As a practice area leader for Gensler’s North-East region, Oliver is responsible for overseeing planning and urban design projects, architectural designs and commercial as well as institutional projects ranging from a small environmental not-for-profit to large scale master plans in the U.S. and the Middle East.

His clients include The New York Times, Novartis, McGraw-Hill, Morgan Stanley, Qatar Airways, the Dogus Group, Bilgili Holding, Global Seawater Inc., and The Beacon Institute.

His work includes assignments as diverse as facilitating the planning and implementation of high performance energy and water strategies for a corporate headquarters project in Houston, TX, planning advisory for a 50,000-hectare seawater irrigated bio-fuel agricultural project, the development of innovative net-zero energy housing projects in the US, Germany and Switzerland, advisory for several net-zero energy projects and the design for the Beacon Institute’s Center for Environmental Innovation and Education (CEIE) at Dennings Point in Beacon, NY.

In February 2010 Oliver was selected to participate in the LEED ND Pilot Program and became one of the first LEED Accredited Professionals for Neighborhood Development in addition to being LEED AP for Building Design and Construction for over 14 years.

An outstanding academic and professional leader, Oliver regularly speaks about and teaches courses on sustainability topics at universities such as the Cooper Union, Columbia University, Pratt Institute, and the New York School of Interior Design. He has been a moderator and panelist on numerous industry events on sustainable design.

Oliver is a Member of the Technical Advisory Committee for the NYC Mayor’s Carbon Challenge for Commercial Tenants and a member of the Expert Advisory Committee of INDICATE, an EU sponsored Smart City Initiative to create cloud-based Urban Energy Planning and Assessment Tools.

An architect and urban designer, Margaret Newman FAIA currently leads her own consulting firm More Urban, focusing on design, urban planning, transportation and development projects., Most recently a Principal at Arup, an international firm of designers, planners, and engineers, Margaret led the Planning team in the NY office focusing on public realm projects prioritizing design excellence and transportation.. With extensive experience designing and building complex projects in urban environments, Margaret has played leadership roles in government as Chief of Staff for the New York City Department of Transportation under Mayor Bloomberg where she led the transformation of Times Square, in advocacy as Executive Director for the Municipal Art Society of New York, and as a founding partner in Marren and Newman Architects. LEED certified, Margaret managed the development of green infrastructure prototypes for NYC streets. A Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, Ms. Newman was recognized for her role in changing the streets of New York.

Robert M. Rogers founded Rogers Partners Architects + Urban Designers in August 2013 by Robert M. Rogers. For over 30 years, Rob has explored the edges of architecture and the overlap of disciplines: the spaces where architecture, landscapes and the public realm converge.

Rob creates institutional and cultural buildings that are civic works. From reinventing the security bollard to redesigning a subtle icon on the National Mall, Rob continually elevates accepted conventions in his quest to develop intelligent, rich and timeless contributions to our physical environment. Believing that even a single building is a piece of urban design, his work assertively and elegantly combines urbanism, landscape and architecture.

A recognized leader in advancing new urban technologies and programs, Rob has lectured on urban design and security in Lower Manhattan for the National Capitol Planning Commission and the National Academy of Sciences. He presented as keynote speaker for the National Building Museum's Spotlight on Design and the Malaysian Institute of Architects in Datum, Kuala Lumpur.

Rob has served as professor and architecture critic at prestigious design schools and universities around the country including Harvard University, Cornell University, Columbia University, Yale University, The Pratt Institute, Parsons the New School for Design, Syracuse University, Iowa State University, Washington University in St Louis, Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), Tulane University and held the Cullinan Chair in Architecture at Rice University.

Naomi Hersson-Ringskog is Founding Executive Director of No Longer Empty, an arts organization that revives old buildings through curated artistic interventions and collaborative programming. Since 2009, Naomi's emphasis has been on demonstrating the community value of creative interim use for economic revitalization and community organizing. Naomi is a graduate of Columbia University's Masters Program in Urban Planning, where she was awarded the William Kinne Fellowship Award and completed the National Charrette Institute. Past participant in Coro Neighborhood Leadership Program, former board member of GSAPP Alumni Board, and served as a representative for the Public Advocated for the Museum of City of New York.

Justin Garrett Moore is an urban designer and the executive director of the New York City Public Design Commission. He has extensive experience in urban design and city planning—from large-scale urban systems, policies, and projects to grassroots and community-focused planning, design, and arts initiatives. At the Public Design Commission his work is focused on prioritizing the quality and excellence of the public realm, and fostering accessibility, diversity and inclusion in the City’s public buildings, spaces, and art.

Justin is a former Senior Urban Designer for the NYC Department of City Planning where, for over a decade, he was responsible for conducting complex urban design plans and studies of the physical design and utilization of sites including infrastructure, public spaces, land use patterns and neighborhood character. His projects included the Greenpoint and Williamsburg Waterfront, Hunter’s Point South, the Coney Island Plan and the Brooklyn Cultural District. He received degrees in both architecture and urban design from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation where he is now an Adjunct Associate Professor of Architecture in the urban design and urban planning programs.

He is the co-founder of Urban Patch, a social enterprise based in Indianapolis that focuses on community revitalization and design in American inner cities. His professional affiliations include the American Institute of Certified Planners, the Urban Design Forum, and Next City’s Vanguard. In addition to ioby, he also serves as a board member for Mary Miss—City as Living Laboratory, and Made in Brownsville.

Jay Cross is President of Hudson Yards, leading the Related Companies’ development efforts of the 26-acre Hudson Yards site on the west side of New York City.

Cross was formerly President of the New York Jets LLC where he was responsible for all business operations of the NFL team, including finance, marketing, community relations, broadcast and game operations and the team’s 50% share in the New Meadowlands Stadium a joint venture with the New York Giants. Cross joined the Jets in 2000 from the Miami Heat of the NBA where he was the President of Business Operations and led the development of the America Airlines Arena, creating a public-private partnership between the Heat and Miami-Dade County to manage the project. An accomplished sailor, Cross has been a member of three Canadian Olympic Teams and won 10 World, North American and National titles.

Cross holds a Bachelor’s degree in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Toronto and a Master’s degree in Architectural Technology from Columbia University.

Annabelle Selldorf is the Principal of Selldorf Architects. Born and raised in Germany, she received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Pratt Institute, and a Master of Architecture degree from Syracuse University in Florence, Italy. She established her own firm in 1988. Ms. Selldorf is a Fellow of The American Institute of Architects and President of the Board of Directors of the Architectural League of New York. She also serves on the board of The Chinati Foundation. She has acted as a consultant for organizations such as the Battery Park City Authority and has served as a visiting critic at various architecture schools. She is a licensed architect in New York, New Jersey, Colorado, Rhode Island, Texas, and Utah.

AJ has been practicing real estate development in New York City since 2004. He started his career as a project manager for Peter Walker & Partners on the World Trade Center Memorial in downtown Manhattan. In 2007, AJ became a founding member of Alloy Development, a boutique real estate development company based in Brooklyn, NY. At Alloy, AJ manages the acquisition, capitalization, design, construction and disposition of projects that seek to promote thoughtful design and add value to the built environment of New York City.

AJ received a Bachelor of Arts from Amherst Collect and a Masters of Architecture and Certificate in Real Estate from the University of Pennsylvania. He has taught and lectured in the fields of real estate development and design at Syracuse University, Columbia University, New York University, University of Pennsylvania and Parsons. AJ servers on the board of Community Bank Delaware, is a member of ULI and a supporter of the Architecture League of New York. He is a Licensed Architect, a LEED Accredited Professional and a Licensed Real Estate Salesperson. AJ lives with his wife and two children in Brooklyn, New York.

Dana Tang joined Richard Gluckman in 1995 and became his partner in 2015. She brings a particular expertise in programming, planning and pre-design to all projects, while maintaining the highest level of design excellence and client service. She has been a LEED Accredited Professional for ten years and is deeply committed to building environmentally-responsible buildings. Tang has applied her unique and broad perspective, gained through a multi-disciplinary background, to the process of design and to her collaboration with clients and consultants as a lead architect on many of Gluckman Tang’s celebrated projects. In recent years, Tang has spearheaded the firm’s presence in China, securing and leading the design of three major museums in Shanghai and Hangzhou.

Tang received a Master of Architecture from Yale University and a Master of Regional Studies – East Asia from Harvard University.

Claire Weisz is an architect and urbanist, and a founding principal of WXY. With her partners Mark Yoes, Layng Pew, and Adam Lubinsky, Claire focuses on innovative approaches to public space, structures, and cities. WXY has received the League Prize from the Architectural League of New York, as well as being selected as one of the League’s Emerging Voices practices in 2011, in addition to numerous awards from AIA National, AIANY, and the American Planning Association.

