
Casey Anderson joined Rodgers Consulting, the leading civil engineering and land planning firm in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., in 2023 after more than a decade of service on the Montgomery County Planning Board and Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, the bi-county agency that regulates real estate development, plans transportation infrastructure, and manages the park systems in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties. Anderson is a former congressional staffer, government relations executive, newspaper reporter, and lawyer in private practice and serves on the boards of the Affordable Housing Conference of Montgomery County and the Greater Bethesda Chamber of Commerce. He is the president of the Mid-Atlantic Offroad Enthusiasts (MORE), one of the largest mountain bike clubs in the country; and a former member of the board of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA). He has two adult children and lives in Silver Spring with his wife, Mary, and their cavapoo.

Mike Aziz, AIA, LEED AP is a Principal at Corgan, following its recent merger with Cooper Robertson, where he leads planning and urban design efforts focused on how changing consumer behavior, technology, and urban life are reshaping the future of retail environments. His work spans complex, mixed-use projects—including the redevelopment of Columbia Town Center in Columbia, MD, Penns Landing in Philadelphia, and the Greenbrier District in Chesapeake, VA.
A registered architect and LEED Accredited Professional, Mike brings over 20 years of experience connecting economic insight with design innovation. He has lectured at Yale, Columbia University, and the University of Pennsylvania, and was named to BD+C’s 40 Under 40 list for his leadership in design and urban development.

James Darius Ball is the Director of Future Cities at the National Building Museum, where he leads a multi-year, interdisciplinary initiative to center the city as hub, catalyst, and essential building block of society. With a background in sustainable development, building science, and community engagement, James brings a rich experience and passion to questions of urban identity and opportunity. Under his leadership, Future Cities is hosting exhibitions, programs, and storytelling projects that invite communities—from residents to industry leaders—to imagine cities not just as places we live, but as expressions of who we are and what we value. Prior to joining the Museum, James brought his thought leadership to governments, developers, startups, media, and nonprofit organizations across the country. He has written and presented extensively throughout his career including speaking roles at Greenbuild, Living Future, and VERGE. He holds a Bachelors of Industrial Design from Pratt Institute and a Masters of Environmental Management from Yale.

Christian Calleri received his BPS In Architecture from SUNY Buffalo in 1998, then his M.Arch from The University of Maryland in 2001, with a concentration in Urban Design. Though originally from Buffalo, his entire career has been in Washington, DC where he has worked at all scales. He began his practice designing houses, moved onto large academic buildings on university campuses, and eventually to large scale urban design and the architectures that make cities. He has also taught at the University of Maryland for 16 years, most recently co-teaching the urban design graduate studio and the architectural theory class.
In his professional practice, Christian has authored or coauthored many large-scale developments in Washington, and elsewhere. Currently under construction is the Reservoir District, for which he was the lead urban designer and design architect for the community center. He is currently working on a new waterfront for Algiers, Algeria, and large-scale plan for Washington’s Chinatown on the Mayor’s Galley Place Chinatown Task Force. His built work includes several buildings at national universities, including UVA, University of Michigan, and Catholic University of America.
Christian is an Associate Principal at Perkins Eastman, and is on the board of the Mid Atlantic chapter of the Congress of the New Urbanism.
David Fersh serves as a Technology Strategist and the Design Solutions Lead within SmithGroup’s national Technology in Practice group, where he advances the firm’s integration of new and emerging technologies. His work focuses on applying AI, immersive technology, and computational design to improve design quality, strengthen communication, and enhance documentation and construction coordination. David has contributed to the development and implementation of innovative digital workflows on a wide range of SmithGroup projects, including Virginia Tech Academic Building One and the DC Water Headquarters. He is recognized as a thought leader for the firm, sharing insights on topics such as AI and immersive design technologies to help teams navigate the rapidly evolving design technology landscape.

Juanita Hardy has a passion for fostering healthy, thriving, and equitable places to live, work, learn and play through her work with individuals and businesses. In 2006, she founded Tiger Management Consulting Group LLC, an executive coaching and business consulting services firm, following a 31-year career with IBM. Ms. Hardy has over 45 years of business experience, including over a decade in the real estate industry, and over 35 years in the arts as a nonprofit leader, trustee, and patron of the arts.
Since 2016, Ms. Hardy has served as Senior Visiting Fellow for Creative Placemaking for Urban Land Institute, providing research and guidance to real estate professionals on leveraging creative placemaking (CPM), or arts and culture in tandem with great design, on real estate development projects to grow project value and enhance stakeholder social and economic benefits. She has authored several ULI publications and Urban Land magazine articles on CPM. Ms. Hardy is a member of ULI and serves as a member and a vice-chair of its Placemaking Council.

