• What structural issues are exposed in the region’s commercial real estate market, and how can we make incremental changes towards a more resilient commercial market?
• What policies can we alter to tackle the existing housing shortage in the DMV?
• How do we develop resilient and flexible regional transit?
• What tools can be developed to foster a new generation of regional collaboration in the housing, transit and commercial spaces?

ULI Washington wishes to thank Amazon for their partnership in supporting this program.

Confirmed Speakers

Paul Bernard serves as the President/CEO of AHC Inc., a nonprofit developer of affordable housing that provides quality housing and educational/support programs for low- and moderate-income families.  

He was formerly an Executive Vice President for the Urban Land Institute (ULI) overseeing Advisory Services, Urban Plan, Professional Development and the Awards programs.  Prior to joining ULI, Paul served as Vice President at Enterprise Community Partners, Inc., where he led the organization’s national public-sector and community development advisory practice.  

Previously, he held several senior roles in government and the private sector, including Senior Vice President at Walker & Dunlop (NYSE: WD) where he led the company’s Investment Advisory practice. He was also a Principal and Division Head at MunieMae (NYSE: MMA), managing the growth and operations for approximately $1.0 billion in institutional capital.  

Mr. Bernard also held senior positions at the City of Detroit, where he was appointed by Mayor Dennis Archer as the Director of Planning and Development and at Public Financial Management (PFM), where he was a Senior Managing Consultant for federal, state and local municipalities and public authorities.  

Douglas M. Bibby is President of the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC), a national organization of more than 1,700 member firms involved in the nearly $3 trillion multifamily housing industry.  Under his leadership NMHC represents the industry on Capitol Hill and before the regulatory agencies, promotes research and the exchange of information, and advocates for rental housing across a broad spectrum of issues. Prior to joining NMHC, Mr. Bibby spent 16 years as a senior officer of Fannie Mae, where he served on the company’s Management Committee throughout his tenure.  He was part of the top management team that is credited with the remarkable turnaround at Fannie Mae in the book Good to Great.   

Mr. Bibby began his career with the worldwide communications firm J. Walter Thompson where he served a variety of clients both domestically and internationally over his 12-year career with the company. At the time of his departure from J. Walter Thompson, he was Senior Vice President and General Manager of the firm’s Washington, D.C. operations.   Mr. Bibby has been active in the non-profit community of Washington, D.C. for the past 30 years.   

Mr. Bibby graduated from Denison University with a B.A. degree and was honored with the university’s Alumni Citation Award in 2004.  He also holds a Masters of Business Administration degree from the University of Texas at Austin. 

David W. Brown is a practicing attorney in the District of Columbia and Maryland. He began his legal career nearly 50 years ago with a federal court clerkship in New York City, then served for 12 years as a trial and supervisory attorney in the Antitrust Division, Department of Justice. Over the past 30 years, Mr. Brown’s law firm, Knopf & Brown, has specialized in representing citizen groups and associations, and individual homeowners in Montgomery County and the District of Columbia seeking to ensure that new development projects be approved only if they protect and preserve compatibility with their impacted homes and neighborhoods. 

Mr. Brown’s interest in land use, planning, and zoning issues has not been limited to serving the needs of his Maryland and District clients. He is a long-time resident of Alexandria, Virginia, where he served as both president of his local civic association and as chair of its zoning committee, again promoting neighborhood compatibility concerns. This civic activism led to his appointment by the Mayor and City Council to the Alexandria Planning Commission in 2014, on which he continues to serve. The Planning Commission reviews all planning, subdivision, development, and rezoning proposals for the City, acting in some cases as the final authority and in other cases as the formal advisory authority to the City Council. He has also served on a variety of other Alexandria citizen advisory boards relating to land use, open space and transportation. 

Robert Buchanan is a third-generation builder/developer involved in office, retail, industrial, residential, and large mixed-use planned communities. He is a Principal of Buchanan Partners, a full service real estate development company. Mr. Buchanan is also President of the 2030 Group, an association of Washington metropolitan area business leaders focused on regional long-term decision-making and solutions. From 2015 – 2019, Bob Buchanan was the first Chair of the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation. Bob is currently part of the Adventist HealthCare CEO Cabinet and will be part of the newly formed Kid Museum Advisory Council.  

Bob was the Washington Airports Task Force 2021 recipient of the Williams Trophy, recognizing his leadership for regional cooperation. In November 2018, Bob was honored with the Urban Land Institute’s prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award. ULI Washington established the Lifetime Achievement Award to recognize a leader from the Washington real estate community whose life exemplifies the mission of ULI and who, in addition to a lifetime of commitment to real estate, has given back to the community through demonstrated civic, charitable and philanthropic endeavors.  

Katie Bucklew, Vice President of Mixed Use, is responsible for identifying, structuring and closing new mixed-use opportunities with key retail, office, industrial and hotel owners across the country utilizing regional development support in the analysis and execution of all mixed-use transactions. In addition, Katie oversees the Mixed Use team and commercial operating portfolio representing approximately 1M square feet at 75 communities spanning 10 MSAs.

Prior to AvalonBay, Katie spent over 13 years with EDENS, a retail owner, operator and developer of retail centers focused on high density, high income markets throughout the East Coast and Texas. She held numerous high-profile roles in EDENS giving her a broad perspective of the retail real estate industry including managing over $300M of (re)development activity , leading an $861M public company acquisition, directing the daily activities of and executing strategic plans for a 35-center portfolio comprised of more than four million square feet and $1B in asset value as well as leasing 11 retail centers totaling over 1.2 million square feet.

