Are You A Vanguard? Applications Now Open
Beau is the founder and Principal Architect of Activate Architecture, a design and community engagement firm that collaborates with communities, cities and clients to create socially engaged, sustainable, and beautiful spaces. Beau is passionate about equitable design and advancing equity, diversity and inclusion efforts, especially with the LGBTQIA+ community.
David France is an active performer and an innovative educator. He believes that the intersection of innovation, community and the arts can catalyze social change and propel economic growth in a city. This belief catalyzed the launch of Revolution of Hope, a nonprofit focused on social impact through the arts in the inner city of Boston.
Emma Freedman is the Community Impact Manager of the Camden Community Food Fund. Prior to this role she was working to support corner store owners in Camden to collectively purchase goods and services. Freedman works to strengthen the communities she works in through building connections between residents and stakeholders.
Michael Freedman-Schnapp is Managing Director at Forsyth Street, a financial advisor to organizations that create affordable housing, reinvest in disinvested communities, and promote clean energy.
Michael previously served the NYC Council for five years. He is the founding Board Chair of the Riders Alliance and holds a Master of Urban Planning from NYU Wagner.
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Philip is a civic engagement pro with passions for public art, outdoor recreation, and writing. As the City of Charlotte’s Neighborhood and Community Partnerships Manager, he oversees community grants, environmental programs, and leadership + training opportunities that equip residents to build successful lives. Philip graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill, where he majored in English and minored in Entrepreneurship. He earned a Master of Public Affairs at UNC-Greensboro, and he completed graduate coursework at Fuller Theological Seminary in Colorado Springs.
Namon Freeman is passionate about the equitable and sustainable development of cities. At Bloomberg Associates, Namon is the global lead on Housing Affordability, supporting cities in the development of comprehensive housing strategies and implementing specific programs such as Emergency Rental Assistance or Inclusionary Housing.
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Rachel Frierson is the director of programming for the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy, the non-profit organization responsible for developing the Detroit RiverWalk and the Dequindre Cut. Rachel oversees and implements the diverse program offerings that activate the Detroit Riverfront to create a world-class gathering space for three million visitors annually.
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Kari Fulton is an award winning environmental justice advocate and new media journalist. As the Youth Climate Justice Coordinator for the Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative (EJCC) Fulton leads EJCC’s partnership with the Energy Action Coalition helping to coordinate national campus campaigns and youth summits such as Power Shift 2009; the largest lobby day and youth summit on Climate Change in United States history.
Sylvie Gallier Howard is the Deputy Chief of Staff in the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development. Prior to joining the City in 2012, Ms. Gallier Howard was the Principal and Founder of Clementine Consulting, providing guidance to non-profits and social enterprises working in areas such as education, social justice, economic development and immigration.
Edgar Garcia is Arts & Entertainment Deputy for L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti. With extensive experience in arts administration, cultural resource management, and historic preservation, he is committed to expanding and diversifying the cultural life of Los Angeles.
Ashley Garcia is the Regional Leasing & Marketing manager at local real estate property management firm BGPM and board president at Fund 17. Originally from New York City, Ashley believes real estate and community engagement are key factors to healthier cities for the livelihoods of our future generations.
Ubax is the Director of Fund Development for the Cultural Space Agency. With extensive experience in equitable development, she moved $100M to community organizations, leveraged $300M from Seattle City Departments, and was instrumental in transferring City property to Black-led organizations. She prioritizes social justice, community engagement, and inclusive vision-building.
Cristina is Policy Director in the President’s Office, Board of Aldermen of the City of St. Louis. Throughout her career, she has advised organizations on the use of data to drive policy and provide accountability. She is the author of the City of St. Louis’ Equity Indicators and the St. Louis Affordable Housing Report Card.
During her first term as a Wilkinsburg Councilwoman, Marita Garrett founded “Community Conversations”, an initiative to connect and empower residents to work together for neighborhood improvement. In furtherance of that goal, Ms. Garrett co-founded the Free Store Wilkinsburg, where donations of material goods are thoughtfully paired with families and residents.