Recent and ongoing work in New York City includes the redesign of Astor Place, the Spring Street Sanitation Garage, the redesign of the Rockaway Boardwalks, Pier 26’s Boathouse/Restaurant, Battery Park’s SeaGlass Carousel, a pedestrian bridge in lower Manhattan, a design to better accommodate both pedestrians and elevated trains in Harlem, a study of Brooklyn’s growing commercial tech sector (The Brooklyn Tech Triangle), The East River Blueway Plan, and a finalist proposal for the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Rebuild by Design initiative. With Andrea Woodner, Claire co-founded The Design Trust for Public Space, and has recently been on faculty at New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service and a Visiting Critic of Urban Design at Cornell’s College of Architecture, Art and Planning in NYC. Claire received her professional degree from The University of Toronto with Honors and her Master’s in Architecture from Yale University.

Mark Gardner was named Senior Associate at Stephan Jaklitsch Architects in 2005 and became a principal of Jaklitsch|Gardner Architects in 2011. He received his training at the Georgia Institute of Technology and at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design, where he now teaches.

Gardner takes a serious interest in the nexus of architecture and art, one of longstanding importance to both his professional practice and to his writings. A contributor to both Pamphlet Architecture 23 MOVE/Sites of Trauma (Princeton Architectural Press, 2003) by Johanna Dickson and the firm’s monograph: Habits, Patterns, Algorithms (ORO, 2009) with Stephan Jaklitsch.

Gardner serves as Business Development Chair on the Board of SUPERFRONT, an organization located in New York & LA that fosters the exchange between architecture and other disciplines by sponsoring exhibitions, panels, and publications. Gardner is an Executive Committee Chair for NYCOBA, the New York Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA).

He is committed to practicing architecture as a socially beneficial art form.

Landscape architect Michelle Delk is a partner in the multi-disciplinary firm Snøhetta, and Director of Landscape Architecture for the firm. The design process at Snøhetta is collaborative, transdisciplinary, and focused on social and environmental sustainability. The firm prioritizes relationships and recognition of the particularities of place. This is achieved through workshops, conversations, and open exchange, where ideas move freely between designer, client, and consultant. Public participation and community engagement is a core value in Delk’s work. She is committed to expanding the public understanding of the role of landscape architecture in building resilient communities.

Delk has led the design of numerous downtown plazas, parks, streetscape revitalizations, and public spaces. As Director of Landscape Architecture, she is currently heading the landscape design for Snøhetta's Willamette Falls Riverwalk project in Oregon City. The project will open the Willamette Falls to public access for the first time since the 1830s. Delk is also the lead designer for the new Calgary Public Library plaza, the North Tryon Vision Plan for Charlotte, Virginia, and the Temple University Library in Philadelphia. She received an MLA degree from the University of Colorado Denver (2001) and a BA in fine art from the University of Iowa (1997). Before joining Snohetta, Delk was a Principal/Landscape Architect for the Denver-based landscape architecture firm Civitas.

Andrea Steele has more than two decades of experience overseeing a wide range of complex urban design projects throughout the U.S. With a focus on institutional, cultural, and community-oriented architecture. Before establishing Andrea Steele Architecture, a firm which grew out of TEN Arquitectos’ New York office, where she served as partner and principal for more than 8 years, Steele practiced independently as Andrea Steele Architect. Steele received her Master of Architecture from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design; has taught several architecture studios, including at Cornell University; and is the recipient of numerous awards, most recently a New York AIA honor award for the New York Public Library project on Manhattan’s 53rd Street. She lectures widely throughout the United States, is a frequent participant in academic juries, and serves as an advisor to the Urban Design Forum and Pioneer Works.

Mr. Schwartz is President, and CEO of Sam Schwartz, a firm that specializes in transportation planning and engineering. He also writes columns on traffic for The New York Daily News, the NY Downtown Express and blogs for Engineering News Record.

Previously Mr. Schwartz was New York City’s Traffic Commissioner and was the Chief Engineer of the NYC Department of Transportation. He started his transportation career in the late 1960’s as a NYC cabbie and joined the Traffic Department, as a junior engineer, in 1971.

Mr. Schwartz specializes in creative problem-solving for seemingly intractable situations. He is expert at getting people out of their cars and into other forms of transportation. He is also proficient at moving those people who remain in their cars more swiftly and safely. Mr. Schwartz has created many win-win-win situations whereby traffic moves better, pedestrians are safer and the community gains more sidewalk and green space. He’s been called an Urban Alchemist for making grass grow from asphalt. Mr. Schwartz, often referred to by his nom de plume “Gridlock Sam,” released the word “Gridlock” into the lexicon during the 1980 NYC Transit strike.

He has been an adjunct professor at Cooper Union, Long Island University and Brooklyn College. He has authored more than 200 professional papers and presentations and has written several books and chapters in books. His latest book, AfterCarsTM, will be released in late 2015. He has received more than a score of awards for his work, including 2014 AAA Traffic Safety Award, 2014 Brooklyn Technical High School Distinguished Alumnus Award, 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers' Sustainable Civil Engineering Award, 2012 Businessman of the Year from the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, 2011 New York State Society of Professional Engineer of the Year award, 2011 Brooklyn College Alumnus of the Year, 2010 NSPE Professional Engineers Merit Award, Public Works Magazine's 2008 Trendsetter Award and Civil Engineer of the Year from the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Institute of Transportation Engineers and the American Council of Engineering Companies.

He began his professional transportation career as a NYC taxi cab driver while obtaining his Bachelor of Science degree in Physics at Brooklyn College and later obtained a Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Florida.

Beatrice Sibblies is the managing partner of BOS Development, a real estate development firm based in Harlem, New York. Formed in 2005, the firm has a unique development approach as a community-focused developer. BOS Development aims to develop the spectrum of projects necessary for a vibrant community – including residential, religious, cultural, educational, hospitality and commercial developments.

In her leadership of BOS Development, she brings to bear a track record of innovation. In its debut transaction, BOS Development successfully developed 88 Morningside, a 74-unit residential cooperative apartment on a 99-year ground lease from a church which concurrently expanded and renovated the church's facilities. Following on the success of the 88 Morningside project, she is actively developing church-anchored projects in the Central Harlem core and Sugar Hill.

Prior to forming BOS Devlopment, Ms. Sibblies had a successful career in finance at J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley and also served as Assistant Vice President for Economics for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.

Frances Halsband is the founding partner of Kliment Halsband Architects. She has served as Dean of the School of Architecture at the Pratt Institute in New York, has been visiting distinguished professor of design at many universities, including University of California at Berkeley, University of Maryland, and University of Pennsylvania. In an advisory role, she is currently Architect Advisor for Brown University and Harvard University, a member of the Architectural Review Board of the Federal Reserve Bank and the U.S. General Services Administration, and was a Commissioner of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Frances was the first woman to be elected president of the New York Chapter of the AIA, has served as president of the Architectural League of New York, and is a frequent participant on many AIA committees, panels, and design awards juries. Frances Halsband received a Bachelor of Arts from Swarthmore College and a Master of Architecture from Columbia University.

Stephen Fan is an adjunct assistant professor in the art history and architectural studies department at Connecticut College. His research focuses on user-centered, evidenced-based design informed by psychology and anthropology. He is the curator and editor of SubUrbanisms: Casino Urbanization, Chinatowns, and the Contested American Landscape, which has received awards from the Vernacular Architecture Forum, American Planning Association, among others. He has lectured on topics such as peripheral urbanization, crowding, and informal suburbs, including at Columbia University, Hong Kong University, National University of Singapore, UCLA, and Yale.
His work has been featured in Architectural Record, The Atlantic's City Lab, Metropolis, Next City, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Shinkenchiku, Urban Omnibus, and the World Journal.
Stephen holds a Masters in Architecture and Bachelors Degree from Harvard University, where he has also taught art history. He serves on the Board of the VAF New England Chapter.

Sherida E. Paulsen joined PKSB Architects in 1999 as a Principal, with a focus on large-scale, complex urban projects. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the New York Convention Center Operating Corporation and has served the City of New York as a Commissioner and Chair of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, and as a founding Director of the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation. In addition, she serves on the boards of the Center for Architecture Foundation, Landmarks Preservation Foundation, Riverdale Nature Preservancy and the Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy. She has also served as 2009 President of the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter, Chair of the Van Alen Institute: Projects in Public Architecture, and President of WX: Women Executives in Real Estate, and on the board of the Skyscraper Museum and the Advisory Council of the Landmarks Conservancy. She is a member of the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects.

Skye Duncan currently holds the position of Global Designing Cities Director at NACTO (National Association of City Transportation Officials) based in New York City, and is an Adjunct Associate Professor in architecture and urban design at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, planning and Preservation. She was previously a Senior Urban Designer at the NYC Department of City Planning, Office of the Chief Urban Designer for 7 years where she worked on a number of large scale site specific projects. She led a team to produce the publication Active Design: Shaping the Sidewalk Experience (2013), was co-author of the award-winning Active Design Guidelines (2010) and has contributed to the New York City agency publications. She received her Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design (MsAUD) at Columbia University's GSAPP as a Fulbright scholar and her BArch with honors from Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand.

Regina Myer became President of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership in October 2016. Previously, she served as President of Brooklyn Bridge Park, transforming the formerly industrial Brooklyn waterfront into a world-class open space that welcomes millions of visitors a year.