Katie holds a Masters of Business Administration from The Wharton School, a Masters of Accounting from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. As a dedicated contributor to the community of real estate professionals, Katie is a member of ICSC, Women in Retail Real Estate and The Urban Land Institute. She is an active leader in the Urban Land Institute (ULI) as the Chair of Mission Advancement (2022-24) and Product Council Chair for ULI’s Urban Mixed Use Blue National Product Council (2012-present, Chair 2021-present). Katie is also a board member of Ivymount Foundation, an organization that supports the education, training and outreach of people with autism and special needs.

Catherine Buell is the Director of Amazon’s Housing Equity Fund, and she is responsible for long-term and innovative programs that address civic priorities in the communities where Amazon employees live and work. Catherine helped launch and oversees Amazon’s Housing Equity Fund, a more than $2 billion commitment to preserve and create over 20,000 affordable housing units in Washington State’s Puget Sound region; Arlington, Virginia region; and Nashville, Tennessee. Amazon’s Housing Equity Fund will help preserve existing housing and help create inclusive housing developments through below-market loans and grants to housing partners, traditional and nontraditional public agencies, and minority-led organizations.  

Catherine previously served as the President and CEO of the Atlanta Housing Authority (d/b/a “Atlanta Housing” or “AH”) where she led the agency’s strategic, financial and operational efforts by providing housing to more than 23,000 of Atlanta’s low-and extremely low-income households. While at Atlanta Housing, Catherine led the development of the agency’s five year plan, called “Vision 2022” (Live, Work, Thrive), aimed at increasing the number of households served, increasing investments in family selfsufficiency efforts and agency fiscal responsibility. During her tenure, she advanced major real estate efforts including partnerships with the Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. to develop affordable housing near the popular BeltLine and also work with Invest Atlanta to purchase the 19-acre Civic Center site in downtown Atlanta.

Peter Calthorpe’s 30-year urban design practice has helped solidify a global trend towards Sustainable Cities and New Urbanism. Metropolis Magazine claims: “The titles of Peter Calthorpe’s books trace the recent history of urban design in its most vital and prescient manifestations, starting in 1986 with Sustainable Communities followed by The Regional City: Planning for the End of Sprawl , and most recently Urbanism in the Age of Climate Change.”  In the early 90’s he developed the concept of Transit Oriented Development described in his book The Next American Metropolis: Ecology, Community and the American Dream – an idea that is now the foundation of many regional policies and city plans around the world.

Peter has received many honors and awards, including appointment to the President’s Council for Sustainable Development and the UN High Commission on the New Urban Agenda. Peter is one of the founders of the Congress for the New Urbanism and a winner of the Urban Land Institute’s J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development. During the Clinton presidency, Peter provided direction for HUD’s Empowerment Zones and Consolidated Planning Programs and helped to rebuild some of the country’s worst public housing.   

Anthony Chang is the Managing Director for Stream’s Northern Virginia Office. Anthony will lead strategic direction and operations, with primary responsibilities to include expanding Stream’s leasing, property management, acquisition, and development services while building Stream’s brand presence in Northern Virginia.

Prior to Stream, Anthony was a Vice President at WashREIT where, among his accomplishments he co-founded its flexible office program Space+. Prior to WashREIT, he was a leasing broker with Cassidy Turley where he added more than 2.5 million square feet in agency listings in less than three years.  Throughout his career, Chang has executed or advised on over $800 million in lease transactions. He serves on the boards of NAIOP Northern Virginia, Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce and the Fairfax County Economic Advisory Committee. In addition, Chang is a trustee of ULI and serves as the Chair for Mission Advancement for ULI Washington.

Randy Clarke joined the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) as General Manager and CEO in July 2022. He’s not just Metro’s GM/CEO; he’s also a customer who uses the service every day. The insight Randy gets from his daily rides helps him lead Metro to innovate and improve on behalf of customers. In the 90 days since his arrival Randy has focused the organization on the development of a strategic transformation plan, led WMATA’s Silver Line Phase 2 start up, and targeted actions to address fare evasion.  

Before joining Metro, Randy served more than four years as President and CEO of Capital Metro in Austin, Texas, where he helped secure one of the country’s largest voter-approved transit referendums in US history. The initiative, called Project Connect, resulted in a multi-billion-dollar infusion for CapMetro’s capital program. Prior to his work in Austin, Randy held key leadership positions in public transportation around the country. He served as the Vice President of Operations and Member Services for the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) in Washington DC from 2016 to 2018. Randy also spent more than six years in various positions with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) in Boston, including Deputy Chief Operating Officer and Assistant General Manager of Engineering, Maintenance and Preparedness, and Senior Director of Security.  

Terry L. Clower is Northern Virginia Chair and Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University. He is also director of GMU’s Center for Regional Analysis. The Center provides economic and public policy research services to sponsors in the private, non-profit and public sectors. Prior to joining GMU, he was director for the Center for Economic Development and Research at the University of North Texas. Dr. Clower also has almost ten years of private sector experience in transportation and logistics management. 

Dr. Clower has authored or co-authored over 250 articles, book chapters, and research reports reflecting experience in economic and community development, housing, land use planning, labor market analysis, economic and fiscal impact analysis, and economic forecasting. His scholarly articles have appeared in Economic Development Quarterly; Urban Studies; Economic Development Review; Regional Studies, Regional Science; the Australasian Journal of Regional Studies; Regional Studies Regional Science, Sustaining Regions; and Applied Research in Economic Development.  His most recent scholarly publication is the textbook Globalization, Planning and Local Economic Development with Prof. Andrew Beer of the University of South Australia (Taylor-Francis, London, 2020). 

