Malaika Abernathy comes to the Office of Planning (OP) from the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission in Montgomery County, Maryland where she worked for five years as a senior planner for the community-based planning division. Her work at the commission involved land use planning for areas covering the Agricultural Preserve and parts of Silver Spring and Takoma Park. In particular, she worked on the approved and adopted, 2006 Damascus Master Plan and began work on the Takoma/Langley Crossroads Sector Plan, a bi-county planning effort to guide development surrounding the future Purple Line transit station.

Prior to working in Montgomery County, Abernathy worked for the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments as a transportation planner for two and half years. Abernathy holds an undergraduate degree from the Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio and a master’s degree from the University of Cincinnati in community planning with a specialization in physical and land use planning. Abernathy is a member of the American Planning Association and the presiding secretary of the National Capital Area Chapter of APA.