Prior to Brooklyn Bridge Park, Regina was the senior vice president for planning and design at the Hudson Yards Development Corporation, and the Brooklyn Borough Director for the New York City Planning Department, where she directed the comprehensive redevelopment for two miles of the Greenpoint/Williamsburg waterfront, the rezoning of Downtown Brooklyn for high density office and apartments and numerous neighborhood rezoning efforts. She received her BA and Masters in Urban Planning from the University of Michigan, and resides in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Madelyn Wils is the President and CEO of the Hudson River Park Trust. She began her tenure as the Trust's President and CEO in June 2011. She previously served as the Executive Vice President of the Planning, Development and Maritime Division of the NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC), where her portfolio included over 100 complex projects such as the redevelopment of Willlets Point, Coney Island, East River Esplanade and Hunters Point South. Prior to joining EDC, she served as the President of the Tribeca Film Institute, managing the expansion of the organization from a 10-day festival into a diverse institution offering year-round cultural programming. From 2001 to 2005, she served as Chair of Community Board 1 in Lower Manhattan, where she played an integral role in the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan following the events of September 11, 2001. She was a founding member of both the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and the Hudson River Park Trust.

Professor Birch is the Lawrence C. Nussdorf Chair of Urban Research and Education. She teaches courses in planning history, global urbanization and serves as chair, Graduate Group in City and Regional Planning, co-director, Penn Institute for Urban Research, co-editor, City in the 21st Century Series, University of Penn Press, and co-editor, SSRN Urban Research e-journal.

Professor Birch has been active in the field's professional organizations and in academia in the United States and abroad. She is a member of the U.S. National Committee for Habitat, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Thematic Group on Resilient Cities, and an Associate Editor, Journal of the American Planning Association. In the past, she has been President, Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning; President, Society of American City and Regional Planning History; President, International Planning History Society; and co-editor, Journal of the American Planning Association. She has been a member of the Planning Accreditation Board, having served as its chair from 2004-2006. She has been a member of the editorial boards of Planning Theory and Practice, Journal of Planning History, Journal of Planning Education and Research and Planning Perspectives. In 2000, she was elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners and made a member (honorary) of the Royal Town Planning Institute.

Professor Birch has been Visiting Scholar, Queens University, Foreign Scholar, University of Hong Kong and Visiting Professor, University of the Witswatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. She lectures widely. In Fall 2012, she delivered the Burnham Lecture, National Building Museum, Washington DC.

The Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning has given her its three awards: the Distinguished Educator Award in recognition of her teaching and research (2009), the Jay Chatterjee Award for Distinguished Service that "recognizes an individual whose exceptional service, actions and leadership have had a lasting and positive impact on the ACSP"(2006) and the Margarita McCoy Award, "in recognition of her outstanding contribution to furthering the advancement of women in the planning academy" (1994). The Society of American City and Regional Planning History awarded her its Lawrence C. Gerckens Prize (2009) in recognition of her contributions to planning history.

The American Planning Association honored her with their APA President's Award in 2013. This award is given out every other year in recognition of leadership in the field of planning.

Professor Birch's civic commitments encompass leadership positions locally and globally. Currently, she is Chair, UN-HABITAT's World Urban Campaign (WUC) and President, General Assembly of Partners, the civil society platform to facilitate contributions to Habitat III. In the early 1990s, she was a member of the New York City Planning Commission, and in 2002, she served on the jury to select the designers for the World Trade Center site.

James founded JLP+D in 2011 after leading redevelopment strategies for various sites as a partner at HR&A Advisors. Previously, he was Senior Director of Development in the New York office of residential REIT AvalonBay Communities, Inc. Additionally, James was appointed as founding President of the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation. Lima also served as Senior Vice President for Special Projects at the NYC Economic Development Corporation. He also worked as Assistant Commissioner at the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development and at Forest City Ratner Companies.
James earned a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia College and stayed on at Columbia to complete the MSRED Program.

James serves on the Economic Development Committee of the Fourth Regional Plan for the Regional Plan Association in New York. He is a member of the Design Trust for Public Space’s Design Trust Council, and is on the Advisory Council to public art innovator ArtBridge. He also serves as Secretary of the New York Harbor Foundation.

Adam Yarinski is principal and co-founder, with Stephen Cassell, of Architecture Research Office (ARO), a New York-based firm practicing modern architecture and visionary urbanism. PRINCIPAL Adam Yarinsky, FAIA LEED AP holds an undergraduate degree in Architecture from the University of Virginia and a Master of Architecture from Princeton University. He has served as the Eliel Saarinen Professor and as the Sanders Teaching Fellow at the University of Michigan, and as the Shure Professor at the University of Virginia. He has also taught at Harvard University, Princeton University, Yale University, Syracuse University, Parsons/The New School and Washington University in St. Louis. Adam has lectured widely throughout the United States and abroad. Recent articles by Adam have appeared in A+U, 306090, Dimensions, and Places Journal. Adam is a board member of Places [at] Design Observer.

Jeffrey Shumaker is Director of Urban Planning for BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group. Previously, he served as Director of Urban Planning and Design for KPF and Chief Urban Designer for the New York City Department of City Planning. Serving New York City for ten years, he worked to ensure a high level of design quality on projects and helped shape plans for neighborhoods as diverse as East Midtown in Manhattan, Coney Island in Brooklyn and Hunters Point South in Queens. Mr. Shumaker also worked extensively on the implementation of many of the city-wide initiatives coming out of PlaNYC and now OneNYC.

Prior to his role in public service, Mr. Shumaker garnered more than 12 years of experience working in the private sector for a variety of architecture and planning firms. Jeffrey holds dual Master’s Degrees in Architecture, Planning and Urban Design from MIT and a Bachelor of Architecture with Honors from Syracuse University. Jeffrey often lectures on design and has received numerous awards for his work from the APA and AIA including the 2016 Public Architect Award from the AIA New York Chapter and DCP’s Michael Weil Award, recognizing excellence in urban design in the public realm.

Susannah C. Drake is the founding principal, of DLANDstudio Architecture + Landscape Architecture, pllc. an award winning multi-disciplinary design firm. DLANDstudio is the recipient of National and International urban design awards from the AIA, ASLA and Chicago Athenaeum among others. As one of very few designers of her generation with professional design qualifications in Architecture and Landscape Architecture, Susannah paved the way for more synthetic thinking about urban ecological infrastructure.
She is the recipient of grants from the Graham Foundation, the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission, the James Marston Fitch Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the Center for Architecture for research on campus landscapes and large scale urban infrastructure projects. Susannah is the former President and Trustee of the New York ASLA and former Trustee of the Van Alen Institute. She is the author of Elastic Landscape: Seeding Ecology in Public Space & Urban Infrastructure which was recently published in the collection of essays entitled Infrastruktururbanismus.

Susannah received a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree from Dartmouth College in 1987 and Master in Architecture and Master in Landscape Architecture degrees from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design in 1995.

Francine Houben began to formulate the three fundamental concepts of her architectural vision whilst studying at the Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands.

Designing primarily for People, constructing spaces that are relevant to Place, and forging connections that give a building Purpose have remained consistent, underlying values to Mecanoo’s practice over the past three decades.


Always seeking inspiration in the details of specific sites and locations, Francine bases her work on precise analysis coupled with an intuition built over three decades. She interweaves social, technical, playful and human aspects of space-making together in order to create a unique solution to each architectural challenge.

Francine combines the disciplines of architecture, urban planning and landscape architecture in an untraditional way, with a profound sensitivity for light and beauty. Her use of materials, which often contrast in a complementary way, are the sum total of her creative expression.

Michael Horodniceanu, Ph.D, PE serves as the President of MTA Capital Construction at Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Inc. Dr. Horodniceanu co-founded The Urbitran Group in 1973 and served as its President and Chief Executive Officer. His leadership has set the high standards of technical excellence and superior client services that is the hallmark of Urbitran. Throughout his career, he was involved in a variety of academic and civic activities. Dr. Horodniceanu served as Commissioner of NYCDOT's Bureau of Traffic. He served as the Director and Chairman of the Board of The Urbitran Group. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Transit Museum, the Council on the Environment, and the Community Service Society of New York.

Beth Greenberg has managed many of Dattner Architects’ most complex projects. A natural consensus-builder, she is skilled at navigating through the labyrinthine community and agency approvals process, working with multi-headed client groups, and leading large consultant teams for high-profile projects.

Her projects include the Columbia University Forum and Academic Conference Center, Metro East 99th Street, University of Pennsylvania Pottruck Health & Fitness Center, Hudson River Park Segments 6 and 7, and Number 7 Subway Line Extension.

Beth received her Master of Architecture from the University of Colorado and a Bachelor of Science in French and Dance Education from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. She has been with the firm since 1989 and became a Principal in 2000. Beth is a registered architect in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Texas and has NCARB certification. Beth has served on the board of the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter as secretary, as chair of the Housing Committee, and as member of the Oculus Committee and the Nominating Committee. She has lectured for the Regional Plan Association, the AIA New York, and the New York State Office of General Services Minority Construction Management Intern Program. She was elevated to Fellowship in the AIA in 2015.