Dr. Clower received a B.S. in Marine Transportation from Texas A&M University in 1982, a M.S. in Applied Economics from the University of North Texas in 1992 and a Ph.D. in Information Sciences from the University of North Texas in 1997 specializing in information infrastructure issues and the use of information resources. 

Cheryl Cort leads Smarter Growth America’s efforts in DC and Maryland. Cheryl is the voice of their equitable development campaigns — working with community activists, nonprofits, and government agencies to promote transit-oriented development, housing choice, economic development, pedestrian and bicyclist safety and access in less-affluent communities throughout the region. She routinely demonstrates that it’s possible to use the bus system for hard-to-reach meetings in the suburbs (but boy, is there room for service improvement). Prior to her work as Policy Director, Cheryl served as the Executive Director for the Washington Regional Network for Livable Communities (WRN), which merged with the Coalition for Smarter Growth in 2007. 

Before WRN, Cheryl worked for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. She holds a master’s degree in Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology from UMD College Park and a Bachelor of Science from UC Berkeley. 

Adding to the many plaques adorning our office’s walls, Cheryl received the Distinguished Leadership for a Citizen Planner Award from the National Capital Area Chapter of APA in 2006. She is a parent of two small children and an enthusiastic bird-watcher. 

Allison Davis is WMATA’s (Metro) Vice President, Planning and oversees a team who guides Metro’s medium- and long-term transit vision, analyzes ridership and travel behavior, develops station capacity, access, and safety projects, and transforms oodles of data into actionable information. She is currently leading the Better Bus Network Redesign to rethink, redesign, and revitalize Metrobus and previously led the Bus Transformation Project to transform the region’s bus system into a fast, frequent, reliable, affordable service that feels unified to the customer. Previously, she was a consultant for engineering and planning firms in New York and Tokyo. She graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Cornell University and is the Chair of the Coalition for Smarter Growth’s Champions Council. 

Vicki Davis is a Managing Partner, and co-founder of Urban Atlantic. While overseeing development and asset management for Urban Atlantic, Ms. Davis has managed the development of more than $3 billion in real estate projects and overseen a portfolio in excess of $5 billion in real estate investments. Her 30-year real estate career includes serving as Deputy Director of the Maryland Housing Fund and its Housing and Community Development’s Division of Credit Assurance, as well as portfolio management for MNC Financial’s South Charles Realty Corp. and multifamily development for Trammell Crow Residential. She has developed more than 10,000 multifamily residential units and nearly 3 million commercial square feet for Urban Atlantic, including 11 large-scale public-private redevelopments for local jurisdictions, transit authorities, and public housing authorities in DC, Virginia, Maryland, Florida, North Carolina, New Jersey, and Tennessee. 

Ms. Davis holds an MBA in Finance from American University, an MS in Engineering & Construction Management from the University of Texas, and a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Maryland. She serves on the Boards of the DC Building Industry Association, Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District, ULI Terwilliger Center, and CulturalDC. 

Adam Ducker is Chief Executive Officer of RCLCO and oversees the firm’s Real Estate Economics and Management Consulting Practices. Adam joined RCLCO in the mid-1990s as an associate directly after graduate school and learned the trade with the firm. He is a recognized expert in strategic planning for real estate companies, investment analysis, market and financial analysis, and marketing of real estate assets. He has particular depth of expertise in high-density housing, retail/entertainment, and hotel development. 

Adam is a member of the Executive Committee of RCLCO, which manages shared resources and oversees overall company strategy. He also sits on the board of the RCLCO Foundation. 

Adam is a frequent speaker on topics ranging from place-making, urban redevelopment, retail trends, and in-town housing. His writing has been widely published and quoted in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Urban Land, Real Assets, among others. He is an active member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), vice chair of the Redevelopment and Reuse Council, and a board member of the Terwilliger Center for Housing. A native of the New York metropolitan area, Adam received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Columbia University. 

Sonja M. Ewing, AICP is the Assistant Division Chief for the Park Planning and Development Division of the Department of Parks and Recreation of Prince George’s County.   

In this role, she leads Land Acquisition, Land Management and Park Planning for M-NCPPC, the largest landowner in the county. Sonja has a rich background with nearly 25 years of experience as an Urban Planner, Urban Designer, College Professor, and Urban Planning Consultant in both urban and suburban settings. She is very passionate about Prince George’s County.  

As a result, her team has been instrumental in supporting the planning and outreach efforts for numerous area neighborhood parks and playgrounds. They have also finalized several master implementation plans for more than 1000 acres of parkland, this includes Watkins and Walker Mill Regional Parks and the DPR Trail Network. Sonja is vigorously involved in defining the future for parks and recreational facilities in the county completing feasibility studies for the next three (of nine countywide), regional-scale community centers designed to meet the needs of all ages. 

Luca Gattoni-Celli is Founder of YIMBYs of Northern Virginia, a YIMBY Action chapter and grassroots advocacy organization with more than 1,000 members. It is dedicated to ending NoVA’s housing shortage and affordability crisis through systemic reform of land use rules. Luca and his team helped assemble the coalition of civic groups supporting Arlington’s Missing Middle housing initiative. Luca lives in Alexandria West with his wonderful wife and two children. They enjoy hiking, e-biking, and the stellar food in NoVA from around the world. 

