With over 35 years of professional experience focused on the practice of land use zoning, neighborhood planning, and historic preservation, Ellen McCarthy is widely recognized for her expertise in reconciling public and private value in urban revitalization. She is the former director of planning for the District of Columbia.

An expert negotiator and mediator, McCarthy is adept at facilitating complex multi-stakeholder land use cases which deliver mixed-use, transit-oriented development, and historic preservation outcomes. She has stewarded hundreds of complex zoning cases including planned unit developments, re-zonings, variances, special exceptions, street and alley closings, roof structure reviews, downtown development district compliance and transfers of development rights, and federal land use, preservation, and environmental reviews.