Jessica Garz is interested in the intersection and tension between the pragmatic and poetic aspects of cultural work, and has often worked directly with artists in contexts beyond the traditional cultural sector. Jess currently works as a Program Officer in the Thriving Cultures program at the Surdna Foundation, a New York City based family foundation with national grantmaking programs organized around the mission to support just and sustainable communities.
Kimberly Garza is a design professional providing services in art, landscape architecture and planning. Her research-based design approach, coupled with her ability to manipulate virtual models, helps to identify and illustrate complexities and opportunities hidden within a site. Her work aims to provide innovative platforms for cultural, educational and social engagement.
Cristina Garza, as Program Director of the Mission Economic Development Corporation, curates and leads all STEAM and entrepreneurship initiatives for the City of Mission, Texas, which is located along US/Mexico border. Cristina is committed to fostering community and economic development through technology and art.
Christine Gaspar is Executive Director of the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP), a New York-based nonprofit that partners with designers and community organizations to create visually-based educational tools that help demystify complex issues impacting their communities, from zoning law to immigrants’ rights. The projects are designed with and for community organizations to help increase their capacity to mobilize their constituents on social justice issues that are important to them.
Before CUP, Christine was Assistant Director of the Gulf Cost Community Design Studio in Biloxi, Mississippi where she provided architectural design and community planning services to low-income communities of color recovering from Hurricane Katrina.
Christine holds Masters in Architecture and Urban Planning from MIT, and a Bachelor in Environmental Studies from Brown University. She is a founding member of the Design Futures Student Leadership Forum Advisory Board.
Gary Gaston is the Executive Director of the Nashville Civic Design Center, and a Lecturer with the UTK College of Architecture and Design. Gary co-authored Moving Tennessee Forward: Models for Connecting Communities, published in 2012. He is finalizing work on a new book, Shaping the Healthy Community: the Nashville Plan, to be published by Vanderbilt University Press in 2015.
Taz George is committed to developing public policies that support sustainable access to credit in underserved communities, especially for affordable housing. A native of Baltimore, he recently joined the Community Development and Policy Studies division of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago as a research analyst.
Nancy is the Director of Development at Shift Capital, a social-impact real estate firm focused on making more inclusive and sustainable cities. She draws on her community development finance background and works across disciplines to activate blighted spaces and bring residential, commercial, industrial and mixed-use real estate projects to fruition.
Crystal German works with communities to develop innovative solutions to support women and people of color as assets for healthy sustainable communities. Her career spans finance, economic development, and inclusion positions within private and public sectors. In 2014, her work building a national minority business development program earned her the distinction as a BALLE fellow.
Monica Gibson is the Department of Planning and Environment’s Director for the Hunter Region. Monica has been town planning since 2000, and has been leading the preparation and delivery of the Hunter Regional Plan since early 2016. The Hunter Regional Plan 2036 received the Secretary’s award for Innovation and Collaboration.
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Paul Gleye is a city planner specializing in historic preservation and urban design, with a focus on bringing vitality to city centers. In addition to his commitment to civic affairs in North Dakota, he is a professor of architecture at North Dakota State University and lives in downtown Fargo.
Andy Goddeeris is an attorney, urbanist, and lifelong Detroiter currently serving as Senior Policy Counsel to Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib. His work focuses on developing radical policy and supporting grassroots movements for social change and intersectional justice. He lives in Northwest Detroit with his partner and a whole bunch of cats.
Dara Goldberg is a Senior Planner with the NYC Department of City Planning’s Regional Planning Division, where she oversees the office’s research program. Dara is passionate about how data analytics and visualization might better inform policymaking. She holds a MSc in Urban Planning with Distinction from the University of Hong Kong.
Breyonne Golding is a senior city planner with the City of Minneapolis, passionate in helping marginalized communities envision and shape their neighborhoods over the past 10 years. She holds a Masters in City & Regional Planning (The Ohio State University) and Masters in Ecological Design (Conway School of Landscape Design).
Juan Gomez of the National Compadres Network is a Senior Policy and Strategy Advisor. Prior to this he was a Fellow at The California Endowment working on Boys and Men of Color (BMoC) strategies. In 2013 Mr. Gomez Co-Founded and became Program Manager of MILPA (Motivating Individual Leadership for Public Advancement). Mr. Gomez was born is in Watsonville, CA and where he was raised by his grandparents Amelia and Ampelio.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Kristen Gordon is an urban planner committed to equitable development. She serves as an Economic Development Deputy for LA City Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson. Ms. Gordon holds a B.A. in Urban Studies from UC Irvine and a Certificate in Real Estate from USC Ross.