Richard Lake is a founding Principal of Roadside Development. Roadside was formed over 25 years ago as a Washington, DC-based development company, focused on the creation of retail and mixed- use environments. Roadside has become one of the leading experts in urban and town center development throughout the metropolitan Washington, DC region.
Mr. Lake has been responsible for overall acquisition, entitlement, development, leasing, and property management of more than 25 million SF over the past three decades. Notable recent projects include City Ridge located at 3900 Wisconsin Avenue, NW which is 1.8 million square feet of new development incorporating the historic “Equitable Life Company” building which housed the headquarters for Fannie Mae for more than 30 years. City Market at O & 880P, a million square foot, urban infill project in the heart of the Shaw neighborhood in Washington DC, which spans two city blocks and features nearly 90,000 square feet of retail, 550 luxury rental apartments, 90 affordable senior rental units, a 182-room key hotel, a 500-car parking garage, and incorporates the historic preservation of the nationally registered landmark O Street Market; Stonebridge at Potomac Town Center, a 105-acre mixed-use retail town center and residential community in Woodbridge, Virginia; and Cityline at Tenley, which preserved and transformed an abandoned historic Sears building into an award winning mixed-use project that attracted Washington, DC’s first Best Buy and Container Store retailers while also incorporating a contemporary addition of 204 luxury condominium units.
Mr. Lake’s talent for working with development teams and optimizing a project’s full value potential throughout all stages of the real estate cycle is one of his greatest assets. He has also served as a consultant on several real estate projects throughout the country, with an expertise in place-making, by creating successful retail environments and public spaces that amenitize and enhance residential, commercial, and cultural uses to become vibrant mixed-use communities.
Mr. Lake is a native Washingtonian and has been an active member of the business community for over 30 years. Prior to co-founding Roadside Development, he was the founding partner of The Retail Group and led Madison Retail Group, a full-service retail brokerage firm that was the dominant leader in the DC and Mid-Atlantic markets. He began his career in real estate as a broker with Smithy Braedon ONCOR International. He is a graduate of Boston University.
Mr. Lake currently serves on the board of directors for several non-profit and economic development organizations. He is the incoming President of the Board of the DC Building Industry Association (DCBIA), Chairman of Board of the Developer’s Roundtable; past Co- Chair of the Washington DC Economic Partnership (eight years) and currently serves on the Executive Committee; A Trustee of the Federal City Council, a past President of the Board of Iona Senior Services, member of Children’s National Real Estate Committee, and a former member of the Prince William County Economic Advisory Committee.

Ross Litkenhous has been a fixture in the Greater Washington, DC real estate community for over 20 years, and has played an active role in shaping discussions and efforts related to data center taxation and economic incentives in the Mid-Atlantic.
Seeing an opportunity to address the local challenges with data centers, he co-founded Oasis Digital Properties with the intention of changing the way data centers are developed. With a focus on sustainability, smart land use, and collaborative public engagement, Oasis is helping meet growing demand by bringing data center development to locales both inside and outside traditional hubs. This community-driven approach was integral to the recent approval of Dahlgren Innovation Hub, a 500-acre site in King George County, VA, which will deliver 7 million sq ft of data center improvements over the next 15 years.
Ross is also the founder of Cavalry Real Estate Advisors, a national property tax and advisory firm, and Taxonics, a leading real estate tax data and technology platform. He has served as an elected member of the Falls Church City Council and currently serves as Chair of the Falls Church City Economic Development Authority. He has also held positions on a variety of boards and commissions, including the Board of Zoning Appeals, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, and the Northern Virginia Regional Commission.

Lionel Lynch is Head of Workforce Housing Solutions at J.P. Morgan Commercial Real Estate. He leads national efforts to expand access to workforce and affordable housing by leveraging a diverse array of capital sources beyond traditional Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) equity.
Workforce Housing Solutions provides balance sheet debt to support new construction, acquisition and preservation of housing ranging from fully rent-restricted projects to mixed-income communities. The group also provides valuable insights to entities interested in developing and financing workforce housing, including: health systems, higher education institutions, traditional and impact equity funds, and public sector agencies.
With a career spanning both public and private sectors, Lionel brings a unique perspective on innovative financing strategies and collaborative solutions to address housing affordability.
His experience includes serving as Chief of Staff for the Federal Housing Administration and Senior Advisor for Housing Finance and Policy at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, where he helped shape federal housing policy. In the private sector, he has developed transformative mixed-use and mixed-income real estate projects. He has also advised anchor institutions, public agencies, and developers on initiatives that drive community investment and economic growth.
Lionel holds both a bachelor’s degree and an MBA from Harvard University. He is an active member of the National Multifamily Housing Council, Real Estate Executive Council, DowntownDC Foundation and Leadership Greater Washington. He lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and two daughters.
Jeff Olivet is an internationally recognized leader in public health and homelessness policy. From 2022 to 2025, he was the nation’s top homelessness official, leading the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) under the Biden Administration. Prior to federal service, he was CEO of the Center for Social Innovation (now C4 Innovations), a mission-driven small business dedicated to scaling best practices in the fields of housing, public health, behavioral health, and homelessness. He has been principal investigator on numerous studies funded by the National Institutes of Health and private foundations. Jeff has over three decades of experience as an outreach worker, advocate, researcher, teacher, writer, and inspiring public speaker. He currently serves as Senior Advisor to the Initiative on Health and Homelessness at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Senior Advisor to ULI’s Homeless to Housed Initiative, and a consultant to organizations in the United States and internationally. He has a B.A. from the University of Alabama and an M.A. from Boston College and lives in Washington, DC.

