Born in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands and having lived in cities like Houston, Los Angeles and New York City, Regina Joy Alcazar's perspective of urban environments is diverse with experience. As an urban planner, Alcazar’s multidisciplinary approach and ability to communicate across diverse personalities creates people-driven platforms, utilizing technology and data for inclusive, diverse and equitable solutions for communities.

Previously, Alcazar worked for six years at social enterprise and consulting firm, Community Arts Resources where she managed community engagement and marketing initiatives that informed cultural‭, ‬transportation and placemaking master plans in various communities across Southern California. Working alongside cities and stakeholders, she oversaw the processes of data creation and analysis to inform policy change‭.‬ In 2018, her team’s work was recognized by the American Planning Association of Los Angeles Section, and the California Chapter, with Economic Planning and Development Awards for Go Little Tokyo, an innovative cultural preservation and neighborhood marketing campaign for Little Tokyo, Los Angeles.

During her candidacy at GSAPP, Alcazar shifted from small to large datasets, focusing her research on understanding how both public and private sectors make decisions using big data‭, ‬and furthermore‭, ‬how those decisions affect marginalized communities‭. She explores questions of equity through her passion for empowering communities through data and technology.

Alcazar has a Bachelor of Science in Policy, Planning and Development with an emphasis in Sustainable Planning from the University of Southern California's Sol Price School of Public Policy and recently completed a Master of Science in Urban Planning candidate, with a concentration in Urban Analytics, from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.