Laura Grannemann leads the Quicken Loans Community Fund, which drives national philanthropic strategy for Quicken Loans. She co-founded the organization in May of 2016. Throughout her time at the Community Fund, Laura has focused on solving complex challenges like tax foreclosure, employment barriers, and the mortgage market in Detroit.
James is Practice Leader for AECOM’s Design + Planning Team in NSW/ACT and and experienced industry leader with demonstrated ability to lead complex projects with multiple stakeholders to agreed outcomes. James is passionate about delivering projects that focus on people first, enhance liveablity and derive public benefit.
Brandon Greene is director of the racial and economic justice program at the ACLU of Northern California. In this capacity, Brandon provides programmatic vision and leadership for advancing racial and economic justice in the state.
Previously, Brandon managed the Civic Design Lab in Oakland and was an attorney and clinical supervisor at the East Bay Community Law Center, where he helped create and lead the decriminalization of poverty clinic.
Brandon has also worked as public defender in Contra Costa County and as a fellow at Public Advocates in San Francisco.
Brandon is a graduate of Boston University Law School, where he was a public interest scholar and Martin Luther King Social Justice Fellow.
Darnell Grisby is an expert on the emerging urban mobility landscape and its impact on economic development. He is a sought-after speaker whose work has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio and numerous other media outlets. He is an experienced practitioner of the complete set of tools to influence policy: thought leadership, independent expenditure campaigns, philanthropic giving, political action committee strategy, diversity initiatives, direct lobbying, and grassroots and grasstops organizing. He was named among the “Top 40 Under 40” by Mass Transit magazine, and has degrees from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and the University of California, Los Angeles. He is a native of Riverside, California and currently resides in the walkable core of Washington, DC.
Mike Grote is a real estate developer and registered architect in New Orleans, focusing on community development projects in the city and regionally. He is always striving to make the projects he works on equitable and anti-racist in their processes and outcomes. He also makes mean guacamole.
Originally from Nebraska with a background in Public Policy and Urban Placemaking, Gudenrath relocated to El Paso, Texas to run the El Paso Downtown Management District (DMD) $1 million budget and over a dozen full and part time staff.
He’s recognized as an Emerging Leader by the International Downtown Association.
Dr Gudes is an enthusiastic advocate for location intelligence and utilizing GIS and spatial modeling approaches especially with the intersection of public health. He has a diverse experience in developing GIS applications and using its tools under various disciplines including: Urban Planning, Environmental Planning, Health and Well-Being, Geography and Transportation.
Mejay Gula is the founder and executive director of Tender House Project, working to secure the Chicago River with sites of community agency, cultural exchange, and universal inclusion. This development strategy reimagines Chicago’s historic bridgehouses to be a civic and cultural network that breathes needed life into the Chicago River.
Lope Gutierrez-Ruiz is a publisher, art director and cultural manager, and is passionate about the future of our cities and its relationship to media, design, data and culture. He is currently a Senior Fellow at TED Conferences, and a John S. Knight Fellow at Stanford University. There, his research has centered on data visualization, database management, open government, mapping techniques, design thinking, product design and business enterprise growth.
Stephanie R.A. Hacker, AICP, LEED AP, has invested more than 15 years as a planning practitioner and revitalization specialist for both the private and public sector. At the core of Stephanie’s interests is utilizing planning principles to a) build a central vision and b) establish supporting systems that kick-start physical change.
A/Professor M. Hank Haeusler, PhD is Discipline Director of Computational Design at Australian School of Architecture + Design at the University of New South Wales; board member of the Media Architecture Institute and known as researcher, educator, entrepreneur and designer in media architecture and responsive transport through over 60 publications.
Ingrid Haftel manages Community Education programs at the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP), a Brooklyn-based nonprofit that uses design and art to increase meaningful civic engagement, particularly among historically underrepresented communities. Before joining CUP, Ingrid was Curator of Exhibitions at the Chicago Architecture Foundation, where she developed creative public projects on urban planning and design.
