Meredith Bergstrom’s work in city planning led her to the Walton Family Foundation.
Raised in a family that often moved, Bergstrom spent much of her childhood in San Antonio and lived in Nairobi, Kenya, during high school.
She moved to Northwest Arkansas to attend John Brown University in Siloam Springs and earned a bachelor’s degree in 2008. She developed an interest in city planning as executive director of Main Street Siloam Springs, where she helped strengthen downtown as a hub of economic and civic life.
Before joining the Walton Family Foundation, she worked in urban planning and design with Dover, Kohl & Partners in Miami.
“I was really excited to bring that understanding of how we can preserve what we love, even as the region is rapidly growing, and make it a better place for everyone,” she said.
Bergstrom is an AICP-certified planner and earned a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Southern California in 2020.
She joined the foundation in 2019 as associate program officer. After earning her master’s degree, she was promoted to program officer. She started in her existing role in 2023.
She’s been instrumental in expanding the Northwest Arkansas Design Excellence Program, which recently added land-use planning, broadening its impact from buildings to districts and corridors.
Career highlights include work on the Razorback Greenway corridor plan and a regional growth strategy. A career goal is to earn CNU accreditation.
Bergstrom supports Canopy Northwest Arkansas, Grace Episcopal Church and its food pantry. She enjoys birdwatching, cycling, hiking and reading.
