While working for the city of Orlando, Fla., Linda Painter received the advice that has shaped her career. “Your job,” her boss told her, “is to take the rocks out of the stream to keep the water moving.”
“That one comment redefined how I looked at my role as both a planner and a leader,” Painter wrote in her Forty Under 40 application. “My job is to help others succeed.”
For five years, Painter has put that idea into practice as deputy director of the Providence Department of Planning and Development. As head of operations for the 46-person department, she has had a hand in a wide variety of high-profile initiatives, from the Iway project to planning for the future of RIPTA. She supervised the award-winning overhaul of the city’s comprehensive plan and managed the Downtown Neighborhood Plan, as well.
Painter, who grew up in Connecticut, earned both her bachelor’s degree and then her master’s in community and regional planning at the University of Texas. After graduating, she took her first job in the Orlando city planning department. After four years there, Painter took a job with EDAW Inc., where her first major project was, ironically, developing a new plan for downtown Orlando. She returned to work for the city from 2000 to 2003 before coming to Providence.
“Providence offered everything that I was looking for in a city,” Painter explained in her application. “History, charm, diversity, walkable neighborhoods and a commitment to improving the physical environment for all of its residents.”
Outside of work, Painter is involved in professional organizations as a member of the Rhode Island chapter of the American Planning Association and as a certified professional planner with the American Institute of Certified Planners, as well as a member of the Congress for the New Urbanism. •