Abby Hall works for the U.S. EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities. Abby works on programs that provide land use planning and urban design assistance to communities. Abby also manages a partnership with FEMA on disaster recovery and resilience planning. Abby earned a Master’s degree in Anthropology from Stanford University.
As the Director of School-Centered Neighborhood Development for the Community Learning Center Institute, Adelyn works to stabilize neighborhoods based on the model of school-centered community revitalization. Before joining CLCI, Hall graduated from the University of Cincinnati with her Master’s in Planning, as well as served in the Peace Corps.
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Nicholas Hamilton is an urbanist experienced in launching and leading a diverse set of urban equity and sustainability initiatives, from a national network to revitalize America’s legacy cities to founding the NYC-Metro Urban Sustainability Meetup. He previously served as Director of Urban Policy at Columbia University’s bipartisan policy institute, as an architectural and urban designer at the firm Davis Brody Bond, and as an affordable housing provider in the Bay Area.
Gia M. Hamilton is known for her visionary ability to identify and cultivate support systems. A cultural steward, design thinker, and applied anthropologist, Hamilton has spent the last two decades straddling the nonprofit world & corporate America, leveraging her expertise in resource-based economic strategy to move forward new models in capacity building and fundraising.
Ashley Z. Hand is a transportation technology strategist fellow at the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT). She was the first Chief Innovation Officer for the City of Kansas City, Missouri and is a professional architect. She has dedicated her career to community and civic engagement across North America and currently runs a nonprofit, Friends of Hale Cook, dedicated to public education which she co-founded in 2009.
Gunnar Hand is a city and regional planner by profession, an urban school district Board Member by passion, and an all-around community organizer by habit. From starting his own property reinvestment business and launching rail-based transit advocacy nonprofits, to promoting energy alternatives and neighborhood beautification on various Boards or finding ways to spend more time with his growing family, Gunnar is a problem solver.
Emma is a community developer based in Greensboro, NC. In her current role she’s leading the redevelopment of a 45-acre historic textile mill community. Her interests lie in repurposing spaces and creating places — through preservation, development, DIY urbanism, and authentic community engagement.
Joe Hansbauer graduated from the University of Cincinnati with an Electrical Engineering degree and worked for nine years as an Strategy Consultant at Accenture. A serial social entrepreneur, Joe has helped grow or launch several initiates, such as Fall Feast, Paint the Town, Fuel, Lily Pad, and UGIVE.ORG. He is now the President and CEO for Findlay Market, Ohio’s oldest continuously operating public market.
Andrea Hansen Phillips is an Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Virginia, and the principal of Datum Digital Studio LLC, a boutique interactive design studio focused on building websites, data visualizations, community engagement tools, and interactive maps for urban design projects. Previously, Andrea was a Lecturer in Landscape Architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, and in 2014, she was a Code for America fellow, where she worked with the City of Atlanta to create web-based maps and engagement tools for a billion-dollar infrastructure bond.
Bernard is a principal at Lynx Ventures, a real estate development and investment firm based in Richmond, Virginia, where he is primarily responsible for development management and project execution. He also co-founded Hatch Richmond, a consortium of companies that enables growth or food and beverage entrepreneurs in Central Virginia.
Danny Harris is Program Director for San Jose with the Knight Foundation. In his role, he supports the foundation’s strategy and grantmaking in Silicon Valley’s most populous city. Previously, he worked as a refugee aid worker, terrorist financing analyst, DJ, photographer, storyteller, creative director and co-founder of food start-up Feastly.
Darrell Hawks is executive director of Parks at Kimbro Station, an organization dedicated to enhancing and preserving outdoor space in Southeast Nashville for the health, recreation, and cultural enrichment of the community. He puts his business background to work developing and leading innovative programs and social enterprises that serve and empower others.
Gregory Heller is a practitioner and author with over a decade’s experience in social-impact real estate and community development. He is CEO of American Communities Trust (ACT). Greg is also author of Ed Bacon: Planning, Politics and the Building of Modern Philadelphia. He is a graduate of Wesleyan University.
