Speakers

Bill Anderson

Princpal, AECOM and President-Elect, APA

Mr. Anderson, FAICP, is a Princpal/Vice-President at AECOM, overseeing the Economics + Planning practice for the western offices. Previously, he was Director of City Planning & Community Investment for the City of San Diego, where he oversaw Planning, Economic Development, Redevelopment, Urban Form, and Facilities Financing. In this capacity, he directed the update to San Diego’s General Plan, which received APA’s Daniel Burnham Award for Excellence in Comprehensive Planning.

Prior to his tenure at the City of San Diego, he was a Senior Vice-President with Economics Research Associates, where he worked on almost 300 assignments in twenty states and eight countries. From 1995-2003, he was a member and chair of the City of San Diego Planning Commission. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of APA as President-Elect, co-chaired APA’s “Sustaining Places” initiative, and is a member of the California Planning Roundtable.

Mr. Anderson is a Full Member of ULI’s Inner City Council, Lambda Alpha, and was President of C-3, San Diego’s oldest local planning and conservation advocacy group. He has a B.A. from Claremont McKenna College, and a Masters in City & Regional Planning from Harvard University.

Marsha Anderson Bomar

Senior Principal, Stantec

In 1990, Ms. Anderson Bomar founded Street Smarts, a transportation planning, engineering and design firm which she sold to Stantec in October 2010. Currently she is a Senior Principal with Stantec serving as Transportation Ambassador for the company.

She was the first woman International President of the Institute of Transportation Engineers and served as the President of the Transportation and Development Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Marsha is passionate about the relationship between transportation and land use; her experience in many modes, including truck and rail, transit and general transportation planning give her a broad perspective on options for moving people and goods. She also chairs a Transportation Research Board committee on Women’s Issues in Transportation.

Marsha holds a Masters of Civil Engineering from Princeton University, and is currently serving her second term on the Duluth (GA) City Council.

Joy Bailey Bryant

Principal Consultant, Lord Cultural Resources

Joy Bailey Bryant is Principal Consultant for Cultural Planning at Lord Cultural Resources. With a network of offices in Toronto, New York, Paris, Beijing, and Mumbai, Lord Cultural Resources has grown to become the largest cultural planning firm in the world having completed over 2,000 cultural planning and management projects in 51 countries and on 6 continents.
 


A cultural planning specialist, certified interpretive planner, and outreach facilitator, Joy works with city officials, institutional leaders, and developers, in global municipalities like Chicago; New York; Dhaka, Bangladesh; and Dharan, Saudi Arabia to creatively plan cities and bring people (life!) to public institutions. Joy led the teams for institutional and cultural planning on remarkable projects like the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.; the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center, and planning and opening the expansion of the Albany Civil Rights Institute in Albany, Georgia—unearthing thousands of untold stories of the Southwest Georgia Civil Rights Movement.

Driven by the engagement philosophy of “meet people where they are,” Joy has authored several articles on community engagement including, Planning for Community Needs, in the third edition of the Manual of Museum Planning. The article is designed to empower staff at cultural institutions to reach beyond their “typical” audience. Following her mantra, Joy is willing to “follow the crowd,” holding meetings at festivals, conferences, on social media, churches, community centers, schools, and even bars.

Before joining Lord, Joy was on the transition team at the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) evolving the General Operating Support (GOS) grant to the Museums for American grant, the agency’s leading award for museums. A native of Atlanta, Joy began her cultural career at the Braves Museum at Turner Field. Joy completed her M.A. in Arts Management from American University in Washington, D.C. and her B.Sc. in Public Relations from Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida.

Bob Berkebile

Senior Principal, BNIM

Any list of accomplished, influential environmentalists and preservationists includes Bob Berkebile. Highly regarded by fellow professionals, Bob focuses on improving the quality of life in our society with the integrity and spirit of his firm’s work. In 2009, Bob received a Heinz Award from Theresa Heinz and the Heinz Family Foundation for his role in promoting green building design and for his commitment and action towards restoring social, economic and environmental vitality to America’s communities through sustainable architecture and planning. He was also listed as number 3 on a list of the Top 5 U.S. Individual Role Models for green and sustainable design in the 2009 Design Intelligence Sustainable Design Survey.

Ronald E. Bogle

President & CEO, American Architectural Foundation

In 2002, Ron Bogle was named the seventh president/CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based American Architectural Foundation (AAF). With the appointment, Bogle brought to the position a career-long commitment to public service and his lifelong passion for community development, civic engagement, education, art and architecture.

Bogle continues to be an innovative leader. His professional interests include the impact of local community design choices and processes on community development, urban neighborhood revitalization, civic engagement, quality of life and governance systems in educational institutions and municipalities. Under his leadership, AAF has significantly expanded its program scope and impact.

At AAF, Bogle’s efforts are squarely focused on creating and sustaining programs to identify and advance best practices for the design of livable communities across the country. He also created and leads Great Schools by Design, a national AAF program that provides resources to local community and educational leaders engaged in K-12 school facility design and construction. In addition, he is the managing partner of the Mayors’ Institute on City Design, a renowned program co-sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, the US Conference of Mayors and AAF that provides innovative city planning and design resources to mayors across the country. In November 2004, Bogle was appointed by Secretary of State Colin Powell to the National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

In 2013 Bogle will launch AAF’s Center for Design and the City which will elevate the role of design at the intersection of public policy, technology and innovation when addressing the challenges and opportunities faced by metropolitan areas.

Bogle’s professional experience includes senior leadership appointments in higher education, business and non-profit fields. A native of Oklahoma City, he served nine years on the Oklahoma City Board of Education and several years as the Board’s President. While in Oklahoma, Bogle was a leader in two major initiatives resulting in over $1 billion in public-funded support to transform the commercial and cultural viability of the city’s urban center by replacing or restoring a wide range of civic and educational facilities.

Additionally, as part of a decade-long plan to strengthen urban neighborhoods and create a model urban school district, Bogle co-founded and helped lead a community-wide initiative resulting in $700 million taxpayer support to replace or renovate every public school facility in Oklahoma City. On a per pupil basis, the measure is believed to have been the largest public school financing initiative in the nation at that time. Former Oklahoma City Mayor Kirk Humphreys added, “Ron provided invaluable leadership behind the successful initiative to rebuild our entire school district, an endeavor rivaling any in the country for its innovation, scope and scale of inclusive support.”

Harold Adams, CEO Emeritus of the international architectural firm RTKL and former Chair of the AAF Board of Regents stated, “Ron’s judgment and experience as a visionary and civic leader behind one of the nation’s largest community revitalization initiatives contributes considerably to the AAF’s focus on using architecture to enhance community life. Ron’s experience and passions give him a decidedly distinctive grasp of our opportunities and challenges at the community level.”

The American Architectural Foundation (AAF) is a national nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that educates individuals and communities about the power of architecture to transform lives and improve the places where we live, learn, work, and play. For more information, please visit: www.archfoundation.org.

Alan Boniface

Principal, DIALOG

Alan is recognized as a leading thinker on urban issues. His experience with large mixed-use projects, unique sustainable architecture and public space design all contribute to a unique approach to city-making. Alan is a frequent contributor to conferences and roundtables in the U.S. and Canada where urban thinking is being re-shaped.

Alan has contributed to projects in many jurisdictions, including Beijing, Shenyang, Los Angeles, Vancouver, San Francisco, Portland, New York, and Memphis.

Alan is the current managing partner of the Vancouver studio of DIALOG, the past chair of the Vancouver City Planning Commission (VCPC) and the chair of the Vancouver District Council of the Urban Land Institute. 

In addition to current design projects in Vancouver, Edmonton and Los Angeles, Alan is helping re-shape the planning process itself with an eye towards making uniquely-mixed, people-oriented, sustainable communities that can adapt and prosper through time.

Frank Byrne

Executive Director, Kansas City Symphony

Frank Byrne was named Executive Director of the Kansas City Symphony in June, 2002. Prior to this appointment, he served as the Symphony’s general manager. As Executive Director, Byrne is responsible for all administrative and managerial aspects of the Symphony’s operation, and oversees a full time staff of dedicated professionals who organize and execute the Symphony’s numerous performances in the community and region.

Under his leadership, the Kansas City Symphony has grown its audience, earned and contributed revenue, and has made the transformational move into the new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, where record-setting audiences and revenue are being realized. The KCS has also increased its outreach to the community and the region with a number of new initiatives, and has embarked on a very successful series of commercial recordings for Reference Recordings, the most recent of which won a Grammy award for Best Surround Sound recording. The Kansas City Symphony was also recently featured on the prestigious PBS Arts Summer Series in a program with Kansas City native mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato.

Cindy Circo

Mayor Pro Tem, Kansas City, Missouri

Cindy has been a resident and small business owner in Kansas City for the past 25 years, establishing roots in the Country Valley Neighborhood in the eastern part of the 5th District. Cindy was raised in Independence, Mo., and also has lived in Kansas City’s Old Northeast area.

Always active in public service, Cindy has served on various boards and committees and has been involved in the political process since childhood. Prior to her election, she served on the City’s Public Improvements Advisory Committee (PIAC)where she gained invaluable knowledge about the infrastructure and capital improvement needs throughout Kansas City, Mo. This experience spurred her support of the renewal of the City’s 1-cent sales tax for capital improvements in her first year of office.

As an at large councilmember, Cindy was elected by and represents the “whole” of Kansas City as well as 5th District residents. She was instrumental in bringing the Google Fiber Optics project to Kansas City. Legislation Cindy has sponsored includes an ordinance discouraging predatory towing in Kansas City and the recent establishment of a public/private partnership in managing the City’s Animal Shelter. Cindy grew up working at her family’s restaurant in Independence and also was instrumental in negotiating the recent revisions to the City’s Food Code.

