Urban Planner. Organizer. Writer. Musician.

Bio

Mare Liam Ralph, AICP, is a Chicago-based writer, organizer, and urban planner. Their research interests include gender-inclusive planning, public and social housing, design justice, identity in design and the built environment, and the privatization and criminalization of public space.

Ralph was a Winter 2025 Civic Reporting Fellow at City Bureau, a non-profit journalism lab, and worked in policy advocacy at Housing Action Illinois. They co-authored a report by Housing Action Illinois and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Code Enforcement as a Tool for Safe, Equitable & Affordable Housing, culminating three years of research on the impact of local housing code enforcement on health, safety, and stability. Ralph holds a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning and Policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago and was a member of the Housing and Neighborhoods Research Team for We Will Chicago, the first citywide framework plan since 1966.

Ralph has organized space for queer and transgender youth as a co-founder of Out Loud Louisville and sits on the board of Girls Rock! Chicago. They coordinate mutual aid distributing fresh food to South Side neighbors with Market Box and live in the South Shore neighborhood with their partner, dog, and cats.