Ben Helphand is the Executive Director of NeighborSpace, a nonprofit land trust in Chicago that holds space for community stewarded gardens. He is also one of the originators of the Bloomingdale Trail a former rail embankment transformed into an elevated park. Originally from Oregon, he holds a degree in the history of religion from the University of Chicago.
Bethany Henderson is a lawyer by training, social entrepreneur by trade, and family woman by choice. Ventures she has launched or helped build include: City Hall Fellows, Grow With Me Tee, GMU Center for Social Entrepreneurship, and The J.M.K. Innovation Prize. She currently leads youth development nonprofit DC SCORES. Bethany and her husband blog together about the ups and downs of their dual-career-with-kids life at Finding Our Best Selves.
William Herbig directs the ULI’s “Homeless to Housed” initiative and is an Neighborhood Commissioner for Dupont Circle. Previously he lead programs at the Markle Foundation, the Congress for the New Urbanism, the National Capital Planning Commission, and Atlanta’s Midtown Alliance. William received his master’s in City Planning from Georgia Tech.
Valerie is a transportation planner at the Mid-Region Council of Governments where she provides technical and transportation planning assistance to local governments. She planned and implemented Albuquerque’s pilot bike share, BICI, in partnership with a local nonprofit and is currently planning its expansion. She also plans ABQ’s open streets event, ABQ CiQlovía. She serves on the boards for DowntownABQ MainStreet Initiative, ABQ 2030 District, and the NM Complete Streets Leadership Team.
Yianice Hernandez is Senior Director of Knowledge Impact and Strategy, and directs the execution of strategic priorities to rigorously document the impact of affordable housing on families and communities across the U.S. Yianice also leads Enterprise’s comprehensive multi-year academic research study, “Healthy Home, Happy Kids,” to evaluate the effect of green housing improvements on children’s asthma and the health and well-being of their caregivers.
G. Emmanuel Hernandez has worked in the non-profit sector for the last 8 years providing technical assistance in crime prevention and violence studies to local governments. More recently his work has been focused on the adaptation and implementation of Procedural Justice training and Focused Deterrence of Violence strategies within Mexico City’s Police. Currently, he’s studying for a Master’s degree in Public Policy at the University of Chicago.
Natalia Hernández is a native to the city of Milwaukee who works for Harbor District, Inc., an organization whose mission is to revitalize Milwaukee’s inner harbor. As Outreach Specialist, her role is to inform and engage nearby residents, community members, and other stakeholders in the development of the Harbor District.
Logan is the CEO for REACH Riverside, Kingswood Community Center, and the Warehouse. REACH (Redevelopment, Education, And Community Health) is a holistic revitalization effort in Wilmington, DE, working with nationally acclaimed Purpose Built Communities, to include 600 mixed-income homes, a new Kingswood, and the Warehouse (a collaborative teen center).
Tram Hoang supports PolicyLink’s work to create new housing futures through policy analysis, research and advocacy, narrative change, and building the capacity of grassroots partners in movement spaces. Her work focuses on anti-displacement and equitable acquisition policies, including tenant protections and community ownership at the local, state and federal level.
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Taylor Holloway is a designer, architect, and educator who uses design-driven approaches to promote equity in the built environment. Her work is focused on developing new and radical uses of public space, advancing collective capacities for social impact, and championing the preservation of shared cultural legacies.
Taylor is the inaugural Manager of Programs and Audience Engagement for Prospect New Orleans, a contemporary art triennial that invites artists from around the globe to engage with New Orleans and raises the voices of artists who represent the Global South. Taylor is also an Organizer with Design As Protest, a 2019 ACD Fellow, an AIA Jason Pettigrew Memorial ARE Scholar, and the Founder of Public Design Agency.
Nicole Hudson Hollway is an independent consultant at Because Really LLC, and has spent her career applying digital strategy in industries ranging from Broadway to finance. She is a co-founder of St. Louis for the Love, a group that organizes the love focused on this dynamic and innovative city.
Brandon Holmes has served as the Executive Director of Greater Peoria LISC since the office launched in late 2012. Before arriving in Peoria Brandon served as a Program Officer for Greater Peoria LISC where he served as the lead underwriter and led an array of other community development projects and initiatives.
Lisa Hook works with national and local government officials, as well as civil society and business organizations in Asia to improve environmental governance, urban sustainability, low carbon development and climate change adaptation across 18 countries in Asia, while connecting best practices from her home base in San Francisco.