Councilwoman Circo is a member of the Planning, Zoning & Economic Development Committee, the Finance, Governance & Audit Committee and the Speical Committee for Small Business. She is past chairwoman of the City’s Housing Committee and serves on the Board of Directors for the Kansas City Convention & Visitors Association, Truman Medical Center, theBoard of Trustees for the City’s Trust and the American Royal Governors Advisory Board. She is also a member of the Mid-America Regional Council's Creating Sustainable Communities committee.

As an advocate for neighborhoods and proponent of green solutions, Cindy is dedicated to integrating the two to establish and maintain sustainable Kansas City neighborhoods that are healthy and safe for all. A recent project in the 5th District is the “Target Green” project in the Marlborough section of the district, where green solutions will replace traditional gray solutions resulting in better water quality and increased efficiency. Also in the 5th District is the nationally recognized Green Impact Zone. Mayor Pro Tem Circo is the point person for the City's Overflow Control Plan.

Cindy has two sons, Dominic and Mario, and a grandson, Jaxen.

Miquela Craytor

Director, Industrial Initatives, NYCEDC

Miquela Craytor is the Director of the Industrial Initiatives for the Center for Economic Transformation Team at the NYC Economic Development Corporation overseeing the city's new policy efforts concerning New York’s industrial sector. She was formally the executive director at Sustainable South Bronx. She has over 8 years of urban planning experience. Ms. Craytor is a nationally-recognized advocate for using sustainable development to address reinvestment in under-served communities. Ms. Craytor also served as the Senior Planner for Economic Development in the economic arm of the Bronx Borough President's office. Ms. Craytor received her BA in planning, public policy, and management from the Honors College at the University of Oregon and her MS in city and regional planning from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. She is also a 2010 Catto Fellow of the Aspen Institute.

Paul Doherty

President, Screampoint

Paul is the President of Screampoint and is one of the global Industry’s most sought after thought leaders, strategists and integrators of process, technology and business. He is an author, educator, analyst and advisor to Fortune 500 organizations, global government agencies, prominent institutions and the most prestigious architectural, engineering and contracting firms in the world. A former Corporate Officer of K. Hovnanian Homes, (NYSE:KHOV) a publically traded Fortune 500 company, Paul is a licensed architect and is a prominent and highly rated speaker at numerous industry events around the world each year and has been appointed as a guest lecturer at leading universities throughout the world. A former Board of Director of the International Facility Management Association (IFMA), Paul is a co-founder of IFMA Shanghai Chapter, the first Western professional industry association in the People’s Republic of China.

Tim Duggan

Senior Landscape Architect, Make it Right Foundation

Tim Duggan, ASLA, is a community planner and landscape architect currently developing new initiatives for Make It Right. Over the last three years, he has helped design and execute affordable LEED Platinum Landscapes and worked extensively with local community organizations, government and corporate partners on numerous projects from regenerative residential garden designs to city-wide infrastructure.

His architecture career began with BNIM Architects focusing on community planning initiatives and sustainable urban designs. Tim is an expert in innovative storm water management techniques, sustainable land-use and community engagement in the planning process.

Tim has served as speaker and guest critic on sustainable site solutions at TED, GreenBuild, Congressional Black Caucus, WEFTEC and many others. He has served as adjunct professor and guest lecturer for Tulane University, Kansas State University and the University of Missouri in Kansas City. Tim was named one of Metropolis magazine’s 2012 Game Changers for his ambitious experiments in landscape design.

Tim advises numerous community organizations in Kansas City, New Orleans, Chicago and New York City on urban revitalization, micro farming, wetlands restoration and environmental education and outreach.

Terry Dunn

President and CEO, JE Dunn Construction Group

Mr. Dunn joined J. E. Dunn in 1974 as contracts officer and was made Vice President and Treasurer in 1978. He was promoted to Senior Vice President in 1979, Executive Vice President in 1980, President in 1986, and Chief Executive Officer from 1989 to 2005. He is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of J. E. Dunn Construction Group, Inc., the holding company for J. E. Dunn Construction Company and other affiliates across the nation. He has been active in all facets of the business with extensive experience in construction operations.

Mr. Dunn is very active in civic and community volunteer work. He is married and has three sons and a daughter.

Ed Eilert

Chairman, Johnson County, KS

Ed Eilert has called Johnson County, specifically Overland Park, his home for 46 years. Eilert was elected to the Overland Park City Council in 1977 for four years. He became the mayor of Overland Park in 1981 and served six four-year terms before retiring in 2005. Eilert was elected the Fourth District representative to the Johnson County Board of Commissioners (BOCC) in the 2006 November General Elections and began his duties as District County Commissioner in January 2007.

In December 2008, he was appointed to the Johnson County Research Triangle Authority as the Kansas Board of Regents representative and was elected chairman of the Authority Board by members of the board. Eilert was elected the at-large Chairman of the BOCC in the 2010 November General Elections by Johnson County voters and assumed the chairmanship on January 10, 2011, for a four-year term. Eilert is a graduate of Emporia State University with a B.S. degree (1961) in business administration and a M.S. degree (1962) in business education, a former business teacher at Shawnee Mission East High School (1965-1966) and Lebo (Kansas) High School (1962-1965). He was a financial counselor from 1966 until February, 2008 when he retired from A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. Eilert made his first visit to Overland Park in 1960 because it was the home of Jan Bush, whom he met while studying at ESU and married two years later. The couple moved to Overland Park in 1965 after he taught three years at Lebo High School.

Brad Feld

Managing Director, Foundry Group

Brad is one of the managing directors at Foundry Group, a venture capital firm that invests in early stage software / Internet companies throughout the United States. He is also the co-founder of TechStars, a mentor-driven accelerator, author of several books and blogs, and a marathon runner.

Brad has been an early stage investor and entrepreneur since 1987. Prior to co-founding Foundry Group, he co-founded Mobius Venture Capital and, prior to that, founded Intensity Ventures, a company that helped launch and operate software companies. Brad is also a co-founder of TechStars.

Brad currently serves on the board of directors of BigDoor, Cheezburger, Fitbit, FullContact, Gnip, MakerBot, MobileDay, Modular Robotics, Oblong, Orbotix, SEOMoz, Standing Cloud, and Yesware for Foundry Group. Previously, Brad was an executive at AmeriData Technologies after it acquired Feld Technologies, a firm he founded in 1987 that specialized in custom software applications.

In addition to his investing efforts, Brad has been active with several non-profit organizations and currently is chair of the National Center for Women & Information Technology, co-chair of Startup Colorado, and on the boards of Startup Weekend and the Application Developers Alliance. Brad is a nationally recognized speaker on the topics of venture capital investing and entrepreneurship and writes the widely read blogs Feld Thoughts and Ask the VC.

Notable companies that Brad has invested in and/or sat on the boards of include Abuzz (acq. NYT), Anyday.com (acq. PALM), Critical Path (CPTH), Cyanea (acq. IBM), Dante Group (acq. WEBM), DataPower (acq. IBM), FeedBurner (acq. by GOOG), Feld Group (acq. by EDS), Gist (acq. RIM), Harmonix (acq. VIA), NetGenesis (IPO), ServiceMagic (acq. IACI), ServiceMetrics (acq. EXDS), and Zynga (ZNGA).

Brad holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Management Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Brad is also an avid art collector and long-distance runner. He has completed 22 marathons as part of his mission to finish a marathon in each of the 50 states.

Lee Fisher

President & CEO, CEOs for Cities

Lee Fisher is the President and CEO of CEOs for Cities, a global learning network of cross- sector, cross-generational urban leaders dedicated to building and sustaining the next generation of great American cities.

CEOs for Cities was founded in 2001 by then Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and Paul Grogan, President and CEO of the Boston Foundation. It is headquartered in Chicago, with offices in Washington, D.C. and Cleveland. Lee is also a Senior Fellow with the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University.

Lee served as an Ohio State Representative; State Senator; Ohio Attorney General; President and CEO of the Center for Families and Children in Cleveland; and Ohio Lt. Governor. In his role as Lt. Governor, Lee also served as Director of the Ohio Department of Economic Development; Chair, Economic Growth Council; Chair, Ohio Third Frontier Commission; Chair, Clean Ohio Council; Chair, Governor’s Council on Affordable Housing and Homelessness; and member of the Ohio Venture Capital Authority.

During the time Lee Fisher led Ohio’s economic development efforts, Site Selection magazine awarded its top national economic development award, the Governor’s Cup, to Ohio three consecutive times – in 2007, 2008, and 2009. Site Selection also recognized Ohio with the 2008 Competitiveness Award, recognizing the Ohio Department of Economic Development, under Lee’s leadership, as the nation’s top economic development agency.

Lee led the creation of Ohio’s first-ever Strategic Plan for Economic Development. The plan is best known for Lee’s idea, the Ohio Hubs of Innovation and Opportunity, designed to foster urban-based collaborations between businesses, colleges and universities and research institutions.

Lee is a 1973 graduate of Oberlin College and a 1976 graduate of Case Western Reserve University School of Law. He also has his Masters Degree in Nonprofit Organizations from Case Western Reserve University.

Dick Flanigan

Senior Vice President, Cerner

dick flanigan, senior vice president, leads Cerner’s Research Organization, its Employer services group and is responsible for new and premier academic and children’s hospital clients in the U.S.

Flanigan oversees Cerner’s strategy to advance automation of clinical research, public health, drug and patient safety, and genomics, and to develop innovative technologies that enable more personalized health.

He also directs Cerner’s Employer initiatives. This encompasses development and strategy for on-site employer clinics, pharmacies and wellness management programs.

In addition, Flanigan leads the premier academic and children’s hospital organization, and drives the Academic Advisory Board and Pediatric Leadership Council from a senior executive perspective. He leverages research insights from both councils throughout the wider base of Cerner clients.