Ms. Jones is the president and senior principal of Hargreaves Associates. served as Sr. Principal in Charge for such award-winning projects as the 2000 Sydney Olympics Master Concept Design, University of Cincinnati Master Plan, Crissy Field in San Francisco’s Presidio, and Discovery Green in Houston, Texas. She has recently led the firm’s work for Denver’s Union Station District and the Parklands for the London Olympics 2012 and is currently leading the design for Destination Bayfront in Corpus Christi, Texas as well as a new 70 acre Central Park for Oklahoma City. Jones has served on numerous juries, lectures widely, and is active in the public forum of design and development issues. She is a Fellow and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the American Academy in Rome and a past Visiting Critic in Landscape Architecture at the Harvard Design School. Mary Margaret is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, Sr. Fellow of the Design Futures Council and is President of Hargreaves Associates.

Mehul J. Patel has enjoyed a career in real estate and economic development spanning the public, private and non-profit sectors over the past two decades. Mehul is currently the Chief Operating Officer of Midtown Equities, a privately-held real estate investment and development company that maintains holdings in New York, Washington DC, Miami, Chicago, and Los Angeles as well as abroad.

Prior to joining Midtown Equities, Mehul was the Chief Operating Officer of Midwood Investment & Development which owns, develops and manages retail, office, residential, hotel and mixed-use properties in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and Washington D.C. Before joining Midwood, Mehul was the Chief Operating Officer & Chief of Staff at Empire State Development, New York State's real estate and economic development agency. Previously, as a Vice President of the Moynihan Station Development Corporation, Mehul worked with various public and private sector stakeholders to expand New York’s Penn Station into the historic James A. Farley Post Office Building. Prior to that, he was a Senior Project Manager at The Hudson Companies where he oversaw the development of J Condominium in DUMBO and was responsible for managing all aspects of the 33-story, 267-unit new construction project. And before joining Hudson, Mehul was a Senior Analyst at HR&A Advisors, which specializes in real estate, economic development, and public policy consulting.

Mehul is currently a Trustee of the Urban Land Institute, a Board Member of the Coro New York Leadership Center and an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University teaching Public Private Partnerships in Real Estate Development. He also serves as a Director on the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, the Moynihan Station Development Corporation, and the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation. Previously, Mehul served as President of the Columbia Real Estate Development Alumni Association, co-chair of the Yale Alumni Real Estate Association, and co-chair of the ULI New York Young Leaders Group. Mehul received a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture and Urban Studies from Yale University and a Master’s Degree in Real Estate Development from Columbia University.

Deborah Marton has dedicated her career to public space in New York City, with a special focus on merging natural systems with the built environment. She joined New York Restoration Project (NYRP) in 2011, bringing her extensive experience moving complex municipal projects from conception to actionable conclusions. As Executive Director of New York Restoration Project, Deborah manages NYRP’s work transforming open space in underserved communities to create a greener, more sustainable New York City. She oversees all organizational activities, ranging from park restoration and operations in Northern Manhattan, renovation and maintenance of NYRP’s 52 community gardens, and implementation of MillionTreesNYC in partnership with the NYC Dept. of Parks & Recreation. In her previous capacity as NYRP’s SVP of Programs, Deborah developed NYRP’s identity as an urban land conservancy working across municipal jurisdictions to increase environmental sustainability citywide. Most recently, she created the vision and program for a waterfront site in Northern Manhattan that will be developed as a center for recreational boating and environmental education.

Prior to joining NYRP, Deborah served as Executive Director of Design Trust for Public Space. Under her leadership the organization gained national visibility and quadrupled in size. High-profile projects completed during her tenure there have made New York City’s parks and public right-of-ways more sustainable, catalyzed the redesign of Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza, strengthened Long Island City’s art community, and improved the New York City taxi vehicle and system, paving the way for the city’s new taxi, among many other projects and public programs. She was also Program Manager of New York City Parks Natural Resources Group and later associated with the landscape architecture firm Field Operations, where she collaborated on creation of the winning submission for the Fresh Kills Master Plan, and later served as the first Project Manager for that project. She received a Masters in Landscape Architecture from the Harvard University Design School and also holds a J.D. from New York University School of Law.

Milton Puryear is Director of Project Development for the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative, where he works with public agencies and private interests to implement a 14-mile landscaped route from Greenpoint to Bay Ridge. In his former career he was an investment analyst. He has always valued nature and active recreation including cycling, swimming and kayaking. Milton is also the project manager for the restoration of the Mill River and the creation of Mill River Park & Greenway in Stamford, CT.

Andrew S. Lynn is the Director of the Planning and Regional Development Department at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, where he has worked since 2009. He is leading the Port Authority’s bus master planning effort and the design and construction of Moynihan Station. Previously, he served as Vice President for Planning and Development at Madison Square Garden, where he was responsible for efforts to replace and renovate the Garden. He was also Executive Director of the New York City Department of City Planning,
Deputy Commissioner of the New York City Department of Sanitation, Land Use Counsel to the New York City Council, and Counsel to the New York City Charter Revision Commission. He holds degrees from Harvard Law School and Harvard College.

Kenneth A. Lewis is a Partner in SOM’s New York office. He joined the firm in 1986 and has worked on a diverse range of projects including mixed-use developments, commercial and residential towers, corporate headquarters, and healthcare facilities.

Lewis began his career at SOM as a designer, serving as senior designer on numerous projects such as Time Warner Center and 2525 West End Avenue in New York City; UBS Warburg Center in Stamford, Connecticut; Check Point Charlie Block 105 in Berlin, Germany; and the Rio Office Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He went on to distinguish himself as a talented project manager, helping to facilitate the design process for some of SOM’s most innovative projects. With a special focus on New York, Lewis has managed and brought to successful completion several projects of enormous scale, complexity, and visibility, including the award-winning Time Warner Center, 7 World Trade Center, and One World Trade Center. Current high-profile projects include 250 West 55th Street and Brookfield Office Properties' Manhattan West Development.

Many of Lewis's projects have achieved, or are slated to achieve, Gold certification under the U.S. Green Building Council LEED® CS rating system. Lewis was also closely involved in the development of the sustainability design guidelines for the World Trade Center. Moreover, Lewis is a principal of the Center for Architecture Science and Ecology (CASE), a research collaboration between SOM and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. With a focus on developing new sustainable materials and technologies, CASE blends private sector practicality, academic exploration, and scientific rigor to seek emergent technologies and develop them for practical applications in buildings.

Lewis is active in the public realm, and his projects have been honored with numerous design awards. He is an adjunct faculty member at Parsons’ School of Constructed Environments and has taught at the Rhode Island School of Design. His studios focus on mixed-use projects, the public realm, and resiliency.

Purnima Kapur is the Executive Director of New York City Department of City Planning. The Department promotes housing production and affordability, fosters economic development and coordinated investments in infrastructure and services, and supports resilient, sustainable communities across the five boroughs for a more equitable New York City. Under the Mayor deBlasio's Housing New York Plan, Ms. Kapur is spearheading the Department's coordinated, ground up neighborhood planning studies and regulatory changes to promote more economically diverse communities and housing opportunities for New Yorkers at all income levels.

As Principal, Jack works with public and private clients to create vibrant, sustainable cities. He brings a design-oriented approach and international experience to creatively solving complex challenges, with a keen understanding of the designer's responsibility to the public.

Jack was convinced of his future as an architect from a young age. With an undergraduate foundation in visual arts and literature from Harvard University, he received his Master of Architecture from the Yale School of Architecture. Travel has also been formative for Jack, who grew up in various cities and began his architecture career working in Hong Kong.

Jack has lead mixed-use development projects, spanning urban infrastructure, transportation, multi-family residential developments, and large-scale master plans. An active voice in the wider design community, he teaches in the Real Estate program at NYU, frequently speaks at conferences and symposia, and his writing has appeared in Architectural Record, World Architecture, and the New York Times.

Stephan Jaklitsch received his BS in Architecture from the Georgia Institute of Technology and M-Arch from Princeton University. As Principal of his firm since 1998, he has taken his practice from a studio focused on residential and commercial projects in the New York region to an award-winning architectural firm with a diverse, international portfolio of work. Today, with several hundred completed projects around the world, Jaklitsch has seen his work exhibited in New York, Chicago, and London, and featured in prominent international publications.
In addition to running his practice, Jaklitsch is also active in many professional organizations including The Design Trust for Public Space, Design Trust Council; Open House New York, Leadership Council; The Architectural League of New York, Process Committee; the Van Alen Institute for Architecture and Design, Van Alen Circle; and Friends of the High Line.

As founding partner and principal of S9 Architecture, John Clifford brings over 25 years’ experience in design and development. With an extensive portfolio of retail, mixed-use, residential, office, and adaptive reuse projects, John relies on his vast urban design and planning experience as well as a strong design aesthetic to inform and advise clients in development decisions, from concept development to site analysis to master planning. His expertise in real estate financials, tenant and landlord programs and operational issues has resulted in viable, large-scale urban and mixed-use projects throughout North America. Notable projects include Industry City in Brooklyn, Ponce City Market in Atlanta, and Lansdowne Park in Ottawa, Canada.

