environmental, planning, and engineering firm AKRF, Nanette Bourne has spent more than 20 years as a planner, working with both municipalities and developers to figure out that balance and create livable and sustainable communities. At AKRF, Bourne is among a number of women who are leaders both within the firm and their respective fields. Each has helped establish the firm as a leader in the areas of engineering, planning and environmental services. Bourne's ability to create plans with a socially aware bent makes her an integral part of that success. Highly-regarded for her planning expertise, Bourne has become a trusted partner of communities throughout Westchester County. As village planner for Mount Kisco, she helped revitalize the downtown area that not only sparked new business and enhanced the village's aesthetic appeal, but also won planning and urban design awards. Bourne and her team integrated two sides of a downtown, previously separated by a poorly maintained parking lot, and transformed the area into a community amenity with an attractively landscaped parking area and pedestrian-scale, double-sided store fronts, all within a park-like setting. Bourne prides herself on bringing a community perspective to her job, in addition to fulfilling the typical planner's role of orchestrating vital pieces of a community in a way that is responsible and economically viable. When working on a project, Bourne examines the community's needs and values, enabling her to develop a plan that benefits local residents, is respectful of the natural environment, and expands its tax base. Bourne also believes her clients can save money, by evaluating at the start of the process what is feasible and likely to be approved by the community quickly, and what ideas overlook the needs of the surrounding area. Since 1995, Bourne has represented General Motors in their disposition of 100 acres of surplus property in the village of Sleepy Hollow. She was part of a design team that drafted the development principles to guide growth on the site and deftly managed the review and approvals process for the proposed transit-oriented, mixed-use development on the waterfront. Her continuing professional relationship with these communities bears testimony to the caliber of her work. Since 1995, AKRF has been working with the city of Yonkers on the Waterfront Redevelopment Plan for Alexander St. Bourne most recently worked on the next segment of the city's effort to redevelop a mixed-use waterfront community in the northern reaches of the city. She also serves as project manager for Tuxedo Reserve in Orange County, which required expansive analysis under the State Environmental Quality Review Act. The project innovatively integrates smart growth into a traditional neighborhood design, including residential units and neighborhood-scale commercial development, preservation of wetlands and sensitive environmental habitats, as well as an extensive traffic impact and monitoring plan. Her commitment to building communities extends beyond her work life - she travels frequently to Nicaragua as a dedicated participant of "Bridges to Community," the non-profit community development organization that builds houses for materially poor communities. Through this program, Bourne formed strong bonds with other area business leaders, who enjoy traveling to Nicaragua to build homes. She acknowledges that as physically and mentally demanding as the program is, "it gives back to me more than I give to it." AKRF brings together the talents of more than 200 employees in six locations throughout the Northeast - New York City, White Plains, Long Island, New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland - to handle a wide variety of projects for public agencies, private clients, and municipalities. The firm's combination of reliability and expertise encourages a high level of development and implementation of projects that in turn spur revitalization in communities throughout the country, securing vibrant futures for these areas. With its full range of services, AKRF continues to serve as a one-stop environmental, planning, and engineering resource for developers and municipalities, ensuring that the region's most important projects move forward successfully.