Previously, Flanigan served as president of Cerner North Atlantic, focusing on all aspects of client relationships in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions. He joined Cerner in 1994 as vice president for the south central region, based in Dallas.

In 1997, his responsibilities expanded as general manager for the south central and Mid-Atlantic regions. In 1998, he oversaw Cerner’s further expansion into national accounts and federal health care.

From 2000 to 2003, he was general manager for Cerner’s clinical and financial business units that developed, sold and implemented solutions for health care organizations around the world.

Prior to joining Cerner, Flanigan spent more than 13 years in sales and management at IBM Corp. At IBM, he was a business unit executive for health care in the Mid-Atlantic region from 1991 to 1994.

Flanigan earned numerous management and leadership awards, and through IBM’s Client Executive Program, he completed post-graduate course work at the Harvard Business School.

While at IBM, he earned a master’s degree in administrative science from Johns Hopkins University. Flanigan earned bachelor’s degrees in political science and economics from Mount Saint Mary’s College.

He is a board member of Donnelly College in Kansas City, and Dynamic Clinical Systems, an early stage health outcomes company based in New Hampshire.

Anthony Foxx

Mayor of Charlotte, NC

The Honorable Anthony R. Foxx is the mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina. He took the oath of office on December 7, 2009, becoming the City’s 48th and youngest mayor.

Mayor Foxx’s political career began in 2005 with his election to City Council as an At-Large Representative and served two terms before being elected Mayor in 2009. As a Council Member, Foxx chaired the Transportation Committee, was a member of the Economic Development & Planning Committee, and served as Council’s representative to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Development Corporation and the Mecklenburg-Union Metropolitan Planning Organization.

During his first term as mayor, Foxx led a citywide pursuit to bid for the Democratic National Convention. The bid was successful when it was announced in February 2011 that Charlotte was selected to host the convention. Mayor Foxx serves as chair of the Charlotte in 2012 Host Committee, balancing his role as mayor and official host for the convention.

Foxx received a law degree from New York University’s School of Law as a Root-Tilden Scholar, the University’s prestigious public service scholarship, and earned a bachelor’s degree in History from Davidson College. He is a member of the Mecklenburg County Bar and a graduate of its Leadership Institute.

Prior to joining the DesignLine Corporation as Deputy General Counsel in 2009, Foxx was an attorney at Hunton & Williams law firm. He also served as a law clerk for the United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, a trial attorney for the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice, and staff counsel to the United States House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary.

He and his wife, Samara, have two children, Hillary and Zachary.

Stephen Goldsmith

Director, Innovations in American Government, Harvard

Stephen Goldsmith is the Daniel Paul Professor of the Practice of Government and the Director of the Innovations in American Government Program at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He currently directs the Mayoral Performance Analytics Initiative at Harvard, a project to highlight local government efforts to use new technologies that connect breakthroughs in the use of big data analytics with community input to reshape the relationship between government and citizen and create large-scale governance reforms.

He previously served as Deputy Mayor of New York and Mayor of Indianapolis, where he earned a reputation as one of the country's leaders in public-private partnerships, competition, and privatization. Stephen was also the chief domestic policy advisor to the George W. Bush campaign in 2000, the Chair of the Corporation for National and Community Service, and the district attorney for Marion County, Indiana from 1979 to 1990. He has written the The Power of Social Innovation; Governing by Network: the New Shape of the Public Sector; Putting Faith in Neighborhoods: Making Cities Work through Grassroots Citizenship and The Twenty-First Century City: Resurrecting Urban America.

Jim Gray

Mayor of Lexington, KY

Jim Gray's vision as mayor of Lexington is to build a Great American City.

The former CEO of Gray Construction, one of the nation's leading designers and builders of large-scale manufacturing facilities, Gray has brought a businessman's approach to city government by creating strong financial and operational management systems; and by making strategic investments in planning and development initiatives across the City.

Since taking office in January 2011, Gray addressed an immediate short-term budget deficit of $9 million; as well as the next year's $27 million deficit, an amount equal to 10% of the City's General Fund Budget.

At the same time, Gray has led the charge to build an arts and cultural district centered on a reinvented Rupp Arena, home of the NCAA champion University of Kentucky Wildcats, on 46 acres of city-owned land in the center of Lexington's historic and vibrant downtown.

Mayor Gray has received national attention for his partnership with Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer. Together they have teamed up with the Brookings Institution to create a world-class advanced manufacturing and technology super-region in Central Kentucky.

Gray is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and in 1996 was appointed a Loeb Fellow at Harvard University.

Thomas Green

Managing Director, Infrastructure Group, Citibank

Tom Green has been with Citi since 1998 and is a Managing Director in the Municipal Securities Division. As the head of Citi’s Infrastructure Finance Group, he is responsible for Citi’s financing work on transportation projects, municipal asset securitizations, U.S. convention center, hotel and sports stadium projects and public-private and public-public “P3” infrastructure project partnership financings. His recent work includes the June 2011 securitization of parking revenues from 97 privately-operated, publicly-owned transit parking facilities to obtain more than $300 million in near-term budget relief for Boston’s urban transit agency known as MBTA, the non-recourse project financing of the Consolidated Rental Car Facility under construction at Logan Airport and service as lead banker on the refinancing by MassDOT of the former Massachusetts Turnpike Authority’s $2 billion in toll revenue bonds, a complex transaction sold in 11 separate series of bonds that has saved Massachusetts nearly $30 million a year since 2010.

Overall, his work has included more than $40 billion of senior book-running transactions. Mr. Green also has government experience, including six years serving as the First Assistant Attorney General of Massachusetts during the mid-1990s. He has a B.A. in Government from Harvard College and M.B.A. and J.D. degrees from Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School, respectively.

Brad Guilmino

Chief Financial Consultant, HNTB

Brad Guilmino serves as HNTB’s chief financial consultant and provides specialized expertise in the development of funding plans and financing strategies. His insights can assist clients in implementing and funding capital projects. Guilmino previously worked in transportation investment banking for Citigroup. He has experience with a wide range of public transportation agencies and has specific expertise with project finance, tolling, revenue and sales tax bonding, federal programs, and public-private partnerships.

Brad's experience in investment banking, managing billions of dollars of debt for tolling entities, departments of transportation and transit clients, provides him with a unique understanding of innovative structuring options and the perspectives of rating agencies and investors who are required to optimize successful financing. 

Guilmino has considerable understanding of the risk factors and benefits of public-private partnerships and has advised several clients on project delivery options and informed private consortiums on financing plans for concession bids. His experience with P3 transactions affords him the unique skill set to understand and evaluate both public and private funding strategies. Additionally, he has considerable experience in developing financial plans, performing feasibility studies, and financial reporting of program management contracts for various public and private infrastructure clients.

Kirk Hasenzahl

Co-Founder and CEO, RareWire

Kirk Hasenzahl, Co-Founder and CEO of RareWire— Kansas City native; married to his wife Crissie for 10 years; Currently living out his dream to be a Little League coach for his kids Hannah and Cole, and his dream of being an entrepreneur, co-founding one of the most exciting new software companies in the Midwest, RareWire. Previously was VP of Sales at Saepio Technologies, a marketing technology company in KC, for 8 years. Before Saepio, Kirk was Vice President at Tekno Capital Ventures, where he managed a team who raised money for technology start-ups in the dot com boom of the late 1990’s. Prior to that, had the greatest job of all time, as a pitcher in the Minor Leagues for the Cleveland Indians.

Lori Healey

CEO, Tur Partners

Ms. Healey currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Tur Partners LLC (“Tur”). Tur, a firm founded by Chicago’s former mayor Richard M. Daley, partners with leaders and innovators to drive growth within global urban markets. In addition to her role as CEO, Lori also leads Tur’s global sustainability practice, where she works with companies and municipalities to deliver sustainable solutions within the complex urban environment.

Prior to joining Tur, Ms. Healey served as Principal in Charge of the Development Group for the John Buck Company, focused on growing the firm’s private real estate and infrastructure related public-private partnership transactions. Ms. Healey also recently coordinated the organizational and planning activities for the NATO summit in Chicago, acting as Director of the NATO Host Committee as an executive “on loan.”

Prior to joining The John Buck Company, Ms. Healey built a strong public sector career during which she earned a reputation for bringing together private and public leaders. In 2009, Ms. Healey was appointed as President of Chicago 2016, where she was responsible for leading Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Ms. Healey also held several senior leadership positions for the City of Chicago under the administration of Richard M. Daley, most recently acting as Mr. Daley’s Chief of Staff. She earlier served as Commissioner of the City’s Department of Planning and Development, overseeing more than $1 billion of combined investment into the City’s economic development programs and projects. Ms. Healey is widely credited with the successful implementation of over 110 tax financing districts and a myriad of projects, including improvements for the Chicago Transit Authority, infrastructure investment, a new schools program and significant private sector development.

Ms. Healey’s previous experiences also include time as a principal at Perkins + Will, a leading corporate, commercial and civic architecture firm. Ms. Healey has a BA in Economics and Political Science and a Masters of Public Administration from Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas.

Jim Heeter

President & CEO, Greater KC Chamber of Commerce

Jim Heeter serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce. He joined The Chamber staff in April 2010 following a distinguished career as a corporate attorney.  Since joining The Chamber, Heeter has:

•       Launched The Chamber’s “Big 5” goals for “Big KC,” five initiatives designed to leverage the region’s existing assets, resulting in new jobs and a higher quality of life. 

•       Led the campaign to save the Kansas City, Missouri earnings tax – a critical source of general revenue for the city.

•       Moved The Chamber offices to then-troubled Union Station.  Today, the historic building is 100 percent occupied and in the black.