Carlos Arnaiz is an architect, educator, writer and urban designer. He is the CEO & co-founder of SURBA, the founder and principal of CAZA and an adjunct assistant professor at the Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design at Pratt Institute, where he teaches a class on the history of ideas about the city, a design studio on multi-family housing and a seminar on contemporary architectural aesthetics. His professional experience ranges from the design and construction of large-scale mixed-used complexes to the development of strategic sustainability plans for cities around the world such as Bonifacio High Street South, Lio Beach Township, Ningbo Waterfront Center and the Taichung Gateway Zone. He is a recipient of the prestigious Wheelwright Fellowship and has been
recognized with numerous awards, including the 50 under 50 leading innovators of the 21st century, two consecutive Progressive Architecture awards and the AIANY building merit award. Carlos lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two sons.

Paul Travis is Managing Partner of Washington Square Partners, a real estate development advisory firm in New York City which he founded in 1994. Over the years he has worked with corporations, non-profit institutions and government entities to reconfigure real estate assets and solve land use issues. He is also a partner in Kingsbridge Development Partners, a real estate development firm that developed the River Plaza center with Target Stores, at the time the first major private commercial development in the Bronx in twenty years.

Since its inception, his firm has been responsible for several major redevelopment initiatives including Moynihan Station Redevelopment, New York Historical Society, Downtown Brooklyn Redevelopment, Cooper Union, Harlem Park, River Plaza, Theatre Row, Long Island City and Skyland Center in Washington, D.C. Mr. Travis is currently a partner in the 1.8 million square foot mixed use City Point project in Downtown Brooklyn

Prior to founding Washington Square Partners, Mr. Travis served as Chief Operating Officer of Forest City Ratner Companies in New York City where he was responsible for the development and leasing of MetroTech Center, a 4.5-million-square-foot complex in Brooklyn, New York. He was also responsible for the revival of Lincoln Road and the development of the Loews Miami Beach Hotel, the first new convention center hotel in that City. Mr. Travis had previously been Director of Real Estate for the Price Company, the predecessor to Costco, and Senior Vice President of the New York City Public Development Corporation (now EDC). At PDC, he directed the 42nd Street Development Project in Manhattan and was responsible for commercial and industrial development projects throughout the City, including the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square.

Mr. Travis is a member of the Urban Land Institute and serves on the Board of Directors of Playwrights Horizons, the Milano School at the New School University, and the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs at The University of Albany.

Mr. Travis received his Bachelors in Political Science (cum laude) from the University at Albany in 1975; his Masters in Policy Analysis from the New School University in 1977.

Carol Willis is the founder, director, and curator of The Skyscraper Museum. An architectural and urban historian, she has researched, taught, and written about the history of American city building. She is the author of Form Follows Finance: Skyscrapers and Skylines in New York and Chicago (Princeton Architectural Press, 1995: 2008), which received an AIA book award and was named "Best Book on North American Urbanism, 1995" by the Urban History Association.
Ms. Willis is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Urban Studies at Columbia University where since 1989 she has taught in the program The Shape of Two Cities: New York and Paris in The Graduate School of Architecture, Planning. From 1979 to 1991 she taught courses on the history of architecture at Parsons School of Design in New York and for eleven summers conducted walking tours on the history of French architecture for Parsons in Paris.

Blake Middleton FAIA, LEED AP is a Partner with Handel Architects. He is Executive Architect for the Battery Conservancy's project for the New Amsterdam Plein/Pavilion. Mr. Middleton's work has won distinction with National and State AIA Awards for Inventure Place in Akron; a NY State AIA Citation for the Santa Fe Opera; numerous local and national design awards for the Flushing Natatorium & Ice Rink, the Ritz Carlton Residences in Boston, and a New York City AIA Chapter Award for Sulzberger Hall at Barnard College. Mr. Middleton holds his Bachelor of Architecture and Master of Architecture in Urban Design from Cornell University. He is a Fellow in the American Institute of Architects, a member of the U.S. Institute of Theater Technology, the Urban Land Institute, the Boston Society of Architects, the Van Alen Institute, The Society of Fellows of the American Academy in Rome, and the Architectural League of New York.

Cathleen McGuigan is editor in chief of Architectural Record. She is responsible for leading the award-winning editorial team to deliver thorough coverage of news, projects, and practice issues to architects, design professionals, and building product manufacturers. Her broad experience as an editor, journalist, and critic provides strong leadership for this integrated print and digital portfolio, as well as strikingly relevant professional and cultural content for readers across the globe. Cathleen joined RECORD in 2011. Previously an architecture critic and arts editor at Newsweek, she has more than three decades of cultural journalism experience. Cathleen’s work has also been published in The New York Times Magazine, Smithsonian, Harper’s Bazaar, and Rolling Stone. A Michigan native, she serves on several design juries and is a former adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.

Jamie Maslyn Larson ASLA PLA is a landscape architect and Director of Landscape Architecture at Bjarke Ingels Group. Jamie’s career has focus on creating built works that demonstrate the power of landscape to positively shape cities for the benefit of people and the biosphere. At Bjarke Ingels Group, Jamie works across disciplines with the 200+ designers in master planning, infrastructure, ecological, resiliency and landscape architecture projects. Before joining BIG, Jamie was a Partner in the New York office of West 8, where she was Principal in Charge of the firm’s award-winning United States portfolio including the firm’s most emblematic projects: Governors Island, Soundscape, and Longwood Gardens.

Elliott believes that art and design can improve the sustainability and vitality of the urban environment; she is particularly interested in how an ecological framework can support both architectural and landscape thinking. Working in academic settings and within a collaborative design firm, she is actively engaged in the dialogue of theory and practice. In addition to her work in landscape architecture, she has worked as an architectural designer over the last ten years, and brings a commitment to careful detailing and expressive materiality. Her work has appeared in number of magazines, among others, Art in America, LandForum, and ArchRecord. For 5 years Elliott worked with Mary Miss, one of the most influential public artists working today.

Ms. Nandan believes in sustainability as a holistic and supple design approach, integral to all aspect of design and construction. She is at the forefront of sustainability in New York, having served in various roles to help shape public policy, most recently board co-chair of the New York Rising Community Reconstruction Program Red Hook Community Committee ; member of the Homes Committee for Urban Green Codes Task Force (2012); and the Building Resiliency Task Force (2013). Gita further puts her beliefs into practice as an architectural educator, currently a visiting assistant professor at Pratt Institute and the School of Visual Arts where she teaches the Green Infrastructure Studio, Sustainable and Resilient Existing Building Design and thesis. Gita received her Master of Architecture from UC Berkeley and is a registered architect in New York and New Jersey, an accredited LEED professional and Enterprise Green Communities Technical Assistant.

Alexander Gorlin Architects is an internationally recognized design firm that for the past two decades has actively sought to embrace a highly diverse range of clients. WIth a portfolio spanning from high-end residences to affordable housing, places of worship to educational institutions, Alexander Gorlin Architects applies the same design excellence to each project. The firm has won numerous awards, most notably AIA Design Awards for the House in the Rocky Mountains, Ruskin Place townhouse, North Shore Hebrew Academy, and the Southampton House. In 2005, Architectural Digest recognized Mr. Gorlin as one of the country's 30 Deans of Designs. The firm was established in 1987 after Mr. Gorlin returned from a Rome Prize Fellowship at the American Academy in Rome. A graduate of the Cooper Union School of Architecture and The Yale School of Architecture - where he taught as a critic from 1980-92 - Mr. Gorlin became a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 2005.

Eric Fang is an architect and urban planner, and Principal at Perkins Eastman. As co-leader of the firm’s Urban Design and Planning practice, Eric has led large-scale urban redevelopment, transit-oriented development, and resiliency projects for public agencies, private developers and large institutions nationally and internationally. His focus is on helping cities, communities, and regions develop and implement strategies for sustainable and equitable growth. A lifelong student of the city, he has published and lectured widely on resilience, transit-oriented development and He holds an M.Arch. from the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University and B.Arch. from Columbia University.

Keri is the Deputy Director of the Public Design Commission. She holds a Masters’ in Arts Administration from the Art Institute of Chicago and has nearly 20 years of experience in her field in both New York City and Chicago. At the Public Design Commission, Keri works closely with New York City agencies on the development and design of capital projects with a particular focus on citywide prototypes, adaptive reuse of historic structures, public art commissions, and art conservation projects. She has collaborated with City and State agencies along with private partners to conserve the City’s art collection, including the City Hall portraits, large-scale sculptures, and WPA murals. Keri also oversees the Commission’s special initiatives and events, including City Hall tours, panels, exhibits, and the Annual Awards for Excellence in Design.

