Gideon Berger is an urban planner with more than 18 years of multi-sector experience using an interdisciplinary approach to help cities achieve their community development goals. As program director for the City Parks Alliance (CPA), Gideon oversees and provides comprehensive strategic direction as a convener, connector, and curator of leading-edge information to position parks for 21st century urban needs. He is responsible for curating the biennial Greater & Greener conference, leading CPA’s program team to deliver a range of in-person and virtual learning opportunities, and providing strategic direction for research projects.
Gideon has deep roots in local government, including serving as transportation planning manager for Arlington County (VA), leading land-use planning as a senior city planner for the City & County of Denver, as a transportation planning consultant with Fehr & Peers, and as a transit-oriented development planner with Denver’s Regional Transportation District. For nearly nine years he served as fellowship program director for the Rose Center for Public Leadership in Land Use, a technical assistance and professional development program for city leaders jointly operated by two professional membership organizations, the Urban Land Institute and National League of Cities. Just before coming to CPA, Gideon led project management, policy analysis, event programming, and corporate fundraising as senior policy program manager for the Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center. He also previously taught an urban planning graduate studio at the University of Colorado Denver, was board chair of the nonprofit pedestrian advocacy organization WalkDenver, and was an economic development researcher for the Center City District in Philadelphia.
Prior to becoming an urban planner, Gideon had a decade-long career in public communication, including serving as research director for two editions of the Almanac of American Politics while at National Journal magazine, as an environmental journalist with Greenwire, reporting for community newspapers in New Jersey and Long Island, and as website producer for the Nature Conservancy.
Gideon holds a master of city planning degree from the University of Pennsylvania, a B.A. in communications from American University, and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners of the American Planning Association. He co-authored several research reports on housing finance and racial homeownership gaps for the Urban Institute and has been published on the CitiesSpeak website, in Urban Land magazine, the Confluence Denver website, Next American City, Planetizen, The Hill, Nature Conservancy magazine, and National Journal. Gideon has been a moderator and panelist at national conferences of NeighborWorks America, the American Planning Association, National Alliance of Community Economic Development Associations, National Building Museum, Rail~Volution, Congress for the New Urbanism, and numerous state and local organizations, and has been interviewed about urban planning on NPR’s “All Things Considered.”