•       Revitalized the organization’s small, diverse, and emerging business programming.

Those and other accomplishments led the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry to name the Greater Kansas City as “2011 Chamber of the Year.”

Heeter received his A.B. from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1970 and his J.D. with honors from Harvard Law School in 1973. He practiced corporate law for more than 35 years, representing some of Kansas City’s biggest and most successful companies as well as a number of successful start-up ventures and healthcare clients. 

In 1995 he became a partner with Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, LLP (now SNR Denton) and served as the managing partner of that firm’s Kansas City office and a member of the firm’s executive committee from 2000 until 2010. 

In addition, he was “Councilman” Jim Heeter from 1983 – 1987, representing Kansas City, Missouri’s Fourth District At-Large. He has served in a host of other leadership positions in the Kansas City civic, business, and philanthropic communities. 

Jim and his wife, Judy, have three children. Judy Heeter, formerly a partner with the law firm Polsinelli Shughart PC, served for 20 years as Director of Business Affairs and Licensing for the Major League Baseball Players Association. She is currently CEO of Pathfinder Consulting, LLC.

Nigel Jacob

Mayor's Office, City of Boston

With an extensive background in collaborative, citizen-facing technology projects, Nigel Jacob co-founded the Office of New Urban Mechanics - a civic innovation incubator within Boston’s City Hall. Nigel also serves as Mayor Menino's advisor on emerging technologies. In both of these roles, Nigel works to develop new models of innovation for cities in the 21st century. Prior to joining the City of Boston in 2006, Nigel worked for and launched a series of technology start-ups in the Boston area. In recognition of his work in Boston, Nigel was named a Public Official of the year in 2011 by Governing Magazine.

Sly James

Mayor of Kansas City, MO

Sly James was elected mayor of Kansas City on March 22, 2011, and sworn in on May 1, 2011.

Born and raised in Kansas City, Sly grew up watching his parents work hard to take care of their family. Despite the challenges they faced, Sly’s father, a chef, janitor, and small business owner; and his stepmother, who helped manage their business, still made sure that Sly and his brothers had the opportunity to go to a good school and follow their dreams.

Sly attended Bishop Hogan High School in Kansas City, graduating in 1969. While there, Sly was the president of his junior class. He also developed a great passion for music and was the lead singer in the Amelia Earhart Memorial Flying Band. Little known fact: Sly’s band once opened for Jefferson Airplane in Kansas City!

While music remains a passion of Sly’s to this day, in 1971 he left the band and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. Sly served as a military police officer for four years in California, the Philippines, and Japan, and received an honorable discharge in 1975. When his service ended, Sly returned home to Kansas City and graduated cum laude from Rockhurst College before earning his law degree, also cum laude, from the University of Minnesota in 1983.

During his 26-year legal career, Sly developed a proven record of success as a leader, an effective coalition builder, and a fierce advocate. He joined Blackwell, Sanders, Matheny, Weary & Lombardi in 1983, and became the first African-American partner in the firm’s history in 1990. In February, 2002, Sly started his own successful small business, The Sly James Firm, where he works with victims to seek justice and positive outcomes to disputes.

In 1992, the Missouri Supreme Court appointed Sly to the Missouri Board of Law Examiners. Between 1992 and 2002, he was a member, secretary, and later the president of the board. He was president of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association (KCMBA) in 2003, director of the Kansas City Bar Foundation, and vice president of the Public Interest Litigation Clinic. Sly was formerly the vice-president of the board of directors of Legal Aid of Western Missouri and treasurer of the Jackson County Bar Association. In 2003, while president of the KCMBA, Sly established the Diversity Initiative with 26 managing partners of the largest law firms in the city. He is a Fellow of the American Bar Association.

Sly is an extremely proud resident of the city he loves and has been active in political, community, and civic activities. He was appointed to the board of directors of the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, Missouri, and to the board of the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority (LCRA) by former Mayor Kay Barnes. He was also appointed to the boards of the Enhanced Enterprise Zones of Kansas City and the Jackson County Ethics Commission. He served as one of two co-chairs of the Save Our Stadiums committee, a successful tax initiative to refurbish the Truman Sports Complex in Kansas City in 2006.

Sly has been a member and Board Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Eye Foundation of Kansas City, Inc.; a member of the Board of The United Way; a member of the Executive Board of the Committee for County Progress; a member of the Steering Committee of the Partnership for Children, a joint project of the United Way and the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation; president of the Board of Bishop Hogan High School; a member of the Board of Trustees of Notre Dame de Sion schools; a member of the Board of Operation Breakthrough; and a member of the Board and the immediate past chair of the Genesis School.

He has been married to Licia Clifton-James since 1981 and is the proud father of four children.

Stephen Jordan

Stephen Jordan, E.D., Business Civic Leadership Center

Stephen Jordan is senior vice president and executive director of the Business Civic Leadership Center with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and has served in this capacity since the organization's founding as the Center for Corporate Citizenship (CCC) in May 2000. 
 
Stephen leads BCLC's engagement with a broad spectrum of companies and chambers of commerce in the United States and overseas. He has produced numerous conferences, policy papers, and other projects and programs related to the fields of corporate citizenship, business and society relations, global development, education, disaster assistance, military quality of life, critical infrastructure protection, homeland security, and public-private partnerships.  Some of the most notable coalitions he has played a role in launching include the Partnership for Critical Infrastructure Security, the National Cyber Safety Alliance, Business Strengthening America, and the U.S. Business Education Network.
 
In addition to his work at BCLC, Stephen currently serves on the U.S. National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Board of Governors of the Corporate Responsibility Officers’ (CRO) Association and the New World Institute.  Stephen is also a Caux Round Table fellow. 

Previously, Stephen served as executive director of the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America from 1997 to 1999. In the private sector, he has worked in the publishing industry and has a background in strategy, marketing, and new product development.  He began his professional career as a legislative assistant for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. 

Stephen holds an M.B.A. from Georgetown University and an M.A. in Political and Social Thought from the University of Virginia, with accompanying academic honors from both institutions.  He is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, the business honor society.

Maria Katris

CEO, Built In

Maria Christopoulos Katris is the CEO of Built In, a platform which enables cities to connect, educate and promote their growing digital communities. The company currently operates two sites in Chicago (BuiltInChicago.com) and Denver (BuiltInDenver.com), and is headquartered in Chicago.

Through online and offline activities, the Built In platform connects startups, large co's, universities, civics/non profits, local gov't, accelerators, incubators and investors. Activities include media content curation, an active job board, data aggregation and publication, and events--at a hyper-local city level-with one shared goal--to build digital communities.

Maria’s responsibilities include strategic planning, sales, business development, hiring, marketing, community development and events.

Maria is an intrapreneur and entrepreneur who has 12+ years' marketing, strategy and consulting experience and has worked in diverse industries including: healthcare, technology and in-home services. Previously Maria was the Executive Director of TiE Midwest, the Chicago chapter of a Global not-for-profit organization dedicated to high growth entrepreneurs. Immediately prior to joining TiE Midwest, Maria founded Nanny Boutique, a Chicago-based nanny placement agency, which she sold within 2 years.

Maria has strategic experience working at Northwestern Memorial Hospital as a strategic analyst to the VPs and CEO. Prior to that, she spent four years as a healthcare consultant at Arthur Andersen and Huron Consulting Group.

Maria has a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Miami University and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management with concentrations in Entrepreneurship and Marketing. Maria serves on the advisory boards of Caregiverlist.com, the Chicago Innovation Awards, TechWeek and Social Media Week Chicago.

Maria and her husband live in Chicago with their 2 daughters, Alexandra and Georgie.

Michael Keane

Senior Partner, K2S Advisors

Michael has over 30 years of business and financial experience, including nearly two decades as an investment banker with Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, during which time he was responsible for a wide range of transactions large and small in the financial, general industrial, governmental, technology and telecoms industries. His clients have included GEC on the divestiture of its non-core industrial and defence businesses, the Irish government on the privatisation of Eircom, and, on behalf of Morgan Stanley Capital Partners, sourcing, structuring and floating the first global Virtual Private Network business in Equant, now the core of Orange Business Services. Before Morgan Stanley, he was for a number of years in the ‘80s and early ‘90s the leading advisor to Nordic sovereigns, cities, export agencies and banks in their capital markets activities, including structuring the first ever mortgage securitisation in Sweden and the first ever regulatory capital issue for a state export agency, Eksportfinans of Norway. During the course of his banking career, he was responsible for more than $30 billion of financing and other transactions. In 2000, Michael founded and successfully financed the first global native IP telecoms company, raising $100 million of financing for that business and leading its successful global roll-out, before going on to found and lead an enterprise software company. Prior to co-founding K2S Advisors, Michael served as Chief Financial Officer of Living PlanIT, the leading smart city platform software company.

K2S Advisors was founded on the premise that, in this time of a new digital revolution, particularly as that revolution starts to touch the built environment and the City, and in the age of mass urbanisation, there was a need for a new type of financial and strategic advisory business, which would help to bridge the worlds of technology, finance and the world of the City (“smart”, or not; new, or in transformation). K2S brings together a team of partners who go beyond narrow corporate finance and into areas of operational and technical knowledge and who have all been both advisors and operators, whether as entrepreneurs, or in the public sphere. Michael and the team at K2S believe strongly that today’s technological, financial and public policy challenges require an approach which is far removed from the narrow over-specialisation and silo-driven mentality which has so characterised the last two decades in finance and that the great deleveraging and disintermediation of the world’s financial markets offer a particular opportunity to bring new practical and socially useful forms of financial innovation to bear on the challenge of financing new city building and renovation.

He has four children and lives in Switzerland, which allows him to indulge his one passion outside family and work, which going up, and then coming down, mountains, by the most direct route possible. He holds an MA (Hons) in Modern & Medieval Languages from the University of Cambridge.

