Office of
COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT
Director Billye Jean Stroud
Phone: 662-534-3438
Email: billyejeanstroud@newalbanymainstreet.com
Address: 135 East Bankhead Street, New Albany, MS 38652
Billye Jean Stroud Nominated for Statewide Planning Advocate Award
The American Planning Association Mississippi Chapter (APA Mississippi) honored innovative planning efforts and inspiring individuals with its 2025 Annual Awards during its October Annual Alabama-Mississippi Joint Conference in Hattiesburg recently.
Ginger Lowery, President of the Mississippi Chapter, presented this year's Planning Advocate award to Billye Jean Stroud, Director of Community Development in New Albany.
APA Mississippi’s awards program is a proud tradition established to recognize outstanding community plans, planning programs and initiatives, public education efforts, and individuals for their leadership on planning issues. These awards, selected through a juried process, recognize those individuals who help create communities of lasting value throughout the state.
This award honors an individual appointed or elected official who has advanced or promoted the cause of planning in the public arena. Examples include engaged citizens demonstrating outstanding leadership in a community, region, or state; appointed officials; elected officials holding office at the local, regional, or state level; and citizen activists or neighborhood leaders.
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“I am deeply honored for this recognition by the American Planning Association’s Mississippi Chapter for our community planning efforts," Stroud said. "This award is not just a reflection of strategic vision, it is a celebration of the people, partnerships, and pride that fuel our progress.
"From revitalizing our downtown to aligning tourism, workforce, and economic development under a unified vision and recognizing the assets we have such as the Park Along the River, The Tallahatchie River, and our future growth through the railroad district ,we have been busy.
"This recognition affirms that small towns can lead boldly. I am grateful to our local leaders, stakeholders, and citizens who continue to dream big and work together. The journey ahead is just as exciting as the path that brought us here.”