Hilary Allard Goldfarb is Senior Managing Director for Rockefeller Group and head of Development in the Mid-Atlantic region.  In this role, Ms. Goldfarb leads the company’s regional office, based in Washington, D.C., with primary responsibility for growing the company’s development portfolio through the sourcing of multifamily, office and mixed-use projects.

Since joining Rockefeller Group, Ms. Goldfarb has overseen the success of several new development projects, grown the office and expanded the company’s development pipeline.  Since joining the firm, the company’s joint venture development Boro Tower in Tysons, Va. has stabilized.  She has also been involved in the development and leasing success at 1901 L Street downtown, Washington D.C.’s first WELL certified office building.  Most recently, she spearheaded Rockefeller Group’s joint venture redevelopment of Metro’s Downtown D.C. headquarters, the Jackson Graham Building, which will undergo a major renovation resulting in 400,000 square feet of premier office space in the heart of the Penn Quarter business and entertainment district.

Prior to joining Rockefeller Group in 2018, Ms. Goldfarb was previously Senior Vice President, Bozzuto Development Company, where she directed the development process for multifamily and mixed-use projects throughout the Baltimore-Washington region. Prior to joining Bozzuto, Ms. Goldfarb was Development Director at ProMark Real Estate, where she led development services for the company’s commercial portfolio.  She also worked at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., during a capital campaign to build a Frank Gehry-designed expansion and has worked on economic development initiatives.

Ms. Goldfarb is an accomplished real estate professional with deep market insight, construction experience and relationships in the Washington business community. She has a master’s degree in Urban Planning from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design and a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University.

Evan Goldman is Executive Vice President of Acquisition and Development at EYA, LLC. He brings a decade of mixed-use and multi-family experience to the EYA development team and works on sourcing new deals as well as shepherding projects through the development process.

Prior to joining EYA, Evan was Vice President of Development at Federal Realty Investment Trust, where he was primarily responsible for managing the development of Pike & Rose. Evan regularly guest lectures about real estate, planning, and development at local universities. He currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Urban Land Institute Washington and is a Trustee of the Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation’s Capital. In 2012, Evan received the Livable Communities Leadership Award from the Washington, DC based Coalition for Smarter Growth.

Evan earned a BS in Design and Environmental Analysis from Cornell University and a MBA in Real Estate and Finance from the Wharton Business School. He lives in Washington, DC with his wife and three young children.

Kathy E. Hollinger is the CEO of the Greater Washington Partnership. She was previously President and CEO of the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington (RAMW). From 2012 to 2022, her visionary leadership led RAMW — which represents over a thousand restaurants and the food service industry in one of the nation’s largest and most visible regions – through its most dramatic period of sustained growth and innovation, with overall operating budget and new revenue growth of 30%. She also raised the profile of the association and industry across the region and nationally, resulting in an epic year of national accolades that included Bon Appetit Magazine’s 2016 Restaurant City of the Year and ZAGAT’s Hottest Food City of 2016. 

As RAMW’s official voice and advocate, Kathy drove unprecedented growth and development in the industry, while guiding members through a continuously evolving legislative and regulatory landscape; providing marketing and small businesses consulting and resources; and spearheading visionary programming and industry events, including the internationally lauded RAMMY Awards. The RAMMYS honors exceptional ability and accomplishments in the restaurant community and has been named one of the nation’s top Food and Restaurant events. Kathy founded STORYBOARD, a Washington DC-based strategic communications firm, in 2010 and served as its CEO between 2010 and 2012.

Shyam Kannan is HDR’s lead for Transportation Planning and Transit in the Mid-Atlantic.  He’s responsible for planning, directing and monitoring all aspects of large multidisciplinary transit and transportation planning projects, business activities and thought leadership including regional planning, forecasting/modeling, surface transit, subway/commuter rail, zero emissions vehicles, mobility equity, transit facilities and providing strategy for transit properties.  Prior to joining HDR he served as WMATA’s Vice President of Planning from 2012-2022. 

He developed a life’s passion for improving America’s cities as a kid while working evenings at his family’s small business, a laundromat in Philadelphia, and again during four years of public service in the classrooms of East Los Angeles and Harlem, New York.  He earned master’s degrees in public policy and urban planning from Harvard, is an active member of ULI Washington, and is the co-chair of the American Public Transit Association’s Transit-Oriented Communities subcommittee. 

Jay Kelly serves as a Vice President in Foulger Pratt’s development group. Mr. Kelly joined Foulger Pratt in April 2021 to lead the company’s redevelopment efforts at Landmark Mall. Prior to joining Foulger Pratt, Mr. Kelly spent six years at JBG Smith Properties overseeing the day-to-day development operations of several high profile mixed-use projects including 1221 Van Street (DC), West Half (DC), Eckington Yards (DC) and 1900 Crystal Drive in National Landing.

Prior to JBG SMITH, Mr. Kelly served as an Assistant Vice President at the New York City Economic Development Corporation. He received a BA in Public Policy Analysis from Duke University and an MBA from Wharton and a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Matthew J. Klein is President and CEO of Akridge, a full-service commercial real estate company and a prominent investor, developer and operator in the Washington, DC region and North Carolina. Mr. Klein has more than 35 years of hands-on real estate experience and has been President of Akridge since 2001. Headquartered in Washington, DC since 1974, Akridge has been involved with over 27 million square feet of real estate projects in the Washington metropolitan area and currently has over $3 billion in real estate assets under management and 120 employees. The Company has an inventory of development projects in the pipeline totaling more than 7 million square feet.

