Barry Hokanson

PLN Associates

Barry Hokanson has more than 45 years of urban planning experience with agencies in California, Texas, Kansas, Iowa, and Illinois concerning environmental and development regulations, building codes, transportation planning, strategic planning, community development, economic development, stormwater management, and post-disaster recovery planning.

Before working as a subcontractor in FEMA’s community recovery program for Louisiana, Texas, Tennessee and New York (2005 to 2014), Hokanson held executive positions in regions such as Kansas City, Chicago and Dallas. He is active in professional organizations, including the American Planning Association, American Institute of Certified Planners, Natural Hazard Mitigation Association, and the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association.

In 2013, he was appointed to a committee of the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, for Post-Disaster Recovery of a Community’s Public Health, Medical and Social Services. In 2015 he was elected chair of APA’s division titled Hazard Mitigation and Disaster Recovery Planning.

Hokanson is one of five authors of the 2014 APA report, Planning for Post-Disaster Recovery: Next Generation. He currently serves as an advisor and instructor with the National Disaster Preparedness Training Center at the University of Hawaii, and as a member of the Natural Hazard Workshop Planning Committee for the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado Boulder. In 2017, he was selected as a consultant for North Carolina recovery from the effects of Hurricane Matthew. He holds a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Iowa.