Richard Dattner FAIA founded the firm Dattner Architects in 1964. He attended the Architectural Association of London and received his Bachelor of Architecture from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has taught design at Cooper Union, City College of New York and University of Wisconsin and has often been a visiting design critic and lecturer. He was Vice President of the AIA New York Chapter, former trustee of the City Club of New York, and served on the board of the Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment National Research Council and the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission. Richard received the 1992 Medal of Honor from the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter. He received 1994 Thomas Jefferson Award from the American Institute of Architects in recognition of the significant contributions to public architecture. He is the author of Design for Play (Van Nostrand/Reinhold, 1969) and Civil Architecture - The New Public Infrastructure (McGraw-Hill 1995).

He is the founder and chairman of Foster + Partners. Founded in London in 1967, it is now a worldwide practice, with project offices in more than twenty countries. Since its inception, the practice has received 470 awards and citations for excellence and has won more than 86 international and national competitions.
He became the 21st Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate in 1999 and was awarded the Praemium Imperiale Award for Architecture in 2002. He has been awarded the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal for Architecture (1994), the Royal Gold Medal for Architecture (1983), and the Gold Medal of the French Academy of Architecture (1991). In 1990 he was granted a Knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, and in 1999 was honoured with a Life Peerage, becoming Lord Foster of Thames Bank.

Francisco Gonzalez-Pulido, shares design leadership of the firm’s work with the internationally acclaimed architect Helmut Jahn. In his approach, Gonzalez-Pulido strives for minimizing building design to the essentials, so logic, lightness and performance prevail. He approaches each project with the belief that the architectural and engineering ideas and principles are equal in challenging and ultimately transforming a place or an experience.

He currently holds a degree in architecture from ITESM (Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education) and a Master’s degree from Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

With more than fifteen years with the firm, Gonzalez-Pulido has won recognition for his efforts, including being named one of the Ten Most Promising Mexican Architects by OBRAS magazine. Gonzalez-Pulido has lectured at universities, museums and architectural forums in Mexico, Spain, Korea and the United States. He co-taught an integrated design studio with Werner Sobek at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s College of Architecture in Chicago.

Deborah Gans is Principal of Gans studio and Professor of Architecture at Pratt Institute. She has also taught as visiting critic at Yale University. Deborah Gans is an editor of Bridging the Gap: Rethinking the Relation of Architecture and Engineering, which was honored by the AIA International Book Awards, of The Organic Approach and of Extreme sites: Greening the Brownfield. She is author of The Le Corbusier Guide, now in its third edition. She received her BA from Harvard University and her M.Arch from Princeton University.

Carolee oversees the RETS and PDT departments here at NYCEDC. Previously, Carolee served as Senior Advisor to Deputy Mayor Glen and, before that, to Deputy Mayor Robert Steel. In those roles, she was responsible for implementing the de Blasio administration’s City-wide economic development strategy and job-creation efforts. She also served as the lead City Hall Advisor for NYCEDC, Brooklyn Bridge Park, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and Hudson River Park Trust. During the Bloomberg Administration, Carolee championed economic development and job creation efforts in Brooklyn, serving as the lead City Hall advisor for DOT and DCP, following a long tenure in Real Estate Transaction Services here at NYCEDC. Carolee is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island and NYU’s Schack Institute of Real Estate.

Louise Carroll is Associate Commissioner for Housing Incentives at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). She was previously Assistant Commissioner for Inclusionary Housing and, prior to that, Associate General Counsel for Tax Incentives and Inclusionary Housing at HPD. Ms. Carroll is part of the team that wrote the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program that was approved by the City Planning Commission on February 3, 2016, and was also part of the team that wrote the 2009 changes to the Inclusionary Housing provisions of the New York City Zoning Resolution. She also drafted the current inclusionary housing rules. In 2014, Ms. Carroll successfully streamlined the Inclusionary Housing program to produce record numbers of affordable housing units (3,000 plus units of housing in fiscal year 2015, more than double the best year since the IH program’s 1987 inception). She has advised and closed on millions of dollars of inclusionary housing transactions. In April 2016, Ms. Carroll was awarded the Ibo Balton Community Planner award by the Citizens Housing Planning Council. Ms. Carroll holds a JD from Tulane Law School, an MBA from the University of Leicester, England, and a B.Sc. from the University of Wales at Aberystwyth.

Matthew Gordon Lasner studies the history and theory of the U.S. built environment, with particular focus on housing, and the relationship between housing patterns and urban and suburban form. Lasner’s first book, High Life: Condo Living in the Suburban Century, published by Yale University Press in 2012, examines the emergence and growth of co-owned multifamily housing – the co-op and condominium apartment, as well as the townhouse complex — as an alternative to single-family suburbia in the twentieth century. Lasner is also co-editor of Affordable Housing in New York: The People, Places, and Policies That Transformed a City, published by Princeton University Press in 2015. His research focuses on housing, urban renewal, and urban development engages planning and the social sciences, cultural landscape studies and geography, and urban and architectural history.

He earned his PhD in architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design and holds an MS in urban and regional planning studies from the London School of Economics. He earned his BA in urban studies at Columbia. Before joining Hunter, Lasner was an assistant professor of history at Georgia State University, in Atlanta.

Josh Sirefman is Head of Development at Sidewalk Labs. Josh has spent his career at the forefront of the planning, negotiation and implementation of complex growth and development strategies across the public and private sectors. As founder and President of Sirefman Ventures, he led transformative development projects for a range of corporate, nonprofit and government entities, including Cornell University’s successful effort to build a new applied sciences campus in New York City, the University of Chicago’s transformation of Hyde Park through the redevelopment of a vibrant new mixed-use district, and the repositioning of the New York Public Library’s renovation of its flagship building.

Prior to founding Sirefman Ventures, Josh was the Senior Vice President for U.S. Development at Brookfield Properties and managed a development portfolio of more than 15 million square feet across the country. Before joining Brookfield Properties, Josh held a series of high-level roles within the administration of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, including Chief of Staff to the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding, and Interim President of the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

Rohit T. “Rit” Aggarwala is Co-Head of Labs at Sidewalk Labs. Previously, he headed the sustainability practice at Bloomberg Associates, a philanthropic consulting firm that serves city governments. He is also an Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, and co-chairs the Regional Plan Association’s Fourth Regional Plan for the New York metropolitan area.

Rit served as Special Advisor to the Chair of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group from 2010-2013, guiding the organization’s strategic transformation into a global leader. During that period, he also developed the environment program at Bloomberg Philanthropies, which grew to a total of $145 million in grants under his management.

Rit served as Director of New York City’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability from 2006-2010, and led the creation and implementation of “PlaNYC: A Greener, Greater New York.” PlaNYC has been hailed as one of the world’s best urban sustainability plans, leading New York City to a 19% reduction in its carbon footprint since 2005. Prior to joining City Hall, he was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company.

Jesse is Director of Design at Sidewalk Labs, where he leads the company’s human-centered design processes and helps teams explore ways to improve city life through new digital products. Before joining Sidewalk, Jesse was Director of Product at BuzzFeed, where he worked closely with journalists, entertainers, and tech teams to push the boundaries of content and technology.

For over a decade, Jesse Shapins has been a leading designer and entrepreneur at the intersection of media, technology, and place. In 2004, before smartphones, Jesse invented Yellow Arrow, one of the first platforms to globally connect physical locations, digital media and communities. Jesse is co-founder of Mapping Main Street, a documentary arts project that tells the stories of the over 10,466 streets named Main Street across the United States; co-founder of UnionDocs, one of the nation’s leading centers for documentary arts, based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn; co-founder and CEO of GoPop, a platform for visual conversation that was acquired by BuzzFeed in 2014; and co-founder and CEO of Zeega, a pioneering web platform empowering anyone to tell interactive stories by mixing their own media with maps, video clips, memes, and anything else they could find online.

Alice Shay is a city planner and urban designer with at BuroHappold. Previously, Alice was at Bloomberg Associates Urban Planning, where she contributed to the team’s full range of strategic planning and public realm projects including waterfront infrastructure, public space redevelopment and land use instruments.

Previously, Alice worked with WXY Architecture and Urban Design, an architecture and planning firm that works closely with government agencies and private stakeholders on public realm projects. Alice also consulted for the UN-HABITAT City Development Strategies program in Indonesia with Solo Kota Kita (SKK). With the support of AECOM, Alice and SKK used a participatory charrette process to create Firm Foundation, a waterfront public space, for a low-income neighborhood in Banjarmasin. Documenting the process with SKK, Alice co-authored the Firm Foundation Social Design Field Guide.

Alice exhibited at the 2013 Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture in Hong Kong, conducted research in residence at the Strelka Institute in Moscow in 2012 and has consulted on public realm strategies in London. Alice has a B.A. from Brown University and a Master in City Planning from MIT.