Akridge has been recognized locally and nationally for its customer service, innovation, investment results and community involvement. The Company has received a long inventory of awards and recognition including the National Capital Area Business Ethics Award; Corporate Philanthropy, Development Firm of the Year, Development Project of the Year, Deal of the Year and has been recognized as Best Places to Work in both Washingtonian magazine and the Washington Business Journal. The Company is also frequently honored with awards for its efforts in community involvement, sustainability, innovation and historic preservation.

Stephanie Landrum is President & CEO of the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership (AEDP). Appointed by the Board of Directors in April 2015, Stephanie has held leadership roles in the organization since 2005. AEDP is responsible for leading the City of Alexandria’s efforts to grow the tax base, diversify the economy and attract and retain businesses and organizations. The public-private corporation is focused on defining and marketing Alexandria as an innovative, creative, diverse, knowledge-based community with a high quality of life, located in the heart of the booming Northern Virginia economy.  

AEDP utilizes marketing events, relationships with commercial brokerage, ownership and development communities, and media relations to promote Alexandria. The organization and its leadership serve as chief economic advisor to various groups in Alexandria and provide advice and information to the Alexandria City Council, Planning Commission and City Departments.  

AEDP is host to the Alexandria Small Business Development Center (SBDC), an organization that supports the formation and growth of entrepreneurs. As President & CEO, Stephanie provides strategic and financial oversight to this hosted organization. Stephanie also acts as administrator for the City of Alexandria’s Industrial Development Authority, which has historically functioned as a bond financing entity that assists qualified businesses and organizations with making investments within the City of Alexandria, and in 2021 expanded its role to own and lease real estate to facilitate significant economic development initiatives.  

Dr. Tracy Hadden Loh is a Fellow with the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Center for Transformative Placemaking at Brookings Metro, where she integrates her interests in commercial real estate, infrastructure, racial justice, and governance. She serves on the boards of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and Greater Greater Washington.

Jacob Mason (he/him/his pronouns) oversees ITDP’s global research, reporting, and evaluation. He specializes in developing technical guidance materials that synthesize learnings from around the world and indicators that enable tracking of progress on sustainable transportation and development. Jacob has been the lead researcher for many of ITDP’s most recognized publications, including the Bike Share Planning Guide, the BRT Standard, and A Global High Shift Cycling Scenario, quantifying the multi-trillion-dollar savings in transportation costs and massive reductions in CO2 emissions possible through more sustainable urban transport. Jacob has a master’s degree in urban planning from McGill University (Montreal) and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Columbia University. 

 Joe McAndrew is the vice president for government relations and infrastructure at the Greater Washington Partnership where he steers the Partnership’s policy and engagement work with federal, state and local elected officials, and leads efforts to achieve a 21st-century regional mobility and infrastructure ecosystem in the Capital Region. Prior to joining the Partnership, he served as legislative assistant for the Senate Commerce Committee and Senator Brian Schatz. Before working on Capitol Hill, Joe served as the policy director for Transportation for America. He holds a bachelor’s degree in management from Luther College and a master’s degree in community and regional planning from the University of Oregon. He lives in Arlington, VA with his wife and daughter.  

Veronica P. McBeth was appointed as the Senior Advisor of the Federal Transit Administration in June 2022. She reports directly to the Administrator and manages several FTA initiatives, such as transit-oriented development, climate and sustainability, equity and infrastructure. 

McBeth has a background in public policy, public outreach, transportation, planning, environmental regulations, and funding. At the Baltimore City Department of Transportation, she was instrumental in establishing transformative transportation facilities, including shuttle services, transit, incentive programs and micromobility. She managed over $20 million in annual operations budgets, active transportation planning, as well as design and construction projects for Baltimore.  

During her time in the private sector, McBeth completed work on the national level, including multimodal transportation planning, parking and transportation demand management, campus transportation plans, and site plan design and review.  

McBeth combines her background in public policy, environmental law, planning, public administration, and community engagement to establish transportation systems with economic, social, and environmental benefits. She has worked on projects that facilitate equity and move beyond considering only benefits and burdens. As an expert in environmental policy and law, she connects environmental laws to policy issues associated with environmental justice, air quality, climate change, and sustainability as they relate to transportation.  

Bo Menkiti is the Founder and CEO of The Menkiti Group, a real estate company dedicated to transforming lives, careers, and communities through real estate. The Menkiti Group is focused on strengthening neighborhoods through the strategic development, management, and disposition of real estate in urban markets and on delivering the power of home through its brokerages and affiliates.  Mr. Menkiti also serves as CEO and is the Founding Partner of Keller Williams Capital Properties (KWCP), a residential real estate brokerage managed by The Menkiti Group. Most recently, Mr. Menkiti founded Mission Mortgage, a double bottom line regional mortgage lender. Prior to forming The Menkiti Group and KWCP, Mr. Menkiti served as Chief Operating Officer of College Summit, a national non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the college enrollment rate of low-income students. In this capacity, Mr. Menkiti oversaw the organization’s successful growth into a multi-site national organization. 