A third generation Angeleno and proud Spelman College alumna, Gabrielle “Gabie” Horton is an outspoken advocate for urban communities of color. As a Rackham Merit Fellow, she is currently pursuing a Master in Public Policy (MPP.) at the University Michigan – Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. Gabrielle is passionate about the intersection of public policy, storytelling and urban communities of color, with her most recent research focused on the juvenile/criminal justice systems and Detroit’s restaurant industry. Prior to graduate school, she worked at the nexus of community organizing and politics, most notably on President Obama’s re-election campaign and inauguration, Cory Booker’s U.S. Senate campaign, and in the Office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.
Alex Horton born in Albuquerque; NM spent his time working to serve underserved communities. Supporting local initiatives to break down the barriers for entrepreneurs of color.
Adele leverages her interdisciplinary background as architect, green building consultant, and public health professional to bring a health-based approach to green building design and climate change policy. Her consulting company, Biositu, LLC, uses spatial analysis of community health data to develop actionable recommendations tailored to their social and physical context.
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An urbanist at heart, Landon is originally from Florida but resides in Vancouver, BC, where he is the Director of the Binners’ Project, an organization that fosters social and economic inclusion by empowering binners (those who bin or dumpster-dive). Landon is the former Executive Director of Hastings Crossing Business Improvement Association, Canada’s first ‘social innovation BIA,’ and has worked in sustainability and public engagement at Simon Fraser University.
Lou Huang is an urban designer, open source software developer, user interface engineer, recovering architect and professional internet trickster. He is the founder and CEO of Streetmix, a collaborative platform where urban planners and community members design streets and public space together.
Crystal Hudson is a native Brooklynite with over a decade of experience in operations, strategic planning, and marketing and advertising working across the public and private sectors. Currently, she is Chief of Operations to the New York City Council Majority Leader, and oversees land use and development projects.
Lakisha Hull serves as the Development Services Division Manager at the Charlotte Department of Transportation. Lakisha has a dual Master’s degree in Architecture and City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the University of Michigan. She is a certified under AICP and LEED AP BD+C.
Jasmine C. Humphries is a holistic community development specialist helping build communities from the inside-out and outside-in. Her work ranges from teaching yoga, youth leadership development, to urban planning advocacy and education. She is the founder of Voices In the Built Environment(ViBE), Heal ‘n Build, and the Cincinnati chapter of Red Bike & Green.
Theresa Hwang is the Director of Community Design and Planning at the Skid Row Housing Trust, a non-profit permanent supportive housing organization where she was the Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellow from 2009-2012. Theresa is on the Board of Directors for the Association for Community Design.
Mauricio, a Mexican architect, works at the Municipal Planning Institute (IMPLAN). Through interinstitucional planning and sustainable interventions, he works to accomplish a better city for all while preserving regional heritage and traditions for future generations. As co-director in binational urban labs between Matamoros and Brownsville, he pursues tearing down barriers and promoting a vibrant and competitive region.
Ms. Idemudia, a native from Detroit, holds a Masters of Planning from the USC and an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan. She has multiple planning honors, including two APA Los Angeles Awards for her public outreach work with youth. Currently she works as a Planning Assistant with the City of Los Angeles.
Alex Ihnen was born and raised in North Manchester, Indiana. Alex attended Indiana University and earned both a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s in public affairs. He has also studied at the University of South Australia in Adelaide and the Universita per Stranieri in Perugia, Italy.
Mrill Ingram is a geographer and writer with a passion for creating welcoming and ecologically diverse public spaces accessible to everyone. Her work is focused on empowering communities with appropriate knowledge and technologies to build relationships to Earth, reckoning with the past and imagining vibrant, generative, and more equitable futures.
Christine Ingrassia serves as Alderwoman of the 6th Ward in St. Louis, Missouri. She focuses her efforts on issues that are important to her constituents such as government transparency, crime, quality of life, education and development. This year, Christine is implementing the city’s first pilot participatory budgeting project.
Edurne Irizarry is a Program Officer with the Philadelphia Foundation and has 20 years of experience working in the Philadelphia nonprofit sector. As a PO, Edurne manages all aspects of the Fund for Children, and is assigned the coordination and management of special projects and capacity building initiatives.
