Skip to content

Meet Seattle’s first indigenous planner

Tim Lehman (Northern Arapaho) didn’t set out to become Seattle’s first Indigenous planning strategist. As a teen, he was drawn to the hands-on craft of masonry. It wasn’t until his time at the University of Washington (UW) — and a FEMA-supported coastal hazard mitigation project — that he discovered a love for design. That turning point launched a career grounded in equity, environmental justice and community-rooted planning. After earning dual master’s degrees in urban planning and landscape architecture from the…