Caroline Valvardi has spent her career working at purpose-driven organizations focused on community development, financial services, and sports. She currently serves as Vice President of Public Affairs & Communications at Sports and Entertainment Real Estate Global Holdings (Seregh, pronounced “surge”), a global real estate company that develops and funds large-scale, mixed-use districts anchored by sports and entertainment venues. Caroline plays a key role driving strategic communications, stakeholder engagement, and business development as Seregh aims to invest $100 billion in 30 cities over the next decade in partnership with sports teams, municipalities, and communities.
Prior to Seregh, Caroline spent six-and-a-half years at OFN leading marketing and communications where she directed data-driven storytelling, managed creative production and integrated content strategy, and collaborated with public and private sector partners such as the Small Business Administration, Google, and JPMorgan to advance equitable economic opportunity and drive brand awareness for the CDFI industry.
Her other previous roles span digital marketing at a global fintech startup based in Los Angeles, program leadership at a CDFI in Philadelphia where she helped triple loan volume and capital raised for women and minority entrepreneurs, marketing and communications to support professional athletes with their philanthropic initiatives, and community outreach and intake services at a youth homeless shelter in New York City.
Caroline holds an M.S. in Social Policy from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. in International Political Economy from Fordham University. She is a passionate advocate for leveraging the power of sports to create positive social impact.
MODERATOR
Chelsea Allinger (she/her) is the executive director of Greater Greater Washington (GGWash), a nonprofit dedicated to the vision of a Washington region in which housing is abundant and affordable and it’s safe and easy to walk, bike, roll, or take public transportation to get around. Chelsea has spent nearly two decades working in different capacities on land policy, urban policy, urban planning, and community development. Before coming to GGWash, she spent seven years on the senior leadership team at the national Center for Community Progress. Previously, she worked at Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation in northeast Brooklyn and the Governors’ Institute on Community Design at Smart Growth America. Chelsea served two terms as an elected Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of Washington, DC, from 2019-2023. She is a PhD candidate in public policy and public administration at George Washington University.
MODERATOR
Liz DeBarros is the CEO at the District of Columbia Building Industry Association (DCBIA) where she advances the economic, community, and civic impact of the DC real estate development industry and its leaders. Liz has over 18 years of public and private sector experience, adhering to financial stewardship while adding significant value to organizations through proactive stakeholder engagement and solution-focused public policy and administrative objectives and activities. She has extensive experience in government operations and business trade association management. Liz’s previous roles include Senior Advisor of DCBIA, Chief of Staff and Legislative Director at the District of Columbia Government Department of Employment Services, and Vice President of the Hotel Association of Washington, D.C. Liz serves on the Board of Directors of the Washington, DC Economic Partnership, Downtown DC BID Foundation, Workforce Investment Council and is a member of the Leadership Greater Washington Class of 2018. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Rhode Island College and Master of Arts from Temple University. She resides in Kingman Park, Washington, DC in Ward 7.
MODERATOR
Aileen Fuchs is the President & Executive Director of the National Building Museum, where she started her role in May 2021. For fifteen years, Aileen has been working at the intersection of site-specific historic interpretation, adaptive-reuse activations, and cultural destination-making. A former life-long New Yorker, Aileen served as President and CEO of Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden from 2017-2021. She oversaw the property management and cultural programming of the historic 83-acre site. Before that, she served as Executive Director of Exhibits & Programs for the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation. Her work—through public art initiatives, immersive industry tours, education programs, and exhibitions—was transformational in building the brand of the Brooklyn Navy Yard as a national model for urban industrial manufacturing. Prior to these endeavors, she worked in exhibition development with the American History Workshop, developing content for museums and projects in NY, Philadelphia, Boston and DC. Aileen holds an M.A. and Advanced Certificate in Public History from New York University. She currently serves on the Boards of the Washington DC Economic Partnership and the Downtown DC BID, is a member of Federal City Council and serves on the Consultative Council of the National Institute of Building Sciences.

MODERATOR
With more than 20 years of public- and private-sector placemaking, place management, urban planning, and infrastructure delivery experience, Colleen Hawkinson brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her role. Prior to joining the DC BID Council in 2024, Colleen served as the inaugural Executive Director of the Dupont Circle Business Improvement District (BID), where she achieved remarkable success in advocating for and implementing transformative projects that enhanced the neighborhood’s vibrancy and livability. During her tenure at the Dupont Circle BID, Colleen spearheaded the successful advocacy and acquisition of $30 million for the construction of the Dupont Plaza and Streetscape project, a pivotal initiative that will revitalize the historic neighborhood’s public spaces.
In addition to her infrastructure and economic development expertise, Colleen brings more than 15 years’ worth of experience working within DC government, and a strong ability to work across sectors on shared priorities. At the DC BID Council, Colleen is focused on growing existing partnerships and forging new collaborations to increase opportunities for all Washington, D.C. stakeholders through the physical and social environments. She works with civic and business stakeholders to advocate for inclusive and livable neighborhoods across the District.