Steven is a local elected official in Caddo Parish, Louisiana and Community Healthcare Coordinator for a private community clinic. He is most passionate about creating sustainable policies that improve the socioeconomic plight of working and low-income individuals. Steven is a community health coordinator at David Raines Community Health Centers where he focuses on connecting uninsured and underserved populations to affordable primary care services. Most recently, Steven announced his bid to be mayor of his hometown Shreveport, La (www.electstevenjackson.com).
Ronda Jackson is the Vice President of City Partnerships at KaBOOM! where she builds partnerships with city governments to increase access to play for kids living in poverty. Prior to KaBOOM!, Ronda was at Living Cities where she worked with city leaders to improve the economic well-being of low-income people.
Jerrianne works to cultivate and build relationships within Interise’s vast network of small businesses, instructors, program managers, alumni and anchor institutions to increase mission impact. She believes in the spirit of entrepreneurship and is a strong supporter of creating vibrant and energized small business ecosystems.
Dr. Alaina Jackson’s experience spans the areas of businesses development, workforce development, and homeownership modeling. She has functioned as a Program Manager, Community Engagement Lead, Grant Manger, Researcher and, most recently, Managing Director. Whatever the role, her work remains rooted in improving the quality of life for historically disenfranchised communities.
Garrett is the Executive Director of the Open Architecture Collaborative and the Development and Operations Manager for Designing Justice Designing Spaces. He previously worked with Code for America coordinating the Peer Network and Fellowship programs. Trained as an architect in post Katrina New Orleans, Garrett strives to understand the holistic implications of design decisions and how our built environment comes together.
Kiran Jain is in the Oakland City Attorney’s Office, focused on innovation and civic design through her real estate, technology and municipal law practice. She served on the League of California Cities’ Municipal Law Institute and designed the first Kiva Zip/City Trustee partnership to crowdfund local economic development.
Laura Janka, architect and urban designer, has focused her professional and personal interests on civic space and creative planning processes, especially in Mexico City and São Paulo, with interscalar experiences involving public policies and social local initiatives.
Laura is an urban planner with ten years of experience in development and activation of urban open space. She is currently the Executive Director of the Charles River Conservancy and previously held the positions of Associate Director of the Boston Waterfront Initiative for The Trustees of Reservations and the Director of Programs and Planning for the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy.
Mojan is an urban planner and public engagement specialist driven to find opportunities where planning can support cultural development. She designs and facilitates participatory workshops, and is passionate about the intersection between psychology and built form. Prior to the City of Mississauga, Mojan directed large-scale public art installations in Toronto.
Allison is the chief of staff and policy director for Sacramento City Councilmember Jay Schenirer, and has professional experience in real estate development, public finance, economic development and housing. Previously, Allison worked as an appointee to Governor Jerry Brown as a deputy director for the California Strategic Growth Council, where she spearheaded the state’s climate investment programs around local affordable housing, transportation and community-focused technical assistance priorities. A lifelong Sacramentan, she is a fan of community arts, bikes and tacos.
Milicent Johnson is Director of Partnerships and Community at Peers. She comes to Peers after co-founding Bayshare, an advocacy group dedicated to building a thriving environment for the sharing economy in San Francisco, and several years as community manager for Shareable Magazine.
Maeghan Jones has held various management and leadership positions, including director of a statewide program for homeless and runaway youth, executive director of a private family foundation and a nonprofit management consultant. Maeghan has also worked as a public interest attorney assisting low-income clients to secure basic rights and services.
Chané Jones is an Associate Counsel for the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice where she advances the organization’s Civic Engagement pillar through advocacy for its rights restoration initiative, and through holistic research & policy prescription geared towards revitalizing the South Ward of Newark. Chané is a lifelong resident of the City of Newark and holds a Bachelor of Science and Juris Doctor from Seton Hall University.
Blaze designs at the intersection of cities, people and nature. At Openbox he uses design to reimagine community engagement in urban development. He’s a Cornell graduate, senior fellow of the Environmental Leadership Program and was named one of “100 most influential urbanists you don’t know about, but should” by IOBY.
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