Kaid Benfield is one of the country’s most steadfast voices for making cities, towns, and neighborhoods work better for both people and the environment. Based in Washington, DC, he is senior counsel at PlaceMakers LLC, a city and town planning consultancy working across the United States and internationally.
Before joining PlaceMakers in 2015, Kaid worked for 33 years as a senior attorney and program director at the Natural Resources Defense Council, where he founded and led the organization’s sustainable communities program and, before that, managed the litigation of some of the organization’s most important legal cases. A prolific public speaker and writer, Kaid’s large portfolio of publications spans several books and over a thousand articles for such publications as The Atlantic, HuffPost, CityLab, and numerous otherwebsites and academic journals.
Kaid was voted one of “the 100 most influential urbanists” worldwide on the prominent city planning website, Planetizen.com, and previously was named one of “the most influential people in sustainable planning and development” by the Partnership for Sustainable Communities and “one of the top 100 city innovators worldwide” by the website Future Cities.
During his tenure at NRDC, Kaid was a co-founder of Smart Growth America, a leading nonprofit organization and nationwide coalition that empowers communities through technical assistance, advocacy and thought leadership to create livable places, healthy people, and shared prosperity. He also co-founded LEED for Neighborhood Development, a national process for defining and certifying smart, environmentally sound land development under the auspices of the US Green Building Council. In addition, Kaid taught law, policy, and best practices for sustainable communities as an adjunct professor at the George Washington University School of Law.
An ardent music buff, longtime cyclist, and enthusiastic sports fan, Kaid grew up in Asheville, North Carolina, and holds degrees from Georgetown University Law Center and Emory University. He lives with his wife Sharon in their favorite walkable DC neighborhood.
Follow Kaid on Twitter @Kaid_in_DC
Listen to an interview with Kaid on on the Active Towns website.