Ray Cabrera

Director

Ray leads inclusive planning, policy, strategy, and economic development work that aligns community goals with implementable outcomes.

Ray brings nearly 20 years of experience working to improve the built environment and the too-often overlooked urban systems that shape daily life for communities too often left out of city-building conversations. He has helped make cities more livable, just, and sustainable by leading community engagement, higher education, and public space planning initiatives.

Based in HR&A’s LA Office, Ray leads inclusive planning, policy, and economic development work that advances equitable outcomes for historically marginalized communities. He partners with clients and community stakeholders to translate priorities into clear, implementable recommendations, with an emphasis on changing the structures and practices that sustain an unjust status quo. Ray grounds his work in empathy and collaboration, taking time to understand the experiences of those most impacted, and communicating complex ideas in accessible and compelling ways.

As a Phoenix native, Ray built his early career in his hometown at the intersection of placemaking, public space planning, and building community partnerships. While at Downtown Phoenix Inc., he advanced efforts to strengthen walkability and street-level vitality through public realm improvements, urban greening, public art, and activation strategies in close collaboration with residents and local stakeholders. He later served as a strategic connector at Arizona State University’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, where he built cross-sector partnerships and facilitated a strategic planning process for The Design School that expanded community engagement and helped reimagine design education to be more collaborative and radically accessible.

Ray holds a Master of Urban and Environmental Planning and a B.S.D. in Housing and Urban Development from Arizona State University.