Leni Schwendinger, most recently Arup’s global urban lighting leader, is a recognized authority on the many issues and applications of city lighting with more than 20 years of experience creating illuminated environments for public spaces all over the world. Her innovative interdisciplinary practice, nighttime design urbanism, focuses city districts’ darkened hours and includes fresh community involvement methodologies. This work is shared through Leni’s public speaking engagements, including the worldwide “NightSeeingTM, Navigate Your Luminous City” program, most recently in Prague, Czech Republic, Sydney Australia, Seattle Washington (USA) and Bogota, Colombia. Recent and ongoing projects include the Enhanced Design Initiative for the New York City subway, several bridges in Canada, and art projects for the Cleveland Rapid Transit District, among others. Professional awards include such recognition as multiple Lumens from the Illuminating Engineering Society, SEGD and the NEA Japan Residency Fellowship. Schwendinger has enjoyed extensive coverage in design press and media, including videos produced by Monocle, Architectural Lighting, Architectural Digest and Dwell magazines. She is currently a Design Trust For Public Space Fellow and in fall 2017 she will serve as the Distinguished Visiting Professor in residence at the Portland State University (USA) Department of Architecture.

Vincent is Grimshaw's Group Managing Partner. He has been with Grimshaw since 1996 and has played an instrumental role in the expansion of the practice while maintaining a commitment to the quality, rigor and reputation for excellence that Grimshaw is known for. He established the firm's New York office in 2001 and was instrumental in securing the AIA New York Chapter's Medal of Honor Award in 2015.

Vincent has led many of the practice's most notable commissions in North America including Via Verde - the Green Way, the winning entry in the New Housing New York competition, and Horno3: Museo del Acero, the adaptation of a historic blast furnace facility into Monterrey, Mexico's museum of steel. His focus on engineering and beauty is exemplified by the soaring atrium of Lower Manhattan's Fulton Center, opened in late 2014.

The revitalised transit hub is defined both by its increased ease of use and it's soaring atrium capped by Sky-Reflector Net, a clever public art installation that paints the sky across the building's interior while directing natural light deep into the station environment.

On the west coast of the United States, Vincent has guided a new master plan for Los Angeles Union Station and is deeply involved in planning and design for Pier 70, an emerging part of San Francisco.

Vincent is a graduate of Cambridge University and is a registered member of both the Royal Institute of British Architects and the American Institute of Architects.

Richard joined Savills Studley to strengthen its development advisory practice. Working alongside brokerage teams company-wide, Richard provides consulting capabilities in land use, entitlement procedures, feasibility analysis, financial engineering, and public-private partnerships. His extensive background in the development and municipal arenas provides him with a keen understanding of the development process and how to strategically navigate through its complexities.

Richard has more than 20 year of experience in real estate development and consulting. 10 years were spent holding state and city appointed government offices, including serving as project manager for the Grand Central Terminal Redevelopment, executive director/CEO of Harlem CDC and deputy borough president of the Bronx. In addition, he has held numerous positions in the private and non-profit sectors, managing commercial projects and initiatives throughout New York City.

While at Savills Studley, Richard has advised numerous clients in site searches and dispositions of real estate, including the United States Postal Service, the City University of New York, the National Urban League, the National Jazz Museum of Harlem, numerous commercial clients.

Mr. Cooper began his career in 1981 as a Mechanical Engineer in the Building Systems group of WSP, formerly known as Flack + Kurtz. He rose through the ranks becoming a partner in 1994, at the age of 33, and President and CEO of the Building Systems business in 2008. In 2012 David was appointed President and CEO of the USA region, and successfully consolidated, integrated and rebranded the four independent WSP businesses into WSP USA, comprised of three divisions; Buildings (a combination of the Systems and Structures businesses) Transportation & Infrastructure, and Environmental. With the acquisition of Parsons Brinckerhoff in 2014 the region reorganized and David resumed direct leadership of the nominally 1,150 person Buildings business and assumed the regional role of Chief Commercial Officer. During his career David has led some of the region’s largest and most complex building projects, such as MGM’s $8.0 billion, 20M sf CityCenter development in Las Vegas, and he has been a pioneer and champion for sustainability. David is a licensed professional engineer and is a LEED® Accredited Professional with over thirty-three years of experience.

Elise Wagner is a partner in the Land Use department at Kramer Levin, where she concentrates her practice in land use, zoning, environmental and historic preservation law. She has substantial experience counseling for-profit and nonprofit property owners on the planning and development of new buildings and the reuse of existing buildings. She has coordinated the public approval processes for major public-private development projects involving cooperation between private developers and agencies of New York City and the state. She has negotiated numerous multiparty transactions for the transfer of development rights, and has performed due diligence on the purchase and financing of major properties.

Paul Whalen, Partner, has been with Robert A.M. Stern Architects since 1981. During this time he has focused on community-making at various scales, designing private homes, apartment buildings, country clubs, hotels, and large-scale town and urban planning projects. Mr. Whalen is Partner-in-Charge of RAMSA's representative office in Beijing. He is co-author of the monograph City Living: Apartment Houses by Robert A.M. Stern Architects (2016).

Mr. Whalen was partner-in-charge of two of the most influential planning projects of our time: the new town of Celebration, Florida, and a plan and guidelines that revived the theater block of New York City's 42nd Street, which won a 1999 Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects. His 450,000-square-foot mixed-use retail and residential urban infill project in Arnhem, the Netherlands, won a 2006 Charter Award from the Congress for the New Urbanism. Internationally, Mr. Whalen has planned seaside resorts in Germany, Brazil, the Canary Islands, Croatia, Cyprus, the Bahamas, Jamaica, and Portugal. His current planning projects include a two-million-square-foot high-rise garden suburb in Xiamen, China, and a mixed-use town center in Chongqing.

Mr. Whalen's hospitality projects include mixed-use hotel and condominium towers for Ritz-Carlton in Dallas, Texas; Four Seasons in New York City; and Rosewood Hotels in Atlanta, Georgia; and hotels for The Walt Disney Company in Florida, France, and Japan. Multifamily residential projects include 15 Central Park West for Zeckendorf Development, a building that achieved the highest sales prices in New York City, as well as 18 Gramercy Park and 520 Park Avenue; 220 Central Park South for Vornado; 20 East End Avenue for the Corigin Real Estate Group; eight buildings for the Related Companies in New York and Boston; and condominiums in the Bahamas, Toronto, and Taipei. Mr. Whalen also has significant experience in the design of buildings for healthcare institutions and for universities and graduate schools.

Barbara E. Wilks, FAIA, FASLA founded W Architecture and Landscape Architecture in 1999 to create a design-oriented, multidisciplinary practice focused on urban issues. With special expertise in urban design, public, and institutional projects, she practices as both an architect and landscape architect. Barbara has received many design awards for her work, including four recent national awards. She is honored to have been elected to the College of Fellows, American Institute of Architects in 1999, as well as to the College of Fellows, American Society of Landscape Architecture in 2010. She also sits on the Architectural Advisory Committee of Cornell University. She has been a board member of the National Association of Olmsted Parks, an advisory board member for the Maryland Institute College of Art and the Baltimore Museum of Industry. She contributes to several publications, and has curated exhibitions on public open space.

Rachel Meltzer is Associate Professor of Urban Policy and Chair of the Public and Urban Policy M.S. degree at the Milano School of Policy, Management and Environment at The New School. Her research is broadly concerned with how economic and institutional “shocks” shape disparate outcomes across neighborhoods.  She focuses on issues related to housing markets, land use, economic development and local public finance. Dr. Meltzer teaches classes on policy analysis, applied statistics and urban economics and is the author of the textbook, Policy Analysis as Problem Solving (Routledge 2018).

Jolie Milstein is President and Chief Executive Officer of the New York State Association for Affordable Housing (NYSAFAH), Executive Director of House New York Inc. and a Managing Member of Closing USA Affordable Housing, NYSAFAH's joint venture title insurance company.

Andrea Kretchmer is a developer of affordable housing and mixed-use projects in New York and Connecticut. Andrea is a founding principal at Xenolith Partners LLC, a woman-owned affordable housing development firm based in Connecticut. She is also a founding principal of The Kretchmer Companies LLC, a woman-owned affordable housing development firm based in New York City.

Seth A. Brown is a real estate investor and entrepreneur dedicated to improving America's cities. As founder and principal of Aspen Equities LLC, he focuses on green residential development in New York City’s growing neighborhoods, with a particular interest in Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan. In 2002, Seth co-founded Next City, a not-for-profit organization that promotes socially and environmentally sustainable economic growth in America’s cities. Described by The New York Times as a “subtle plan to change the world,” the organization grew from a volunteer-led startup into a not-for-profit media organization with national impact.

Tricia Martin is owner of WE Design, a Brooklyn-based firm specializing in innovative, buildable design solutions for cities, landscapes, and the built environment. She is a licensed landscape architect with fifteen years of experience working on complex, urban sites ranging in scale from the region to a small lot. Collaboration (the WE, in WE Design), ecology, and a commitment to community participation are the principles that drive her practice.

David Brown, AIA, LEED AP is a registered architect with over 13 years’ experience in premier architectural practices in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Harvard University-educated, he honed his design skills at other high-profile, international firms before moving to Woods Bagot’s New York studio, where he is the Design Stream Leader for North America.
David’s latest roles include design lead for One Journal Square, a two-million-square-foot mixed use building in Jersey City, N.J., and for OVER/UNDER, twin outdoor concessions at New York's South Street Seaport in Manhattan

Tommy Craig is a senior managing director and has been the regional officer and partner responsible for Hines' New York Tri-State office since 1996. His responsibilities as senior project officer include managing the development, redevelopment, acquisition, construction, modification and/or interior fit-out on projects. Since joining Hines in 1982, Mr. Craig has been involved in a variety of development projects and transactions aggregating approximately 16 million square feet.

