PHILADELPHIA –  Mayor Jim Kenney has accepted the resignation of Deputy Mayor Anne Fadullon, Director of the Department of Planning and Development (DPD). The Mayor has named Eleanor Sharpe as Acting Director.

Fadullon will remain on in her current capacity until August 23, when Sharpe will fill the position. Sharpe is currently Deputy Director of DPD for Planning and Zoning and Executive Director of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission (PCPC). Martha Cross will be promoted from her current position as Deputy Director of the Division of Planning and Zoning within DPD to assume additional responsibilities.

Mayor Kenney named Fadullon as Philadelphia’s first Director of Planning and Development at the outset of his administration. DPD was created by the merger of six entities – PCPC, Philadelphia Historical Commission (PHC), Art Commission, Development Services, Office of Housing and Community Development, and administration of the Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) – pursuant to a City Charter change adopted by voters in 2015. Concurrent to launching DPD, Fadullon led the consolidation of three quasi-public land use and affordable housing agencies into the full-service community development organization PHDC.

“The tireless efforts of Anne and her team have resulted in a Department of Planning and Development that is well-coordinated, high-quality, inclusive, and responsive,” said Mayor Kenney. “DPD’s work supported the continued strength of the development sector throughout the pandemic, and its partnership with PHDC dispersed nearly $300 million dollars to Philadelphia households to keep families in their homes. I am grateful to Anne for her service, and I wish her all the best in the next chapter of her career.”

Under Fadullon’s leadership, DPD’s divisions completed the first citywide Comprehensive Plan produced in 50 years, actively supported dozens of large development projects with a total economic impact of more than $540 million and recorded the production and preservation of 57,000 housing units under the City’s ten-year Housing Action Plan.

Fadullon has more than 30 years of private and public sector development experience. She holds a bachelor’s degree in urban studies and economics from Lehigh University and a Master of City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania.

“Serving as Director of the Department of Planning and Development has been an honor and a joy,” said Deputy Mayor Anne Fadullon. “Each and every member of the Planning and Development team brings the best of themselves to the work and I am continually amazed by all that has been accomplished through their efforts. It will be difficult to leave this incredible community, but it helps to know that I am leaving DPD in Eleanor’s good hands.”

“Eleanor has been a senior leader at DPD since its beginning and just marked her 10-year anniversary at PCPC,” stated Mayor Kenney. “I am fully confident that she will provide strong and stable leadership in the role of Acting DPD Director.”

Since June 2017, Sharpe has held a dual appointment as DPD Deputy Director, responsible for overseeing DPD’s Division of Planning and Zoning, and as Executive Director of PCPC. The Division encompasses PCPC, PHC, Art Commission, and administration of the ZBA.

Sharpe spearheaded the development of Planning and Equity: A Commitment to Change, a pledge to acknowledge and remedy harms that planning institutions have caused to communities of color. To date the planning directors of 36 cities and counties across the nation have signed on to the pledge.

“I will be delighted to serve as Acting Director of DPD,” said incoming Interim DPD Director Eleanor Sharpe. “Our dedicated and talented staff will continue to work together to engage communities in shaping their neighborhoods and their futures.”

Before assuming the dual appointment she currently holds, Sharpe served as PCPC’s Deputy Executive Director, Director of Planning for the City of New Rochelle, and Associate Director of the Netter Center for Community Partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania. Sharpe has a Bachelor of Architecture from Howard University and a Master of City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania.

Prior to joining City government, Martha Cross worked as an urban design and planning consultant in eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey and led development activities for a non-profit real estate company working in Baltimore and New Jersey. Cross holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Carnegie Mellon University, a Master of City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA from the Villanova School of Business.

Headshots of Anne Fadullon and Eleanor Sharpe are available online. Contact Karen Guss at the Department of Planning and Development at karen.guss@phila.gov for a headshot of Martha Cross.