Under Mr. Menkiti’s leadership, The Menkiti Group and KWCP have been recognized by Inc. Magazine as being among the fastest growing private companies in the nation and a Best in Business Real Estate company nationwide as well as by the Initiative for Competitive Inner City (ICIC) and Fortune Magazine as two of the fastest growing inner-city businesses in America. Mr. Menkiti has also been recognized by Earnest and Young as the EY 2017 Entrepreneur of the Year in the Mid-Atlantic and by the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City with the Marcia Lamb Award for Inner City Innovation.  

Laura Miller Brooks is the Director of Transportation and Infrastructure at the Federal City Council (FC2). In her role, Laura leverages the creativity, connections, and resources of the 250 business and civic leaders who make up FC2’s membership, as well as regional partners, like the MetroNow Coalition, to help realize the most transformational transportation and infrastructure projects in the DC region.  

Whether she is working on Union Station’s next century transformation, WMATA’s long-term sustainability, Better Bus, Digital Connectivity, or completing the region’s robust trails network, Laura is focused on connecting people to the places they want to go and providing more options for them to get there.  

Prior to FC2, Laura led government relations in the Mid-Atlantic region for Lime, a global micromobility company. Though she started her career in tech, Laura found her love of transportation policy in 2017, when she joined Washington Area Bicyclist Association to manage their corporate partnerships program. A lifelong bicyclist, and lover of public transit, Laura is proud to have the best commute in America. If weather permits (and she’s not on a bus or train), Laura travels to the FC2 office in downtown DC from her home in Alexandria by bike — preferably, a shared Capital Bikeshare or Lime ebike — riding over 6,000/miles annually. 

Emeka Moneme joins Hayat Brown as Senior Vice President for Infrastructure, Advisory and Investments, a role that spans across our engineering and advisory business lines. He will be supporting the ongoing advisory work with mission-oriented institutions – universities, school districts and economic development organizations, while leveraging his years of transportation and transit experience to grow our portfolio of county, state and federal clients. 

Mr. Moneme brings over twenty years of experience as a leader across the public, private and non-profit sectors. In addition to his private sector experience as a strategy consultant, financial advisor and commercial real estate developer, Emeka has served at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) as both Chief Administrative Officer and Chief of Staff to the CEO, and as the Director of the DC Department of Transportation (DDOT). In addition, he spent six years as Deputy Executive Director of the Federal City Council (FC2) – a premier business organization dedicated to the advancement of the nation’s capital. Emeka Moneme joins Hayat Brown after a stint with Transurban North America as Vice President for Corporate Strategy and Innovation. In this role, he led the company’s government relations, innovation, sustainability, and investor relations functions.  

Emeka was raised in Ohio and is a graduate of both Miami (OH) University and the University of Cincinnati. He and his wife have lived in the DC region for twenty years and reside in the 16th Street Heights neighborhood of Washington, DC with their 4 children. 

Latrena Owens is the Executive Director of the St. Elizabeths East Redevelopment in the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED), the team that coordinates and executes the Mayor’s economic development efforts in the District of Columbia. Latrena oversees the redevelopment of the 183-acre St. Elizabeths East campus. St. Elizabeths East, once known mostly for being the site of a vacant and abandoned hospital, is one of the few remaining large economic development opportunities in DC. Latrena is leading the charge to transform this campus from a series of healthcare facilities and government buildings to an integrated destination that will serve as the catalyst for change and wealth building.   

Latrena previously served as the Chief of Staff for the District’s Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) where she guided performance management, information technology, communications and oversaw the Property Acquisition and Disposition Division (PADD). During her tenure, she advanced the Vacant to Vibrant Initiative, a five-point plan to spurt economic development and transform vacant property into vibrant and productive solutions, such as workforce housing and creative green space. 

Ilana Preuss is the Founder of Recast City LLC, and author of Recast Your City: How to Save Your Downtown with Small-Scale Manufacturing. Preuss’ consulting firm works with local leaders, real estate developers, city and other civic leaders to integrate space for small-scale producers into redevelopment projects and place-based economic development through its premier program, Recast Leaders. She is passionate about making great places and sees that small-scale manufacturers are a missing piece in today’s real estate and economic development efforts.

Ms. Preuss’ book, Recast Your City: How to Save your Downtown with Small-Scale Manufacturing, was released by Island Press in 2021. In 2017, Ms. Preuss co-authored,Made in PLACE: Small-scale manufacturing and placemaking, in partnership with Smart Growth America and funded by a grant from U.S. EDA, and she co-authored,Discovering Your City’s Maker Economy, for National League of Cities, in partnership with Etsy and Urban Manufacturing Alliance.

With over 20 years of experience in community development, Ms. Preuss projects at Recast City span the country –from Washington, D.C. to Honolulu, HI. Through work with small-scale manufacturing business owners, real estate developers, foundations, city planning and economic development offices, improvement districts, and mayors, the projects go from idea to action to build great places with vibrant economies.

In her role as Vice President of Real Estate and Parking at WMATA, Liz Price oversees a portfolio of nearly 1,000 acres of land and 52,000 parking spaces. WMATA’s nation-leading joint development program has delivered over 17 million square feet of mixed-use development at 30 stations and is responsible for future development of 500+ acres at 40 stations.  

Ms. Price has been involved in revitalizing neighborhoods in the Washington, DC region for over 20 years. At Hoffman & Associates she served as Director of Public Private Partnerships of the Wharf, a $2.5 billion, 3 million sf mixed use waterfront redevelopment and worked with Federal and local partners to improve public space and transit, pedestrian, bike and water taxi connections. As Vice President of the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation, she led the national search for a development partner for the Southwest Waterfront and oversaw the area’s two-year community planning process while at the National Capital Revitalization Corporation. As the first President of the NoMa Business Improvement District, she helped lead the renaissance of one of DC’s fastest growing neighborhoods. Ms. Price also recently served as Executive Director of the Washington DC chapter of the Urban Land Institute. 