Paul Kedrosky

Senior Fellow, Kauffman Foundation

Paul Kedrosky advises the Kauffman Foundation as a senior fellow. In this capacity, he uses his experience as a technology entrepreneur, venture capitalist and academic to explore new programming opportunities for Kauffman in the areas of entrepreneurship, innovation, and capital markets. Most recently, Kedrosky has been an active early-stage investor, having funded more than fifty companies in Internet, mobile, life sciences and materials. Companies that he has funded have been sold to Demand Media, Twitter, Cisco, and many others.

He is also a contributing editor at Bloomberg, one of the largest financial data and media organizations in the world. Kedrosky is a sought-after speaker and writer; a serial entrepreneur; and frequently quoted in major publications around the world. He has published more than 300 articles in academic and non-academic publications. Kedrosky obtained his undergraduate degree in engineering from Carleton University, his MBA from Queen's University, and his Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario.

Jennifer Keesmaat

Chief Planner, City of Toronto

Jennifer is the Chief Planner for the City of Toronto. As an urbanist, she is committed to creating places where people flourish through meaningful, broad engagement with municipal staff, councils, developers, business leaders, NGO's and residents associations. Over the past decade she has worked in municipalities across Canada – including Moncton, Halifax, Mississauga, Peterborough, London, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, and Vancouver – on the development of site plans, urban design guidelines, official plan reviews, corridor studies, culture plans, secondary plans and university campus master plans.

Jennifer is the founder of Project Walk, which premiered its first short film in 2011, Pedestrian Jar (which she co-produced) at the Toronto International Film Festival. Using irony and humour, the film seeks to unseat dismissive and problematic attitudes towards pedestrians. Its ultimate goal is to make us all think twice about how we move about in urban places.

Jennifer is a co-founder and Chair of the Annual Revitalizing Downtowns Summit, hosted by the Strategy Institute. Each year, this event introduces emerging best practices from around the world by drawing world renowned urbanists who challenge Canadian designers, architects, planners and urban thinkers to take risks, embrace change, promote more urban forms of development, and pursue sustainable practices.

In 2012 Jennifer debuted her first TED talk, Walk to School.

Over the past decade Jennifer has been repeatedly recognized by the Canadian Institute of Planners, OPPI, the Design Exchange, + EDRA for her innovative work in mid-sized Canadian municipalities, with a variety of awards for Planning Excellence."

Patrick Kennedy

CEO, OSIsoft

Dr. J. Patrick Kennedy is the CEO and majority owner of OSIsoft LLC – a software company located in San Leandro, CA that builds systems for monitoring real time information principally of heavy industrial facilities. Under Dr. Kennedy’s visionary leadership, the company has grown from a small software startup in 1980 (several years before the IBM PC) to a highly profitable global corporation that operates in 110 countries. It has, at the present, 815 employees worldwide with about 300 in San Leandro. OSIsoft LLC has been growing in double digits for a decade and the time from 2008 onward was no exception. Based on a model of “rapid to install” and easy to use combined with 7x24x366 support, the company has been able to assist users in lowering their carbon footprint profitably,

Prior to founding the company in 1980, Dr. Kennedy worked as a research engineer for Shell Development Company and as an applications consultant for Taylor Instrument Company. At 30 years old, OSIsoft LLC is one of the oldest software companies in the Bay Area. Although still private and majority owned by Dr. Kennedy, OSIsoft took on two investors the first of 2010, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) and Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV) – preeminent ventures firms from Silicon Valley in order to strengthen our approach.
Dr. Kennedy attended the University of Kansas where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering (1964) and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering (1970). He holds a patent on a catalytic reformer control system and has numerous technical papers to his credit. He co-authored a chapter of the book Planning, Scheduling and control Integration in the Process Industries and co-authored the book Perfect Plant. . Dr. Kennedy has also been recognized by several technical societies including ISA (Instrument Society of America), WBF (World Batch Forum), TAPPI (Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Institute) and National Petroleum Refining Association (NPRA).

In order to build up San Leandro to a next generation manufacturing town, Dr. Kennedy is personally funding a fiber optic ring around the city. This is a private – public project using existing City conduit in return for enough fibers to enhance the public infrastructure for the City in this time of cash shortage. The project, described in www.litsanleandro.com, will be one of the few public owned fiber infrastructures in the Bay Area. With its plentiful land, workers, and infrastructure such as a City owned sewer plant and BART, the addition of high speed fiber revives the historical industrial environment in San Leandro. The first customer of the loop is OSIsoft who is putting in a dedicated fiber to Digital Realty Trust (DRT) data center in Oakland at the symmetric speed of 10 Gbps. This same capacity will be offered to all who build on the SL Loop.

Complementing the technical awards above, Dr. Kennedy has been recognized by the City of San Leandro as the Businessman of the Year.

William Knapp

Chief Operating Officer, car2go North America

Mr. Knapp, reporting directly to the President and CEO, is responsible for expansion efforts for car2go in North America. William joined car2go at its inception in North America in early 2009 and has been involved in all aspects of the company's rapid growth.

William created the initial operational policies and procedures for the pilot operations in Austin, TX and advises on the adaptation and adoption of operational guidelines at each location. William's previous experience has been a vital asset in his role as COO, including a variety of positions with Daimler Trucks North America. William started his career at Enterprise-Rent-A-Car in Northern California, where he gained valuable retail and fleet management experience.

William was born and raised in Northern California and attended the University of Nevada, Reno where he received a BS in Business Administration. He lives in the Austin, TX area with his wife and three daughters.

Ron Littlefield

Mayor of Chattanooga, TN

Ron Littlefield was re-elected and sworn in for a second term as Mayor of Chattanooga on April 20, 2009. Mayor Littlefield is a 1968 graduate of Auburn University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration.

Mayor Littlefield brought with him many years of experience in city government and urban planning, having served as Commissioner of Public Works, two terms as the District 6 Councilperson, and having twice served as council chair. Mayor Littlefield also held the positions of Economic Development Coordinator for the City of Chattanooga and Director of Planning and Operations for the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission. He has been an instructor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, as well as a teacher for a postgraduate course on metropolitan politics and policies.

In private life, Mayor Littlefield and his wife Lanis have been married over 40 years. The couple moved to Chattanooga in 1968. For more than 30 years, the Littlefield's have lived in the same home in the Glendon Place neighborhood in Brainerd. They have two grown sons.

Gail Lord

Co-President, Lord Cultural Resources

Gail Dexter Lord is Co-President of Lord Cultural Resources Planning and Management Inc., which she co-founded with her husband Barry Lord in 1981. With a network of offices in Toronto, New York, Paris, Beijing, and Mumbai, Lord Cultural Resources has grown to become the largest cultural planning firm in the world having completed over 2,000 cultural planning and management projects in 51 countries and on 6 continents.
 


Cities such as Chicago, Toronto, Columbia, New York, Seattle, Munich, Singapore and Florence have employed Gail to assist public, private and civic sector leaders develop their cultural capital. Most recently Chicago has engaged Lord to develop their Cultural Plan. 



Her clients include the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Chicago Art Institute, the Louvre, Museo Guggenheim Bilbao, Tate Modern, The Lowry in Salford, the National African American Museum of History and Culture in Washington, Cleveland Museum of Art, Saadiyat Island Cultural District of Abu Dhabi, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, and Constitution Hill in Johannesburg, South Africa.
 


Gail has been instrumental in developing the theory and practice of cultural planning through numerous publications and conference presentations. Gail and Barry co-authored five museum planning manuals and the break-through book "Artists, Patrons, and the Public: Why Culture Changes" (2010), that focuses on the dynamism of culture in the world today.

Milo Medin

VP, Access Services, Google

Milo Medin has been part of the Internet development community for more than 25 years. He is currently the vice president of access services at Google, where he oversees the company’s Gigabit Fiber to the Home project and other efforts to improve access to the Internet.

Prior to joining Google in 2010, he was founder and CTO of M2Z Networks, a company that sought to deploy a national broadband wireless network system that will expand consumer network access by providing nationwide portable broadband service that was also to help bridge the digital divide.

He was co-founder and the Chief Technology Officer of Excite@Home, where he led the development of the company's national infrastructure, and helped deliver the first large scale residential broadband access service in partnership with major cable operators.

Earlier, Milo worked at NASA's Ames Research Center, where he managed the primary west coast interconnect for the Internet, and architected and managed the global NASA Science Internet. Before NASA, while enrolled at UC Berkeley, he worked at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, programming high performance computers in support of various Defense Programs.

Milo holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from UC Berkeley. He has participated in a number of public policy forums, including two National Academy of Sciences panels and a variety of TechNet initiatives, and given testimony in Congress and before the Federal Communications Commission on Broadband technology policy. He has received two patents in the field of network access technology.

Roger Millar

Vice President Smart Growth America

Roger Millar is Director of the Smart Growth America’s Leadership Institute, which provides technical assistance programs for state and local government, and Director of the National Complete Streets Coalition. During his career he has held leadership positions in the public and private sectors. Projects in which Roger played a leadership role, particularly the development of Portland, Oregon’s Pearl District and the Portland Streetcar, are seen as national models. Roger is a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and a Certified Floodplain Manager. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1982.

Peter Miscovich

Managing Director, Corporate Solutions, Jones Lang LaSalle

Peter Miscovich is Managing Director, Corporate Solutions, at Jones Lang LaSalle focused upon corporate strategy.

A leading workplace industry expert with more than 20 years of experience, Peter Miscovich develops integrated corporate strategies involving emerging technologies, workplace innovation and sustainable urbanization solutions for global Fortune 500 companies.

Miscovich previously served as a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers and he is recognized as an industry thought leader by the Conference Board, CoreNet Global, the Urban Land Institute and the BROOKINGS Institute.

