Zenaid Santos

Zenaid joined MPC in May 2021 as a Fulbright Research Fellow offering research, analysis, and visualization support to various teams. Prior to joining MPC, she researched transportation equity metrics for Cook County to help local government make transportation investments more equitably in the region. 

Zenaid received a master’s degree in urban planning and policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she focused on transportation planning and the implementation of different modes in cities. During her studies, she developed different projects ranging from complete streets plans, transportation impact studies, and a comprehensive plan for the Village of Dolton, which received APA-IL Student Project Award in 2020. Zenaid completed her master’s in Chicago under the Fulbright Scholarship that was granted in 2019 in her home country, Angola. 

Previously, Zenaid practiced architecture in a consulting firm in Luanda, Angola, in projects at a range of scales and stages of the process. She received her B. Arch from the Federal University of Viçosa in Minas Gerais, Brazil, having graduated with a final project that allowed her to represent her university in Archiprix, an international event that showcases the best architecture graduation projects from around the world. 

Zenaid currently resides in Chicago and enjoys exploring the city and its parks is her favorite Sunday after church activity. She also enjoys taking time to draw and paint and planning her yearly marathon of Lord of the Rings. 

Read Zenaid’s MPC Spotlight