Dan Reed (he/they) is Greater Greater Washington’s regional policy director, focused on housing and land use policy in Maryland and Northern Virginia. For a decade prior, Dan was a transportation planner working with communities all over North America to make their streets safer, enjoyable, and equitable. Their writing has appeared in publications including Washingtonian, CityLab, and Shelterforce, as well as Just Up The Pike, a neighborhood blog founded in 2006. Dan lives in Silver Spring with Drizzy, the goodest boy ever. 

Hans Riemer is an At-large Member of the Montgomery County Council, representing about a million residents. He was first elected to that office in 2010. Hans was moved to serve by his powerful experiences growing up in Oakland, California, where many families and neighborhoods are deeply impacted by a lack of access to economic and educational opportunities. Hans learned that social change is necessary for disadvantaged communities to make progress. He learned a passion for environmental preservation while hiking California’s wild landscapes. 

After college, Hans came to Washington and got involved in the fight to save Social Security from privatization. Hans founded a nonprofit youth advocacy organization, The 2030 Center. He staffed a national campaign that pushed the Democrats to rediscover their New Deal roots and find their voice as champions of the middle class when the program was under attack from Republicans. Hans then joined Rock the Vote, where he guided political programs as the group registered nearly a million young voters during the 2004 election. In 2007, Hans joined the Obama campaign as the National Youth Vote Director. His job was to work with students and youth organizers to mobilize a new generation and elect Barack Obama as president. In a cover story, Time Magazine declared it the “Year of the Youth Vote.” Hans then became a senior advisor at AARP, managing retirement security campaigns.  

Hans ran for the Montgomery County Council and was elected in 2010, beating three incumbents in the At-large field. On the Council, he has stayed true to his values and his belief that we can have growth, a clean environment, sustainable energy and liveable communities. In this way, Hans works to take the best of progressive thinking from the 20th century and reimagine it for the 21st century with its demand for equity, opportunity and solutions that work for and advance all. 

His belief that communities must have job growth to succeed has guided his embrace of private sector innovation and his unwavering leadership for housing policies to support a growing, diverse workforce. He has fought for educational opportunities, from pre-k through higher ed, to help all children achieve their potential. And he has been a climate champion, working for smart growth, clean energy generation and efficient buildings. 

Alisa Brem Rosenberg serves as the Managing Director of Development for Republic Properties Corporation. Alisa is responsible for executing projects on the east coast and strategically growing the multifamily and mixed-use development pipeline for the Mid-Atlantic. She also pursues opportunities for existing multifamily transactions. Prior to Republic, Alisa served as the Mid-Atlantic Partner for Fore Property Company, Vice President at Bozzuto Development, and as a developer with Edens, Grosvenor, and Insight Property Group on mixed-use developments across the Mid-Atlantic. She has led the development of more than 5,000 residential units and 440,000 SF of mixed-use retail. 

Alisa is an active member of the Urban Land Institute, serving as the Vice Chair of the Urban Development and Mixed Use (Red) Product Council and a member of the Women’s Leadership Institute Executive Committee.  At ULI- Washington she serves as the co-Chair of the Programs Committee, co-Chair of the Future Forum, member of the Women’s Leadership Initiative Advisory Committee, and member of the Management Committee.  She previously chaired the national task force for a ULI Women’s Speakers Bureau, the former Chair of ULI Washington’s Full Member Engagement Committee, and the former Chair of ULI Washington’s Women’s Leadership Institute. She is a board member of the DC Real Estate Group, on The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington’s Real Estate Committee, and previously served on the steering committee for the Beverly Willis Architectural Foundation’s Built by Women – DC.  

Tanya Stern is Acting Planning Director for Montgomery County, MD, its largest county with over 1 million diverse residents. She leads planning and development review for the county’s urbanized, suburban, and rural communities; the development of countywide housing, multi-modal transportation, and growth management policies; innovative studies on real estate and the economy; historic preservation; promotion of design excellence in architecture and the public realm; and Montgomery Planning’s department-wide Equity Agenda for Planning and equitable community engagement. Prior to this role, she served as Deputy Planning Director overseeing countywide housing policy, zoning, growth management, multimodal transportation planning and historic preservation; real estate, economic and demographic analysis; IT/GIS; and agency management services including budgeting, HR, and communications. She served as an advisor for Thrive Montgomery 2050, the county’s new General Plan adopted in 2022. Previously, Ms. Stern served for 14 years in the Government of the District of Columbia, including eight years at the DC Office of Planning as Deputy Director overseeing neighborhood planning and urban design and as Chief of Staff; in the Executive Office of the Mayor; and in other agencies. Additionally, she has 11 years of non-profit sector experience. Ms. Stern holds a master’s in city planning from the University of Pennsylvania and is certified through the American Institute of Certified Planners and as a Certified Public Manager.   

Sadhvi Subramanian is Market Manager for the Commercial Real Estate East region, overseeing the bank’s commercial real estate (CRE) activity in Boston, Washington DC, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. 

Prior to joining U.S. Bank in 2021, she spent 20 years at Capitol One in CRE market leadership roles. During this time, she developed a track record for driving portfolio growth and implementing new product initiatives. Earlier in her career, she was the Group Vice President for CRE at Chevy Chase Bank and the Vice President of Mergers and Acquisitions at Crown Capital Corporation.  

