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  • GIOVANNY VALENCIA

Giovanny Valencia

Zoning Board of Appeal member

Giovanny is a community organizer, with a background in architecture and urban planning. Before moving to the United States, he was involved in community affairs and politics through campaigning and supporting local and national candidates in his natal Colombia. His community work in Bogota included developing projects and strategies focused on relief efforts related to natural disasters, such as landslides, affecting low-income communities in the mountains around the city. He studied Architecture at LaSalle University and Urban Affairs at the National University of Colombia. Soon after graduating, Giovanny moved to Guatemala to teach architecture and urban planning at a university in Guatemala. He also volunteered as a computer teacher in an elementary school serving homeless children.

Since moving to the United States in 2006, Giovanny has been deeply engaged in the community, supporting different initiatives around education, civic engagement, and affordable housing. He also serves on different boards for nonprofit organizations in Boston. Giovanny spent the last decade working with different communities across the City of Boston, empowering and supporting grassroots initiatives.

Currently, he is the Vice President of Community Planning at the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (JPNDC), an organization that he joined in 2014. During this time, he has focused on building support for the creation and preservation of hundreds of affordable homes in Jamaica Plain and Roxbury.

He lives in West Roxbury with his family, and his children attend the Boston Public Schools.

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