Michelle Morrison
Title: Planner II
Organization: East Central Florida Regional Planning Council
Location: Orlando, Florida
Michelle carries a lifelong passion for health and well-being, from working with individuals and small groups as a holistic health coach to community-based work with the local health foundation and the planning council. She was lured to the field of planning after learning about the influence of the built environment on health while attending Dr. Richard Jackson’s presentation titled “Building the Walkable City”. This prompted her to complete a Master of Science in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Central Florida in addition to her Master of Science in Engineering. Prior to joining the East Central Florida Regional Planning (ECFRPC) Council, Ms. Morrison lead the pedestrian and bicycle efforts for the Winter Park Health Foundation’s Healthy Central Florida Initiative.
Ms. Morrison’s work with the ECFRPC centers around resilience of people, prosperity, and place. She recently completed work on two resilience projects –a comprehensive plan resilience element and a regional food systems resilience plan. The resilience element was the first inland resilience element in Florida and received an award from the National Association of Development Organizations. The element addressed social and economic vulnerabilities in addition to environmental stresses. The regional food systems resiliency project analyzed gaps in food policy and infrastructure to create a regional food resilience action plan. She is currently leading projects to rewrite comprehensive plans, directing future land use, infrastructure, housing, conservation, economic, and equity decisions for the next 20-years.
Ms. Morrison has been a Floridian since childhood and relishes being able to enjoy the outdoors 365 days a year, walking 20K steps on most days. Her dream is to make it easier for residents to be healthy—to create places and spaces where people are compelled to actively and safely commute, access healthy foods, and build social connection.