Shay is the Founder and Managing Director of SASRE Properties. She has over 8 years of experience in commercial real estate acquisitions, underwriting, redevelopment, project management and the permitting process of multifamily, mixed use, infill, and new development assets in New York City, as well as 5 years of professional fundraising experience,

Alan Washington is head of Real Estate for Success Academy Charter Schools. Founded in 2006, Success Academy Charter Schools is the largest and highest-performing free, public charter school network in New York City. Success Academy operates 42 schools serving 14,000 students in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.

Daniel Marsh’s work in the field of economic and community development has spanned 30 years in the public, private and non-profit sectors and includes all aspects of business finance and real estate development. At the National Development Council (NDC), which he joined in 1986, Marsh has served as a Regional Director and Senior Manager prior to assuming his current responsibilities directing NDC’s Policy and Advocacy work in Washington, D.C. Mr. Marsh also serves as President of the NDC Housing and Economic Development Corporation, NDC’s development and financing arm, and is credited with creating its nationally recognized P3 program using tax-exempt financing for social and traditional infrastructure development.

Iben Falconer is a Director at Gehl. Prior to joining Gehl, she was the Director of Strategic Initiatives at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation and an Associate and the Business Development Director, Americas for BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group. Iben joined BIG's NYC office in 2010. During her tenure, the NYC office grew from 13 to 200 employees, and greatly expanded its market reach, winning its first cultural and institutional projects. In addition to being involved with the company's business development strategy and leading its implementation, she was also a member of the executive management team. Prior to BIG, Iben worked for Steven Holl Architects, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Urban Land Institute.

Thaddeus Pawlowski is an urban designer who seeks to integrate resilience and climate change adaptation into the long-term development patterns of cities through the design of projects, policies, and programs. In a partnership with 100 Resilient Cities and the Rockefeller Foundation, he helped to establish the Resilience Accelerator which brings together local leaders and global experts to drive the implementation of resilient projects around the world. Thaddeus planned for disasters at NYC Office of Emergency Management, worked to reduce the likelihood and impact of disasters at NYC Planning, and then helped the City recover from Hurricane Sandy at the NYC Mayor’s Office. He also has extensive global experience working as a subject matter expert in cities facing the hazards of climate change. He has a Masters in Architecture from University of Pennsylvania and was a 2015 Loeb Fellow at Harvard University.

Adam Snow Frampton is an architect and the Principal of Only If, a New York City- based design practice for architecture and urbanism. Only If was founded in 2013 and is currently engaged in a range of projects, from the design of a single-family housing prototype to larger-scale urban planning, research and speculation.

Travis J M Bunt is the Director for One Architecture in New York, where he leads urban design and resiliency work for the Dutch firm in North America and Asia. Prior to joining One, Bunt was the Design Director for URBANUS in Hong Kong, where he led the design for architecture and urban development projects across China.

Claudia Herasme is the Chief Urban Designer and Director of the Urban Design Division at New York City’s Department of City Planning. The Department of City Planning’s mission is to plan the future of the city of New York. One of the core values of the mission is a concern for the livability of New York City’s neighborhoods and quality of the urban design that shapes them. As the department works to advance comprehensive neighborhood planning and the review of land use applications, the urban design office is charged with providing a clear and consistent perspective and advocacy in all matters that will affect the public realm.

Shin-pei’s diverse experience in practice, design, and policy converges on transforming the built environment so that it is more accessible, equitable, and sustainable.
Prior to joining Gehl Institute in July 2016, Shin-pei was the Deputy Executive Director of TransitCenter, a national foundation focused on improving urban transportation. As the second person hired, she contributed to growing the organization, led initiatives in strategic, research, and program development, managed transportation and technology program activities, and provided program, operational, and staff oversight. Today TransitCenter is a leading voice for transportation issues in cities with programs carried out by a 12-person staff.

Shin-pei founded and directed the Cities and Transportation Program under the Energy and Climate Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where she explored demand-side policies to mitigate climate change, and led a project with Senator Bill Bradley and Secretary Tom Ridge to reform and fund the federal transportation program. As Deputy Director of Transportation Alternatives, Shin-pei developed programs that expanded community participation in bicycle and pedestrian advocacy and forged connections with professionals in the public health and design fields. Her efforts led to New York City adopting the Safe Streets for Seniors program, a Play Streets program, as well as recognition by Active Living Research and the Centers for Disease Control. Shin-pei also served as the Chief Operating Officer of Project for Public Spaces, and was a founding member of the New York City office for ZGF Architects.

In 2010, she co-founded and directed Planning Corps, an organization that matches urban planners with neighborhood-based projects, whose work was selected for the U.S. Pavilion at the 2012 Venice Biennale for Architecture.

Shin-pei is currently a Commissioner for the City of New York Public Design Commission and serves on the Board of Directors for Transportation Alternatives and In Our Backyard. She received a Bachelor of Arts with distinction from Cornell University and a Master of Science in City, Space and Society from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Zhang Xin is the co-founder and CEO of SOHO China, one of the largest prime office developers in China. A renowned business leader repeatedly ranked amongst the “World’s Most Powerful Women”, Zhang Xin is acclaimed for bringing cutting-edge international architects to design iconic landmarks for Beijing and Shanghai.

Rebecca is the Senior Urban Design Manager at the NYC Public Design Commission (PDC). Her work is concentrated on policy and design review of architecture and urban design projects, with a focus on affordable housing, mixed-use developments, and urban systems. She manages PDC's Designing New York: Quality Affordable Housing initiative and is committed to promoting equitable and inclusive design through interdisciplinary collaboration. Her prior experience spans architecture and anthropology, where she has explored a continued interest in the intersection of planning, policy, and design of the built environment.

April De Simone has over 15 years of experience in strategically designing, developing and launching for-profit, non-profit and government projects. Continuing to advocate for social innovation, Ms. De Simone is co-creator of various for-purpose ventures and initiatives that promote market based solutions to address complex social challenges. A Dean Merit Scholar, she recently completed her Master of Science in Design and Urban Ecologies from Parsons the New School for Design. Ms. De Simone continues to be recognized for her leadership and dedication in supporting frameworks that promote a just and equitable society.

In her fifteen year career Ifeoma has harnessed her capabilities in design and research to contribute to international projects in urban design/master planning, public facilities design and community development. For the past year she developed design policy for the design of a more equitable built environment for the NYC Department of Design and Construction. Currently as the Senior Design Advisor with the Mayors Office of Criminal Justice Ifeoma leads the Neighborhood Activation project - an interagency initiative addressing crime prevention through urban design in critical locations across New York City. She holds a Bachelor in Architecture degree from Cornell University and Masters in City Planning and Urban Design from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Christopher Rice is a New York-based Urban Planner. He completed his MSc in City & Regional Planning at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York and is interested in climate resiliency, green infrastructure and social inclusion. Christopher is originally from Ohio, where he completed his undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies at Oberlin College. He recently joined WXY Studio where he is working on the Brooklyn Navy Yard Master Plan and researching public school system admissions policies. Previously at the New York City Council, he managed large-scale neighborhood re-zonings. Outside of the studio, you can find Chris biking around the city, snapping photos with his 35mm camera, or listening to house music.

Sagi is the Senior Lead Urban Designer for Brooklyn at the New York City Department of City Planning (NYCDCP) where ensures a high level of design excellence in projects across the Borough of Brooklyn. Sagi works on large scale housing projects, neighborhood planning initiatives, waterfront open spaces, redesigning streets, public spaces, and mixed-use developments. His work strives to achieve the best design outcome through collaboration with developers, designers, various agencies, local and city-wide organizations and other stakeholders to make New York a more sustainable, resilient, livable, and equitable city.

Sagi teaches the summer semester’s urban design studio at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) and is a visiting critic at Syracuse University, Cornell University, Columbia GSAPP, NYIT and Parsons. Sagi holds a Bachelor‘s degree in architecture from Tel Aviv University and an M.S. in Architecture and Urban Design from Columbia University. He is the recipient of the GSAPP award for excellence, the Lucille Smyser Lowenfish Memorial Prize and the 2015 AIANY Urban Design Merit Award for “9x18”.

Lena Afridi is ANHD’s Director of Policy. Born in Karachi and raised in Queens, Lena is committed to fighting for good jobs and safe and affordable housing for low wealth communities of color and immigrant communities. At ANHD, Lena helps implement policies that address economic and racial inequity in New York City through research, data analysis, and advocacy. Lena has worked across movements for over a decade, and connects issues of race, labor, and city planning. She was a 2016 Urban Design Forum Forefront Fellow and a 2017 Next City Vanguard Fellow. Lena holds a BA from Mount Holyoke College and a Master of Regional Planning Degree from Cornell University. In her spare time, Lena can be found writing or powerlifting.