About
Collaboration with Emilio Jose Brea Garcia & Victor MI. Duran Nunez (2011). Edited volume contextualizes the vernacular architecture of the Dominican Republic within the context of diverse colonial influences, design contexts, and multicultural flows of the Caribbean region.
Wanda Mills-Bocachica, Ph.D.
Founder, Principal Researcher & Conceptual Designer
Dr. Wanda Mills-Bocachica’s professional background exceeds thirty-five (35) years of working with government, business entities, and non-profit organizations. She specializes in evaluating and empowering historic properties, sites, and indigenous communities, histories, and cultural practices with working knowledge in the following regions:
· The United States Atlantic Territories, including the U.S. Virgin Islands & Puerto Rico
· The Northeastern, Southwestern, Southeastern, and Mid-Western United States
· The Hispanic & Francophone Caribbean
· Western, Eastern, and Southern Africa, including the Benin Republic, Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia and South Africa.
· The United States Atlantic Territories, including the U.S. Virgin Islands & Puerto Rico
· The Northeastern, Southwestern, Southeastern, and Mid-Western United States
· The Hispanic & Francophone Caribbean
· Western, Eastern, and Southern Africa, including the Benin Republic, Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia and South Africa.
Mills-Bocachica received her Ph.D. in Urban Planning & Policy Development from Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ). She recently updated her knowledge via studies in Heritage Conservation with the University of Arizona – College of Architecture, Planning & Landscape Architecture (Tucson, AZ). She also received a Master of Planning degree from the University of Puerto Rico, where she contributed to the research and advocacy for early examples of Indigenous Planning in Puerto Rico and the United States. Seminal graduate level research led to the Revitalization of El Barrio San Anton (Ponce, Puerto Rico & the Pinones Bicycle Trai (2000’s). Mills-Bocachica received the Puerto Rico College of Engineers and Land Surveyors award for her outstanding graduate work in Urban Planning at the University of Puerto Rico – Graduate School of Planning (1995). Other significant projects include the conceptual design and coordination of the Moravian Multipurpose Education Center, research on linkages associated with Mexican General Santa Anna’s properties on St. Thomas (Charlotte Amalie, USVI), and the St. Croix Farmers in Action Business Plan. She has also been a contributor to the Indigenous Planning Times magazine, which was founded by alumni of the MIT Community Fellows Program. She is also conducting ongoing research on the creation of Healing Spaces to respond to Mental and Behavioral Health needs. Mills-Bocachica received the Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture from The Ohio State University.
Mills-Bocachica has served on the governing boards for the Federation of Caribbean Architects Associations and the Federation of State Humanities Councils. In 2021-23, she served as a Diversity Fellow with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. She is also affiliated with the Arizona Preservation Foundation, and the Phoenix Chapters of the American Institute of Architects and the American Planning Association.
