Secretary Rebecca L. Flora, AICP, LEED ND / BD+C
Rebecca Flora, AICP, began her service to the State of Maryland in January 2023 as an inaugural member of Governor Moore’s cabinet. She was selected to serve as Secretary for the Maryland Department of Planning (MDP), in part due to the depth of her expertise gained from lived experiences and a multi-disciplinary career that spans more than 40 years across public, non-profit, and private sectors which includes multiple awards for her leadership and advocacy.
Prior to becoming Secretary at MDP, she led the implementation of mixed-use, housing, and economic development projects. She served as LEED AP for the world’s first LEED Gold certified convention center, created innovative new economic development programs such as one of the nation’s first Green Building Products Initiatives, and led teams in the preparation of award-winning regional sustainability and state resiliency plans as well as Pittsburgh’s first climate action plan. Most recently she led the net-zero development of a 178-acre brownfield development site and the creation of a LEED ND platinum certified site master plan (in collaboration with her Planner daughter) that achieved APA’s 2020 Excellence in Sustainability Award.
Secretary Flora’s leadership experience also includes multiple board positions, including chair of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh’s Affordable Housing Advisory Council and first woman chair of the U.S. Green Building Council board working globally to advance green building and carbon reduction practices. She also served 10 years as adjunct professor for Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College where she created one of the nation’s first graduate classes in sustainable community development.
At MDP, Secretary Flora is focused on advancing the agency’s newly developed vision which is “to achieve economic prosperity for all through the development of plans, policies, and places that embrace diversity, treasure shared heritages, and uphold human well-being and ecological regeneration as paramount elements of sustainable growth in Maryland.”
Secretary Flora lives on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and is a proud mom of two grown daughters and Mȇmȇ to two grandsons. She enjoys sailing and kayaking on Maryland’s waters, hiking Maryland’s mountains, and exploring heritage areas and unique places throughout Maryland.