His client relationships include the following global organizations: Accenture, AIG, American Express, AT&T, Bank of America, Barclays Capital, Bloomberg, British Telecom, CISCO, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Diageo, General Electric, Goldman Sachs, General Services Administration, Hewlett Packard, HSBC, IBM, Irvine Company, JPMorgan Chase, MetLife, Merck, Pfizer, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Procter & Gamble, QBE Insurance, Sony, Time Warner, UBS and Viacom.

Peter Miscovich serves on the Board of the Regional Plan Association and the Garrison Institute as well as the CERES Presidents Advisory Council.

Jones Lang LaSalle’s Corporate Solutions business works with corporations to improve the cost, efficiency, and performance of their national and global real estate portfolios by creating outsourcing partnerships to manage and execute a range of occupier services.

Leo Morton

Chancellor, UMKC

With a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, a master’s of science degree from MIT and almost 15 years of high-level experience in the corporate world, Leo. E. Morton brings a diverse range of experience and expertise to his role as UMKC’s chancellor.

Leo was named UMKC’s chancellor on Dec. 15, 2008. Prior to assuming the chancellorship, Leo worked at Aquila Inc., joining the firm in January 1994 as vice president, performance management. He was named senior vice president in 1996 with responsibility for re-engineering, corporate procurement and environmental services. Morton assumed additional duties for the management of human resources in 1997 and information technology in 1998. He was named senior vice president and chief administrative officer in 2000 as he also assumed responsibility for additional corporate services. Before he joined Aquila, Leo’s management career spanned 41 years in a wide range of engineering and manufacturing positions with AT&T Microelectronics, Bell Laboratories, General Motors, Rust Engineering Company and Corning Glass.

Morton has been a UMKC Trustee since 2000 and was in his third year as chairman of the Trustees Board when he stepped down to serve as the university’s interim chancellor. Previously, he was a member on UMKC’s Center for the City board and chaired the community relations committee of the Trustees.

In addition to his day-to-day role as chancellor, Leo is active in the Kansas City community. He is chairman of the advisory board of Prep-KC, a major regional youth educational development organization. Morton is also co-chair of the Kansas City Area Development Council. In addition, he is on the MRIGlobal, Union Station and Truman Medical Center's Board of Directors, the Economic Development Corporation, Starlight Theatre, Civic Council of Greater Kansas City, the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, Kansas City Business Leaders for Education, the independent advisory commission on racial profiling for the Overland Park Police Department and the Advisory Committee for the National Association of Corporate Directors, Heartland Chapter. Morton has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Tuskegee University, and a master’s of science degree in management from MIT.

Abhi Nemani

Chief of Staff, Code for America

Abhi Nemani is the Chief of Staff at Code for America. For the past two years, he has led Code for America's strategic development and has spearheaded new program development, including as the launch of a first-of-its-kind civic startup accelerator. Under his direction, CfA's national outreach and awareness campaigns have been featured in the New York Times, Mashable, and CNN. Prior to CfA, Abhi managed the multiple research teams at the Rose Institute to increase transparency in local government using technology, and with Google, he pioneered an innovative strategy to leverage social media for consumer engagement. He graduated magna cum laude from Claremont McKenna College with a honors degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE).

Simon O'Byrne

Practice Leader, Urban Planning, Stantec

Simon is registered professional urban planner and designer and is Vice President of Stantec’s Urban Planning. Simon has significant experience in a wide range of current and long-range planning projects. He has provided strategic input and has led multi-disciplinary teams in the planning and successful delivery of large, complex and politically charged projects. Simon’s experience ranges from regional land use to detailed design, public consultation and transit oriented development planning.

Notable projects have included intensive urban revitalization in the Bronx, New York, the Downtown Arena and Entertainment District in Edmonton, the redevelopment of the Alberta Legislature Grounds, Saskatoon City Centre Plan, Century Park Transit Urban Village and the Capital Region Land Use Plan. In addition, Simon has been the principal planner on the creation of many master planned communities and transit-oriented developments.

Well recognized as an urban design and planning expert, he is frequently quoted in the media and is a sought after speaker to professional, community and leadership groups. Simon has also given a TEDx talk on how to create vibrant communities. Alberta Venture magazine named Simon as one of the 50 Most Influential People for 2012. Three years earlier, in 2009,Avenue magazine named Simon as one of the Top 40 Under 40.

In addition to Simon’s professional experience he currently volunteers with the following: Downtown Vibrancy Task Force (Chair), University of Alberta School of Urban Planning Fundraising Committee (Chair), Board of Directors of the Habitat for Humanity National Leadership Council, Board of Directors of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce (Treasurer), City of Edmonton’s WinterCity Strategy (WCS) (Co-Chair), and the WCS Urban Design (Co-Chair).

Annise Parker

Mayor of Houston, TX

Mayor Annise Parker is a second generation native Houstonian. She attended Rice University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts Degree. In the private sector, Ms. Parker spent 20 years working in the oil and gas industry, including 18 years with Mosbacher Energy Company. She also co-owned a retail bookstore for 10 years.

Mayor Parker is Houston's 61st Mayor and one of only two women to hold the City's highest elected office. As the City's chief executive officer, she is responsible for all aspects of the general management of the City and for enforcement of all laws and ordinances.

Parker has spent many years in service to the people of Houston, with six years as a City Council member and six years as City Controller. She is the only person in Houston history to hold the offices of council member, controller and mayor.

During Mayor Parker's first term in office, the Houston area added more than 125,000 private sector jobs and the City's direct economic development efforts resulted in more than $650 million of new investment. She bucked the trend of most other major U.S. cities by balancing two City budgets during tough economic times without raising taxes or having to eliminate police or firefighter jobs.

Parker's other first term accomplishments include passage and implementation of Rebuild Houston, a comprehensive street and drainage improvement program that will provide jobs for Houstonians for years to come, adoption of a long-term financial plan that ensures the stability of the City's water department, and reorganization of City departments to achieve cost savings and more efficient operations. She created a new City department focused on the needs of neighborhoods and the Office of Business Opportunity to help minority and women-owned small business enterprises compete for City contracts. Additionally, she won City Council approval of a Historic Preservation Ordinance that, for the first time, provides real protection for historic properties in 19 City-designated historic districts and she issued one of the most comprehensive non-discrimination orders in the nation.

Mayor Parker has been the recipient of numerous awards during her career, including the 2011 Guardian of the Bay Award from the Galveston Bay Foundation, Scenic Houston's 2010 Scenic Visionary Award and the 2010 Guardian of the Human Spirit Award from the Holocaust Museum Houston.

Despite her duties as mayor, Ms. Parker remains active in the Houston community, currently serving on the boards of the Texas Environmental Research Consortium and Houston Galveston Area Council, and as an advisory board member of the Holocaust Museum, Center for Houston's Future and Montrose Counseling Center.

Parker and her life partner Kathy Hubbard have been together for more than 20 years and are advocates for adoption, with two adopted daughters and a son.

David E. Pickeral

Global Development Executive, Smarter Transportation, IBM

David Pickeral has more than 25 years’ operational, policy and management experience with transportation and ICT networks worldwide involving both government and commercial enterprises as well as public-private partnerships. For more than 18 years he has been closely affiliated with Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technology development and deployment as his primary area of focus Mr. Pickeral’s core responsibility at IBM is expert support of IBM’s global Smarter Transportation business, focusing on the three core service offerings in Transport Information Management (TIM) through advanced predictive analytics and systems integration platforms; Transport Demand Management (TDM) through tolling, congestion pricing and parking; and Multi-Modal Mobility (MMM) through automated fare collection system optimization and integrated fare management. On behalf of IBM and its stakeholders, Mr. Pickeral sustains longstanding roles within the ITS community including that of a feature author for Thinking Highways, regular contributions to the National Journal Transportation Experts blog. and other industry publications. He participates in and is often a featured presenter at ITS World Congresses and other ITS events from the local to the global level, as well as collaboration with ITS America, ITS Canada, ITS Europe (ERTICO), The American Public Transit Association (APTA), The US Department of Transportation Connected Vehicle Initiative, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and other ITS, transport and ICT organizations worldwide Before joining IBM, Mr Pickeral was an executive at Booz Allen Hamilton where he co-founded the firm’s ITS practice and led both delivery and business development efforts. Prior to that he was a practicing attorney, and before that started his professional career as a US Naval Officer. He holds a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from George Mason University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Virginia. He lives in Washington, DC

Jean Quan

Mayor of Oakland, CA

Jean Quan is the first woman and the first Asian American to be elected Mayor of Oakland and the first Asian American woman mayor of a major US City. She was also the first Asian American woman elected to the Oakland School Board and to the Oakland City Council.

Since her start in Oakland politics in 1989—simply as a parent trying to save the schools’ music and arts programs—Jean Quan has strived to make public institutions work for people. She is the past chair of the Asian American Municipal Officials and currently, a member of the National League of Cities, Central City Caucus, Big 10 California Cities, Emerald Cities, Metropolitan Transportation Commission, and chair of the International Affairs Committee of the US Conference of Mayors and of the Local Government Commission focused on smart growth planning policy.

A 32-year Oakland resident, her children graduated from Oakland Public Schools, and her husband is a prominent physician serving seniors.

Joe Reardon

Mayor of Kansas City, KS

Mayor Joe Reardon was elected to his first four-year term in 2005 and became only the second elected official to serve as Mayor/CEO under the new Unified Government. As the eleventh member of the Board of Commissioners, the Mayor/CEO serves as the chief elective officer of the Unified Government.

