University at Buffalo (UB)
Rana Abu Ghazaleh (MUP ’08)
Rana Abu Ghazaleh during the IPPF Governing Council meeting last November which she chairs as part of her duties as President.
By Tyler Madell (MUP ' 20)
Published March 4, 2019 This content is archived.
In addition to serving as a capital project manager for the City of Alexandria, Va., a major community outside Washington DC, Rana Abu Ghazaleh is a global advocate for social justice and equality for women.
The 2008 Master of Urban Planning graduate was recently elected president of the International Planned Parenthood Federation, a volunteer position that allows her to oversee policy making for the global organization (her three-year term concludes in 2020). Abu Ghazaleh's service to the IPPF dates back 15 years. Prior to her election as president she was the IPPF Arab World Youth Representative.
She has also spoken at several global platforms on international development and urban planning issues.
During her time at UB, Abu Ghazaleh was a Fulbright scholar and specialized her MUP studies on community and international economic development. Abu Ghazaleh earned her bachelor's degree in architectural engineering from Birzeit University in the West Bank, outside Ramallah.
Abu Ghazaleh’s understanding of the intricacies of urban forces, and her passion for women and social complexities, demonstrates the wide sphere of influence for urban planning professionals.
Meanwhile, Abu Ghazaleh is a successful planning professional. Since joining the City of Alexandria in 2011, she has supported the City’s Strategic Facility Plan and the Gleaning (Food Rescue) project at the city's Old Town Farmers Market. The effort salvaged 4,000 pounds of food in four months, all donated to local food pantries and shelters serving the city's low-income and at-risk population.
In 2018, she was selected for the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce's "40 under 40" award.
How did your time at the UB School of Architecture and Planning prepare you for life beyond school? Is there a particular skill, way of working or “approach” to practice/research that you cultivated here at UB and that has been particularly valuable in your professional work today?
At UB I learned the power of telling the story through numbers and statistics in a way that can be easily understood by a layman. I also learned how numbers and statistics can easily be manipulated to tell one side of the story and not the other.
How did you become connected with the International Planned Parenthood Federation?
I volunteered with IPPF at the age of 21. I knew about the Federation through my aunt, who was a social worker there at the time and who introduced me to the value of volunteering. I saw the impact of how knowledge can change the perception and behavior of women and young people who go through trainings and the empowerment this knowledge brings to them when making informed choices about their health and body. This is something that changes you forever....
If you could offer career advice to students, what would it be?
College only gives you the key to think critically and teaches you the means of how to solve problems. What you do with that skill is your responsibility to help make the world better one solution at a time.