Nina Idemudia
CEO of Center for Neighborhood Technology
Nina Idemudia is one of Crain’s Chicago Business 2024 40 under 40. Nina joined CNT in September 2023 as our CEO. As a native Detroiter, Nina understands firsthand how the built environment shapes the lives of society’s most vulnerable populations. This fuels her passion for empowering people to be change agents through urban planning.
Previously, she served as Chicago Recovery Plan Director for the Chicago Department of Planning and Development, where her primary focus was to ensure equitable grant distribution across 11 critical program initiatives supporting Chicago’s economic revival. In addition to overseeing a staff of 19 and dozens of delegate agency contracts, Nina helped create and lead a data management and impact team to create new standards for how the department analyzes its economic investments for equitable outcomes.
She has also helped to lead MUSE Community + Design, where she served as Director of Planning, and has previously served as a planner for the City of Los Angeles.
Nina specializes in equitable community development, inclusive outreach strategies, and organizational innovation for planning agencies.
Earlier this year, Nina was named as one of Chicago’s “40 Under 40 leaders addressing corporate challenges and meeting social service needs, building neighborhoods and bolstering communities” by Crain’s Chicago Business newspaper. She also has received multiple awards from the American Planning Association; is a Next City Vanguard Fellow, a New Leaders Council Fellow, and a University of Chicago Civic Leadership Academy Fellow; and was also honored with a SHEro award by Los Angeles Councilmember Curren D. Price, Jr. for her community leadership.
In 2021, Nina was elected the first Black President for the Illinois Chapter of the American Planning Association and now sits on the National Board of Directors. She was also recently reappointed by Major Brandon Johnson as a board member of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, the MPO for southeast Illinois. Nina is also an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs.
Nina is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the University of Southern California.
In his compelling keynote, Mick Cornett explores the transformative power of civic leadership and urban innovation. Drawing from his 14-year tenure as mayor of Oklahoma City, Cornett shares how strategic planning, inclusive growth, and bold vision can reshape a city’s identity and improve quality of life.