The Mayor/CEO has veto power and presides over the Board of Commissioners, casting a vote only in the case of a tie or as otherwise required. Mayor Reardon has approached his second term with just as much enthusiasm and political fervor as the first day he was elected to the Unified Government Board of Commission in 2003.His second term has been focused on job creation. Soaring unemployment, home foreclosures, declining property values, budget shortfalls and reduced services have made the past two years difficult and challenging for leaders of local governments. However, Reardon’s focus on economic development and job creation efforts helped the UG to navigate through this current economic storm.

Mayor Reardon’s initiatives have prepared the UG to take advantage of even more growth opportunities in the future as we emerge from the recession. During his second term, groundbreaking and grand opening ceremonies have become an even more common event in Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas. Mayor Reardon is a family man with deep roots in Kansas City, Kansas. He grew up in the city and continues to raise his family here. He is married to Amy and they have two young sons, Jack and Connor. Mayor Reardon has a law degree from the University of Kansas School of Law and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Rockhurst University.

Jaana Remes

Senior Fellow, McKinsey Global Institute

Dr Janna Remes is a Senior Fellow with the McKinsey Global Institute. Dr. Remes was the lead author on an important McKinsey report that mapped the power of US cities in the global economy. Dr. Remes will offer a richly informed global perspective on the city building trends of the next two decades.

Dr. Jaana Remes is a senior fellow at the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), McKinsey’s business and economics research arm, based in San Francisco.

Since 2003, Jaana has co-led MGI’s research on productivity and competitiveness. Her most recent research sheds light on the patterns of global urban growth through the lens of MGI’s global Cityscope database of 2,000 cities. Other recent work has focused on urbanization in Latin America and productivity growth in the US. Her previous research includes an industry perspective on how different policies have contributed to sector competitiveness and growth across the globe; the impact of multinational companies on developing-country economies; as well as in-depth assessments of the barriers to competitiveness and growth in the US, UK, Brazil, and South Korea. She also leads MGI’s research agenda on energy, with a focus on understanding the microeconomic underpinnings of global energy-demand growth and the opportunity to reduce energy-demand through higher energy productivity. She advises global business and government leaders on related topics and frequently contributes to policy debates through articles and conference presentations.

Prior to joining MGI, Jaana was a consultant on McKinsey corporate finance and strategy projects in the US and Mexico, primarily working with software, semiconductor, and financial sector clients. Before joining McKinsey, she worked as a research fellow and consultant at several international development agencies and universities.

Tony Reinhart

Regional Director, Government Affairs, Ford

Tony Reinhart is Ford Motor Company's Regional Director of Government and Community Affairs based in Kansas City, Mo. He is responsible for implementing Ford Motor Company's legislative, governmental and community affairs programs in a multi-state region (Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico and Texas).

Prior Ford experience includes stints as the Manufacturing and Logistics Manager in Washington, DC., where he led Ford's efforts on manufacturing, legal reform, and transportation (Highway Re-Authorization) issues and as the Environmental Issues Manager in Ford Motor Company's Worldwide Public Policy Office in Dearborn, Michigan. Tony currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Associated Industries of Missouri (Current Chairman of the Board), Clay County (MO) Economic Development Council (Current Chairman of the Board), Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, Chicago Environmental Fund, Illinois Chamber of Commerce, Kansas City Economic Development Council, KC Northland Chamber of Commerce, KC Workforce Investment, Liberty Economic Development Council, Missouri Chamber of Commerce, Missouri Hawthorne Foundation, Missouri Self-Insurers Association and Missouri Society of Government Consultants. Tony earned his B.A. in political science, business administration and economics from Drury University in Springfield, Missouri. He is married (Michele) and has two daughters.

Todd Richardson

Co-Director, Crosstown Arts

Dr. Todd Richardson is currently an assistant professor of art history and assistant chair of the Department of Art at the University of Memphis. Since May 2010, he is also co-director of Crosstown Arts, the non-profit organization coordinating efforts for the adaptive reuse of the Sears Crosstown building, a 1.5 million square foot historic structure in Memphis, TN.

Built in 1927 as one of ten Sears distribution centers in the United States, and one of seven that survive, Sears Crosstown is a monolithic relic of America’s early twentieth-century industrial economy. For decades, it was the centerpiece of a vibrant middle class urban neighborhood. Abandoned now for twenty years, it has become one of the city's most notorious blight nuisances. Yet, even today, almost
everyone in Memphis knows someone who once worked or shopped there. In
2012, nine notable arts, education, and healthcare organizations announced their intention to create a unique "vertical urban village" within the building that will bring it and the neighborhood back to life. Dr. Todd Richardson, the leader of the Crosstown development project, will discuss the vision for redevelopment and what it could mean to the future of Memphis' urban core. For more information about the Crosstown project, see www.crosstownmemphis.com

His most recent book, Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Art Discourse in the Sixteenth-Century Netherlands, was recently published by Ashgate Publishers (UK). 

Earl Santee

Senior Principal, Populous

Earl Santee is one of the most experienced sports designers in the world. Over his 26-year career at Populous, Santee has developed a portfolio of projects that have helped bring urban life back to such cities as Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Houston, Denver and St. Louis.

Considered an urban designer first and architect second, Santee’s philosophy is that urban sites shape the buildings he designs. He has successfully selected more than 40 sites for sports venues spanning the country and designed 18 Major League ballparks and 40 spring training and minor league ballparks. His work includes Target Field, the new Yankee Stadium, Marlins Park and Busch Stadium, among others. Santee’s buildings are more than just form; they also capture the spirit and emotion of the place, creating distinct moments that last forever for the millions of fans who enjoy his buildings.

Santee serves on the Populous board of directors and is a Senior Principal at the firm. He received bachelor’s degrees in architecture and environmental design from the University of Kansas and is a registered architect and a member of the American Institute of Architects, the Society for American Baseball Research, Stadium Managers Association and the Urban Land Institute. He is a frequent speaker and author on trends in sports architecture. In 2004, Santee was named Sports Business Journal’s Most Influential Person in Sports Facility Design and Development and was named 2010 Sportsman of the Year by the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Sue Spradley

Executive Director, US Ignite

Susan (Sue) Spradley is acting Executive Director of US Ignite. She brings to US Ignite more than 20 years of experience in the wireless telecommunications industry in which she has held senior executive positions in sales, product line management, operations, services and customer support. Most recently she was Head of the North American Region at Nokia Siemens Networks and also a member of the company’s Executive Board.

Prior to joining Nokia Siemens Networks, Ms. Spradley held prominent leadership roles at Nortel Networks including President of Global Services and Operations, President of Global Product Line Management and North American Sales, and Vice-President of Customer Service and Operations. She also served as Vice-President of Marketing and Product Development for North America at Siemens Communications.

In addition, she previously was a member of the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee reporting to the President of the United States.

Susan Spradley holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Kansas and completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. Susan is a member of the Executive Board of the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas, and a board member at Tango Networks and EXFO.

Alison Taylor

Vice President, Sustainability - Americas Siemens Corporation

Alison Taylor is Vice President, Sustainability-Americas. In this position, she is responsible for driving the sustainability program for the Americas and acting as a resource for sustainability initiatives across Siemens’ business sectors. As Siemens expands its sustainability initiatives and strives to improve consistent global implementation of environmental goals, Alison will also be creating and participating in sustainability initiatives to advance knowledge, skills, tools and capabilities company-wide.

In her previous role as Director, Government Affairs, Taylor represented Siemens' position on environmental issues with Congress and the Executive Branch. She developed and promoted legislation and worked with various operating companies within Siemens to develop positions and projects on environmental topics like air quality, emissions, water quality, industrial pollution and climate change.

Prior to joining Siemens, Ms. Taylor was Chief Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works for five years, and counsel to the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce for six years. Ms. Taylor has been a member of the U.S. delegation to United Nations conferences on Climate Change, Biodiversity, Sustainability and Ozone Layer Depletion.

Prior to her service on Capitol Hill, Ms. Taylor was an equity partner in the Denver-based law firm Davis, Graham and Stubbs, LLC where she specialized in water law, mining law and environmental law. She clerked for several Denver firms and completed an internship during law school for the Honorable John L. Kane, Jr. on the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. She has contributed to numerous environmental publications and has been a frequent speaker for American Bar Association courses on environmental subjects.

Ms. Taylor graduated from Duke University with an undergraduate degree in biology, and the University of Denver with a juris doctorate degree. She was Managing Editor of the Denver University Law Review. Ms. Taylor is admitted to the practice of law in the District of Columbia and Colorado.

Doug Voigt

Director of Urban Design and Planning, SOM

Since joining SOM in 1995, Doug has focused on complex urban plans and architectural projects. He is interested in the capacity of design to build community and connect people to one another. Doug’s work is distinguished by a passionate appreciation for each project’s unique challenges and the need for a comprehensive and innovative response.

Doug balances conceptual thinking with a realistic, hands-on approach. As a designer and planner, he works closely with city leaders, institutions, and developers across the globe. Although each project has its own story, a common focus on building long-term partnerships with clients and understanding their aspirations motivates his approach to design. Over the last two decades, he has been able to unite disparate stakeholders under a cohesive vision, transforming abstract ideas into physical realities.

Doug is a strong advocate that every plan explore the social and natural systems within our larger urban ecology. He is committed to the research and synthesis of ideas that transcend best practices. This approach allows for the positioning of new ideas that holistically address the possibilities of the site, program, energy, water, waste, transportation, and air quality within the parameters of economic realities and urban design excellence, while scripting more sustainable models for high performance infrastructure and livable communities.

David Von Drehle

editor-at-large, TIME

David Von Drehle, an editor-at-large at TIME since 2007, covers national stories and politics, and has written cover stories that include a profile of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and the 2008 Person of the Year article on President Obama. His most recent cover story, “Roberts Rules,” appeared in a special issue of TIME on the Supreme Court’s ruling on health care reform. He has also covered the presidential campaigns on the campaign trail.

