The Chester County Planning Commission has a number of behind-the-scenes roles that are vital to the organization’s day-to-day activities and successes. Our Administrations and Communications team serves as one of these roles, and this month we’re highlighting one of our Administrative Support team members, Nancy Shields!

As part of the Administration and Communications team, Nancy is the primary administrative support for the Planning Commission’s Community Planning division Director, which includes contract processing for the Municipal Vision Partnership Program (VPP) as well as technical services invoicing. She also supports the Environment and Infrastructure and Design and Technology divisions, works alongside the Senior Demographer to collect and report the county’s Protected Open Space Tracking System (POST) each year, and serves as the assistant to the Senior Review Planner for Municipal Agricultural Security Area 7 year reviews.

Nancy was also the lead administrative support for Landscapes3 (the county’s comprehensive plan), and was responsible for organizing all meetings (23 in all) and communicating with stakeholders and members of the steering committee on a regular basis. She also coordinates the Planning Commission’s spring and fall Planners’ Forums, as well as some of the staff’s social committee activities.

When given the chance, Nancy often lends her time helping out other county departments such as Voter Services (where she has been an Election Day Roamer for the past five years), assisting the county Health Department with Corona Virus testing traffic control and registration verification, and participating in TMACC’s annual bike to work event.

While she enjoys working with everyone at the Planning Commission, Nancy’s favorite activity is coordinating the county’s Town Tours and Village Walks summer series where she often discovers hidden gems throughout Chester County in her conversations and working with members of the historical committees.

Although Nancy loves Chester County, she is originally from upstate New York and her true passion is international travel. In fact, over the past several years, she has had the privilege to travel to Thailand, Vietnam, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda. When asked to describe her recent travel experience, Nancy commented, “Each place had their own unique quality, from bathing elephants in the rivers of Thailand, to searching for gorilla families in the jungles of Uganda.”

In her spare time, Nancy is always on the move and can rarely be found in one location. Some of her hobbies include interval training and yoga at the YMCA, hiking or biking on a local trail, or skiing down the slopes in the winter months.

One of Nancy’s favorite quotes is “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream,” by C.S. Lewis, and needless to say, she is looking forward to her next adventure when we’re free to travel again!