Anaiah brings two decades of experience in land development and urban planning, offering school districts an invaluable dual perspective shaped by years of navigating complex development projects from both sides of the permitting counter.

Anaiah began his career in earnest with the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) where he worked as an environmental planning consultant for school districts across Texas.

After nearly a decade with TASB, he transitioned into the public sector with the City of Austin’s Development Services Department, where, as Planner Principal, he led cross-functional review teams and managed strategic initiatives such as overseeing the implementation and negotiation of public school Inter-Local Agreements (ILAs) concerning development standards. He is recognized for designing and implementing a conflict-resolution framework that dramatically improved the City’s internal review process, cutting delays from more than a year to under a month.

In the private sector, Anaiah has worked as a Senior Project Manager at one of Austin’s leading land use law firms, guiding clients from due diligence and acquisition through to final approvals, including working with public school districts on bond projects and the negotiation of ILAs with municipalities.

Additionally, Anaiah has private development experience, having served as Land Planning & Entitlement Manager for PulteGroup, the nation’s third-largest homebuilder, where he oversaw entitlement processes for a portfolio of more than 30 concurrent projects, each with budgets well into the nine-figure range.

At Johnson Urbina Consulting, Anaiah advises school districts on entitlement strategies, permit navigation, and land use policy advocacy in Austin and across Texas. His approach reduces risk, provides clarity on approval pathways, and positions school districts to succeed in a regulatory and political environment that is often unpredictable.

Anaiah is the immediate past president of the Central Texas Chapter of the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) and still maintains a board seat. He also serves on the Policy Committee for the Real Estate Council of Austin (RECA) as well as the City of Austin’s Technical Advisory Review Panel (TARP). He is also a member of the Association for Learning Environments (A4LE).

He holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Texas at Arlington, a Bachelor’s degree in Geography from the University of North Texas, and a professional CNU-A accreditation from the University of Miami.