Previously, Von Drehle was a senior writer for the Washington Post, having served as the paper’s assistant managing editor, national political writer, magazine staff writer and New York bureau chief. During his career at the Post he wrote about subjects as varied as Donald Rumsfeld and Willie Nelson, and covered Congress, Bill Clinton’s impeachment and the 2000 Florida recount.

He is the author of Rise to Greatness: Abraham Lincoln and America’s Most Perilous Year, to be published in December 2012, and three other books, includingTriangle: The Fire That Changed America. His work has also appeared inDeadlock: The Inside Story of America’s Closest Election.

Von Drehle received a B.A. from the University of Denver and a Master of Letters degree from Oxford. He lives in Kansas City, Mo., with his wife, journalist Karen Ball, and their four children.

Cindy Wallis-Lage

President, Black & Veatch Water Services

Cindy Wallis-Lage, President, B&V Water, has 25 years of water and wastewater industry experience and is well known for her expertise in nutrient reduction and water reuse. Wallis-Lage has been involved in both industrial and municipal projects around the world. She has worked on more than 100 treatment facilities throughout the United States, Australia and Singapore.

Wallis-Lage, who joined Black & Veatch in 1986, has authored more than 50 papers, 20 technical articles and 10 textbook chapters. An active leader in numerous industry forums and associations, she serves on several committees for the Water Environment Federation and the International Water Association.

In September 2009, Wallis-Lage was a recipient of the Top 100 Under 50 Diverse Emerging Leaders Award from Diversity MBA Magazine. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Kansas State University and earned her Master’s degree in Environmental Health Engineering from the University of Kansas.

A.C. Wharton

Mayor of Memphis, TN

A C Wharton, Jr. was sworn in as the Mayor of the City of Memphis on October 26, 2009. Mayor Wharton was elected by a 61% margin of victory against numerous challengers to become Memphis' first new Mayor in 18 years. Upon taking office, Mayor Wharton immediately set about focusing his administration to execute a new agenda of transparency, responsiveness, innovation, and delivering efficient, equitable, and excellent service for the people of Memphis.

Mayor Wharton believes that Memphis can be a City of Choice for people, families, and businesses of all kinds. His vision is to align civic, commercial, and political leaders to move our economy forward and improve the quality of life for all residents. In every word and deed since taking office, he has called for the City of Memphis to celebrate its successes, honor its singular accomplishments, confront its challenges, and claim its place as a great American city.

The Wharton administration and its partners have received national recognition for Memphis' remarkable revitalization. The Mayor has focused specifically on new initiatives that dramatically increase jobs and capital investments, reduce crime, improve government efficiency and transparency, add more parks and green space to the core city, and improve public education for all children. Mayor Wharton has addressed major policy institutions and conferences of the Brookings Institute, CEOs for Cities, and the National Association for Counties. Memphis was one of only seven communities nationwide to be invited by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to take part in a national poverty-reduction initiative co-funded by the Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Social Innovation Fund and is working with an ambitious new White House initiative to prevent youth violence throughout Memphis.

Prior to being elected Mayor of the City of Memphis, A C Wharton, Jr. served as the Mayor of Shelby County for seven years and was the first African-American elected to that office.

Twice elected as Shelby County Mayor, Wharton led initiatives that shaped the region's future. He inspired Operation Safe Community, the area's first comprehensive crime-fighting plan, developed the first smart growth and sustainability plan for our community, tackled education and early childhood development issues with programs like Books from Birth and Ready, Set, Grow, and reduced the County's inherited debt while limiting its citizens to only one tax increase in seven years.

A visionary leader, Mayor Wharton created a public-private partnership to preserve and cultivate Shelby Farms Park - the largest urban park of its kind in the country, and established the Shelby Farms Greenline - a new urban trail connecting Midtown Memphis to Shelby Farms Park?recognizing Memphis' potential as a green, connected, and healthy city.

As the City's leading official, Mayor Wharton has worked untiringly to incubate innovation and create efficiencies throughout government at a level that has brought about dramatic improvements in a relatively short amount of time. These advances have included a rooting out of corruption from within city government. Mayor Wharton established the Office for Talent and Human Capital to develop, retain, and attract the best and brightest young workers. He has pledged 55 miles of new bicycle lanes and hired the City's first Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator. And through what has been a difficult economic period for the nation, Mayor Wharton has with the support of others personally shepherded a number of processes that have resulted in thousands of new jobs in Memphis' economic pipeline. In concert with these efforts, he has placed equal attention and invested significant time on job retention and expansion opportunities for companies already located in Memphis.

An attorney by trade, Wharton is a former public defender and served as executive director of the nonprofit Memphis Area Legal Services, which received national recognition as a result of his leadership. In 1982, he wrote and saw passed one of the first state laws in the United States to combat domestic violence. At a national level, he worked for a special appropriation for one of the nation's first transitional living facilities for juveniles. While serving as a public defender, Wharton's passion for reform in criminal justice system's treatment of the mentally ill led to the nationally renowned Jericho Project.

Mayor Wharton received his law degree in 1971, graduating with honors from the University of Mississippi Law School, where he was one of the first African-American students to serve on the Moot Court Board and first to serve on the Judicial Council. He became the University's first African-American professor of law, where he taught for 25 years. He earned a political science degree from Tennessee State University and is a native of Lebanon, Tennessee.

The Mayor and his wife, Ruby, have raised six sons in Memphis.

Jase Wilson

Founder and CEO, Neighbor.ly

Jase founded Neighbor.ly, the civic crowdfunding platform that lets people, companies and institutions invest in the places and civic projects they care about. A self-described "civic geek," Jase's interests lie at the intersection of cities and technology. Through Neighbor.ly, he lives out his passion for helping communities help themselves in an era of economic uncertainty. A relentless advocate for better quality of life through civic innovation, he is helping to pioneer the civic crowdfunding movement in the United States. He advocates for open data and civic tech through events such as CityCamp.

Jase also holds a BA in Urban Planning & Design from UMKC and a Masters in City Planning from MIT. While an undergrad in 2004, he founded Luminopolis, a civic software firm with a special focus on web-based community engagement tools. While at MIT, he consulted a variety of cities around the world on technology innovation strategy, and authored a thesis on using the web for civic engagement. He is an aspiring civic philanthropist and civic VC.

James Wright

Director, Opera America

James Wright is General Director of Vancouver Opera (VO), responsible for all programming and administrative functions. He is also the Secretary of OPERA America. 

VO recently presented the Canadian premiere of Nixon in China and the world premiere of Lillian Alling, and is noted for its First Nations-inspired Magic Flute. VO has commissioned operas for young people including Naomi’s Road, about the Japanese internment during WWII, and has created award-winning community-engagement initiatives.

He is a past member of The Vancouver Foundation’s Arts Advisory and the Vancouver City Planning Commission and currently serves on the OPERA America board. He worked at Lyric Opera of Kansas City in the 1970s.

Zia Yusuf

President and CEO, Streeline

Zia is a seasoned senior technology executive with a track record of leading companies to success. He is currently CEO of Streetline, Inc., the leading global provider of sensor-enabled Smart City solutions (http://www.streetline.com/). Just prior to his role leading Streetline, Zia was Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Sutter Hill Ventures and Norwest Venture Partners. He spent the last ten years at SAP AG where he was executive vice president and a member of SAP’s Executive Leadership Team. At SAP, he led the company’s efforts in key areas, including co-founding SAPMarkets, a B2B marketplace company; founding and leading the SAP global corporate strategy team and its Design Services Team; and, most recently, as head of the global ecosystem and partner group, where he managed a network of 7,500 partners, award winning SAP online communities of innovation and the $125 mm SAP Netweaver Fund. Prior to SAP, Zia was part of the Investment Banking Division at Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he worked on corporate finance and M&A transactions. Previously, he worked on health sector issues in Southern Africa, as well as project and structured finance in South Asia and Indochina, at the World Bank Group.

Zia has a MS in International Affairs from Georgetown University, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and a BA from Macalester College. He is also an associate consulting professor at Stanford University, where he taught “Experiences in Software Design” with Terry Winnograd and Hasso Plattner, co-founder of SAP and is currently co-teaching "Designing Liberation Technologies" with Profs. Terry Winnograd & Joshua Cohen. Zia is also an advisor to several start-ups and is an actively involved board member of non-profit institutions focused on education in South Asia and social entrepreneurship in East Africa. You can follow Zia on Twitter @ziayusuf or follow his blog "The Right Question" at www.ziayusuf.com. He has also been profiled extensively in leading business and technology publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, FastCompany, CNNMoney, TechCrunch, VentureBeat etc. and featured in national television and radio stations such as CNN, MSNBC, KLIV Radio, and CNBC.

Julián Zugazagoitia

Director, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Julián Zugazagoitia, a man whose passion for the arts has taken him around the globe, is the fifth director of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and took his post September 1, 2010. Since arriving at the Museum, he has shown a high interest in reaching out to the community and in making the Nelson-Atkins more open and accessible to all visitors. Born in Mexico and educated at the Sorbonne Paris IV in France, Zugazagoitia speaks six languages and has worked at institutions in the Americas and Europe.

Before moving to Kansas City, Julián was the Director/CEO of El Museo del Barrio in New York, a leading institution in the field of Latin American and Latino art. He led the institution through a $35 million renovation project that resulted in new gallery spaces and a refurbished facility.

He has also collaborated with such institutions as the Museum of Modern Art, the National Portrait Gallery and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Before leading El Museo del Barrio, Julian worked at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York as Executive Assistant to the Director. As a consultant and curator, he also worked with the Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles and UNESCO, organizing exhibitions, events and conferences internationally. He also curated exhibitions as Director of Visual Arts with the Spoleto Festival in Italy. Julián is married and has two elementary-age children.