Center for Leadership 2026 mTAP Application |
The Center for Leadership, a program of the Urban Land Institute’s Atlanta District Council (ULI Atlanta), invites qualified organizations to submit a project challenge/problem statement for the Center for Leadership (“CFL”) mTAP program. The program offers pro-bono technical assistance to public agencies and nonprofit organizations on a variety of land-use issues. Examples of more recent past projects include:
- Ebeneezer Baptist Church of Atlanta: Create a land-use plan to actualize EBC’s strategic plan. Focusing on: MLK Sr. Community Resources Complex (101 Jackson Street); 26 Jackson Street (vacant quadruples); 410 + 412 Edgewood Ave (vacant lots); and 407 Auburn Ave (vacant lot behind the Historic Ebenezer).
- Atlanta Public Schools (APS) – Lakewood Heights Elementary: APS sought innovative recommendations, an affordability analysis, and creative preservation approaches for the Lakewood Heights Elementary School historic structure.
- Tucker-Northlake CID: “South of the Tracks”: Identify and suggest strategies for candidate parcels for redevelopment, historic properties that should be preserved, or are candidates for adaptive reuse, support the goals of the Downtown Master Plan, are consistent with the land use as established in the Tucker Comprehensive Plan and identify funding and revenue sources for redevelopment.
- Invest Atlanta: Highest and best use analysis for four contiguous parcels located in the Vine City neighborhood immediately west of downtown Atlanta, containing 7.8 acres of property formerly used by Morris Brown College.
To review a complete list of previous mTAPs conducted by CFL Alumni for reference, please visit: https://atlanta.uli.org/resources/mtaps/.
Anticipated timeline for 2025-2026
- September 19, 2025 – deadline for applications
- October 3, 2025 – applicants notified
- Week of October 27, 2025 – accepted proposals presented virtually to CFL class
- November 20, 2025 – projects assigned
- January 9, 2026 – engagement letters finalized
- May 8, 2026 – project completion deadline
Eligibility Criteria Checklist
As a guide for your application, please note that your project should meet the following criteria:
¨ Your project is consistent with ULI’s mission to "Shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide."
¨ You are a public agency, government, or non-profit that is formally established with the ability to act on the mTAP recommendations.
¨ You are a public agency, government, or non-profit organization located in one of the following Georgia MSAs: Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell; Athens–Clarke County; Dalton; Columbus (Cities in Georgia ONLY); Savannah; and Macon.
¨ You have a clearly articulated land use challenge within a defined geographic boundary.
¨ Your project will be ready to start no later than November 2025 and can reasonably be accomplished by volunteer professionals in 4-5 months.
¨ Your project will not require extensive public engagement
¨ Your organization has some ability to implement recommendations, such as ownership of the project site, or regulatory authority to plan and regulate the site
¨ You are willing and able to pay for any out-of-pocket costs (such as buying specialized data), or other arrangements can be made to cover these costs. (NOTE: Incurring costs is not typical.)
¨ Working on your project will allow the team to have the opportunity to have a direct and positive impact on your organization and the community.
¨ As a general rule of thumb, your project should have a level of effort equivalent to about $15,000-$20,000 in consultant fees.
If you need help crafting your proposal to ensure the scope of your project is appropriate, please contact the mTAP chairs listed below.
Allison Stewart-Harris – mTAP Chair
Associate Principal, Planning Studio Manager | Planner, AICP
TSW
Tele: (470) 751-2474 astewart-harris@tsw-design.com
Niti Gajjar - mTAP Co-Chair
Project Architect – AICP, RA, NCARB
Cooper Carry
Tele: (404) 230-5107 nitigajjar@coopercarry.com
As a guide for your application, please note that your project should meet the following criteria:
¨ Your project is consistent with ULI’s mission to "Shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide."
¨ You are a public agency, government, or non-profit that is formally established with the ability to act on the mTAP recommendations.
¨ You are a public agency, government, or non-profit organization located in one of the following Georgia MSAs: Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell; Athens–Clarke County; Dalton; Columbus (Cities in Georgia ONLY); Savannah; and Macon.
¨ You have a clearly articulated land use challenge within a defined geographic boundary.
¨ Your project will be ready to start no later than November 2025 and can reasonably be accomplished by volunteer professionals in 4-5 months.
¨ Your project will not require extensive public engagement
¨ Your organization has some ability to implement recommendations, such as ownership of the project site, or regulatory authority to plan and regulate the site
¨ You are willing and able to pay for any out-of-pocket costs (such as buying specialized data), or other arrangements can be made to cover these costs. (NOTE: Incurring costs is not typical.)
¨ Working on your project will allow the team to have the opportunity to have a direct and positive impact on your organization and the community.
¨ As a general rule of thumb, your project should have a level of effort equivalent to about $15,000-$20,000 in consultant fees.
If you need help crafting your proposal to ensure the scope of your project is appropriate, please contact the mTAP chairs listed below.
Allison Stewart-Harris – mTAP Chair
Associate Principal, Planning Studio Manager | Planner, AICP
TSW
Tele: (470) 751-2474 astewart-harris@tsw-design.com
Niti Gajjar - mTAP Co-Chair
Project Architect – AICP, RA, NCARB
Cooper Carry
Tele: (404) 230-5107 nitigajjar@coopercarry.com