Before she joined the banking industry, Sadhvi founded the Center for Contemporary Art in Delhi, India. There, she led a team that established the Center as one of the premier art galleries in the country. 

Sadhvi earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Delhi, India, and an MBA from the Olin School of Business, Washington University. She is also a certified public accountant and completed the Executive Leadership Program through the Darden School at the University of Virginia.  

On multiple occasions, Sadhvi’s commitment to commercial real estate has been recognized. In 2020, she received the Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Network Career Advancement for Women Impact Award and in 2020, 2021 and 2022, was recognized in the Commercial Observer among Washington, D.C.’s 25 Most Powerful Real Estate Players.  

Dr. Ajay Vinzé began his tenure as Dean for the School of Business at George Mason on July 1st, 2022.    

Dr. Vinzé comes to Mason from the University of Missouri, where he was Dean of the Trulaske College of Business from January 2017. Prior to his work at Mizzou, he was the Earl and Gladys Davis Distinguished Professor of Business in the Department of Information Systems at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. In addition to a stellar research record, his 18-year career at Arizona State includes assignments as Associate Dean for International Programs, Associate Vice Provost for Graduate Education, Director of the Executive MBA Program and the Management Information Systems Doctoral Program, as well as the Founding Director of the Technology Research Center. Before joining the faculty at Arizona State, he spent 10 years at Texas A & M University as both an Assistant and Associate Professor (with tenure). 

During his time as dean at the Trulaske College of Business, he focused on situating the college among leading business schools nationally and internationally by significantly enhancing the research profile of the college and offering innovative programs that were market responsive and delivered both in traditional settings and in online or hybrid formats. Dr. Vinzé is credited with a number of forward-thinking innovations in the eLearning space and has innovated with experiential learning, micro-credentialing, and stackable certificates. Moreover, he raised over $30M in philanthropic giving during his time with the college. 

Stan Wall is senior real estate and economic development executive with over 25 years of experience across the entire real estate project lifecycle including strategy, planning, finance, development, and construction.  Mr. Wall is a Partner with HR&A Advisors, Inc. – a real estate and economic development advisory firm that helps create vibrant urban centers that offer jobs and sustain a high quality of life for diverse communities.  At HR&A, Stan leads the firm’s Washington, DC office working with public and private sector clients in the DC region and nationwide. Much of his work at HR&A has been focused on transit-oriented development strategy and implementation, real estate market analysis and development feasibility, and economic revitalization strategy and implementation. 

Stan’s past career experiences have focused on improving the built environment – including his role as Director of Real Estate and Station Planning at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority where he focused on implementing transit-oriented development projects across the Washington region.  Other previous experiences include Arup, Jones Lang LaSalle, Deloitte Consulting, and Lend Lease.  He received a Bachelor of Architectural Engineering (Construction Management emphasis) from Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Business Administration in finance and real estate from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.  He is a registered Professional Engineer in the District of Columbia.  Stan is a member of the ULI Transit Oriented Development Product Council, and he also serves as a member of the boards of Greater Greater Washington and the Downtown DC Foundation.  He is wrapping up his term as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner where he represents the Van Ness / Forest Hills community in DC’s Ward 3. 

Tony Williams, the former Mayor of Washington, D.C. (1999 – 2007), is the current Chief Executive Officer of the Federal City Council, an organization focusing the creative and administrative talents of Washington’s business and professional leaders on major problems and opportunities facing the District.  

He is widely credited with leading the comeback of Washington D.C. during his two terms as Mayor, restoring the finances of our nation’s capital, and improving the performance of government agencies, all while lowering taxes and investing in infrastructure and human services. In addition to his duties with the Federal City Council, Mayor Williams is a Senior Advisor to King and Spaulding, LLP. He serves on several company boards as well as the boards of Urban Institute and the National Geographic Society.  

Prior to Federal City Council, he led the Global Government Practice at the Corporate Executive Board in Arlington, Virginia. He also taught public finance and urban leadership as the William H. Bloomberg Lecturer in Public Management at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government while coordinating programs for the Municipal Innovation Program at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. Before his election as Mayor, he was the independent Chief Financial Officer of the District from 1995 to 1998, working with and on behalf of local officials, the D.C. Financial Control Board, and the U.S. Congress.  

James Wise is a Senior Vice President with Ernst & Young Infrastructure Advisors, based in Washington, DC.  James advises state and local government clients on commercial and financial issues associated with complex infrastructure projects across the country in the water, toll roads and bridges, transit, ports, eMobility and renewable energy sectors.  His recent work in the DMV includes the new Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge and the I-495 & I-270 OpLanes Project. 

Additional Speakers and Featured Participants To Be Announced

Vision

The purpose of the program scheduled for November 30th, 2022 is to engage all public and private sector leaders in the region to position equitable, transit-oriented communities as a model for inclusive economic growth, housing that is affordable across income-levels, and sustainable, livable communities. This summit will demonstrate how this model represents an alignment of interests, and that such endeavors are possible with the proper planning, partners and resource allocation.

ULI Washington wishes to do its part in mitigating against the spread of COVID-19. Per ULI’s policy, ULI Washington requires event participants to be vaccinated against COVID-19, or to provide proof of a negative test. By registering and attending this ULI Washington program, you agree to comply with all applicable health and safety protocols required at the time of the event by ULI Washington and the jurisdiction and venue at which the event takes place.