Founder, Partner and Managing Principal of Preservation Design Partnership, LLC a nationally respected WBE / MBE specializing in planning and design services for historic environments and cultural resources. Her work has been recognized with several planning, design and preservation excellence awards. An expert in design guidelines, her work can be found in the most iconic cities in America, including Oak Park, IL; New Orleans, LA; Hopewell, NJ; Ft Lauderdale, FL and Newton, MA.

Partner and Planning & Design Director at Preservation Design Partnership, LLC. His work has focused on historic districts, sites and buildings, and has been recognized with over 35 national, regional, state and local awards of preservation and design excellence. Projects include the VA State Capitol, the Cincinnati Union Terminal,the US Supreme Court and the Lincoln Cottage in Washington, DC. His firm was also responsible for the preparation of the Design Guidelines in New Orleans, LA.

Brian Lawrence holds the title of Senior Planner with the Westmoreland County Department of Planning and Development. He earned a bachelor's degree in Political Science in 2007 and a master's degree in Geography, both from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Brian has been using Google Earth in a professional setting for over two years and will be teaching a non-credit course in Google Earth at Westmoreland County Community College.

Sharon Pillar is the project manager for solar programs at Citizens for Pennsylvania Future (PennFuture) and principal investigator for the Department of Energy Rooftop Solar Challenge in western Pennsylvania. In this position, she has assisted in convening and shaping the regional solar industry group, Solar Unified Network of Western Pennsylvania (SUNWPA), and in working with a diverse group of stakeholders (municipalities, homeowners, businesses, financiers, etc) to identify and overcome barriers to deployment of solar energy in western Pennsylvania. She is a frequent presenter on climate change and clean energy issues in western Pennsylvania, having spoken with more than 100 organizations in the region on these topics over the past six years. PennFuture has lead the way on clean energy policy in Pennsylvania, helping in the passage of Pennsylvania’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards (AEPS) - the state’s requirements for solar and other renewable electricity – and for laws allowing net metering, which have enabled distributed electricity generation in the state. Sharon helped PennFuture in advocating for the passage of Act 129, the utility electric conservation law, the Pennsylvania SunShine grant program, as well the state’s climate change law. Sharon is a member of the Sewickley borough planning commission, and she earned an M.A. in Earth Literacy from St. Mary’s of the Woods College in Terre Haute, IN, with an interdisciplinary systems focus on the effects of economics, culture, politics, and community design on our environment.

AJ is the managing principal of Environmental Planning & Design, LLC, a Pittsburgh-based Community and Environmental Resource Planning firm. His practical experience with the public sector includes assisting planning agencies commission and stakeholder groups to understand and assess resource capacities to explore different planning alternatives, to evaluate the trade-offs of the alternatives and to define viable planning solutions. He recognizes that creating individualized planning ideas based upon capacities of resources (physical, market and personnel) as well as priorities is of fundamental importance in an effort’s long standing success and viability. Mr. Schwartz has extensive experience in the preparation of public/private-sector master plans and related land development regulations. AJ also has been a contributor to the preparation of more than fifty zoning and subdivision ordinances and comprehensive plans. He is one of Pennsylvania’s pioneers in integrating LEED standards and neighborhood compatibility standards into existing ordinances. Variations in project scale and work scope have given AJ a unique understanding of community objectives, program development and publicly driven conservation and development strategies. He is able to integrate these diverse experiences when formulating objective implementation strategies that benefit both the public and the private sectors. He is the Lead Technical Planner on the Southwestern Pennsylvania’s Rooftop Solar Challenge effort in conjunction with the US Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative.

Eva Gladstein serves as Deputy Executive Director of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. She recently completed a three-year assignment as Executive Director of the 31-member Philadelphia Zoning Code Commission, successfully reforming and modernizing Philadelphia’s 50-year old zoning code. Gladstein also served as the Director of Neighborhood Transformation for Mayor John F. Street, coordinating a multifaceted strategy designed to renew and strengthen entire communities, to ensure quality housing, clean and secure streets and vibrant cultural and recreational outlets. Prior to being appointed to this position, Gladstein served as the Executive Director of the Philadelphia Empowerment Zone under Mayors Street and Rendell for close to seven years. Gladstein began her career in the mid-1970s, co-founding and directing several non-profit organizations, and has worked consistently since then to implement self-sufficiency and community revitalization programs. Gladstein is an experienced trainer and public speaker. She lives in Philadelphia and has been active on the Boards of a variety of civic associations.

Andrew Meloney is the West and Southwest Philadelphia Planner for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. Andrew studied planning at West Chester University graduating in 2002. While in school he interned at R.F. Weston Inc, The Chester County Health Department, and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission while also teaching and developing curriculum for Business GIS laboratory classes. After School Andrew worked for the City of Philadelphia Department of Records where he was a GIS Specialist and the Mapping Unit Supervisor. There he was in charge of consultants working to update and modernize the City's land records system as well managing the day to day operations of the mapping arm of the deed recording process. In 2005, Andrew left the Department of Records for The Reinvestment Fund. At TRF Andrew worked in the Neighborhood Development Services division where he worked on community, investment and development plans for low income neighborhoods from Washington D.C. to Newark NJ. Andrew joined the Planning Commission in 2008 as the West Philadelphia planner in the Community Planning Division. While at PCPC he has completed plans for Walnut Hill, North 52nd Street, South 58th Street, and Station Square & 30th St Vicinity as well as being the team leader for the Walnut Hill Neighborhood Coordination Strategy. He is currently the planner for the University/SW, West and West Park Districts as well as the project manager of the West Park District Plan. Speaking experience for Andrew Meloney: Darley and Clifton Park Plan Neighborhood Investment Plan presentation, Baltimore MD; 52nd Street Vending panel participant; Design on the Delaware 2011: District Planning as part of the Philadelphia2035 Comprehensive Plan presentation.

Jeff Grim is a senior planner with the Indiana County Office of Planning and Development. He studied planning at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and the University of Carolina, Chapel Hill. Since graduating Jeff has worked with private consulting firms and most recently, spent four years as a transportation analyst with the Southwest Regional Planning Commission. Since his return to Indiana County, Jeff has collaborated extensively with both our local university and its host municipality to developed plans, projects and “boundary crossing” opportunities that advance the interests of both. Jeff has also helped to develop both innovative learning programs and civic engagement opportunities for young people wishing to more fully participate in the life of their host community.

Jeff Raykes is the Manager of Indiana Borough, Indiana County, Pennsylvania. Jeff has a graduate degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and an undergraduate degree from Frostburg State University. As a graduate student, Jeff became interested in understanding the planning opportunities and challenges associated with college and university towns as part of a master’s thesis project, Nuisance Properties: The location and features of problem properties in a University Town (May 2007). Since then Jeff as worked in many roles in developing and implementing regulatory and land use strategies for off-campus housing and student oriented businesses. Currently, as manager of a college community, Jeff is working with university and community leaders to build local capacity for multiple collaborative projects. Projects include a Neighborhood Ambassador Program, a Good Neighbor Program, and Inhabit Indiana homeownership program. Jeff is a founding member of the Indiana Community University Collaborative, serves as Board member for the Center for Civic Engagement and Student Leadership at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, is a member of the Indiana Mayor’s Town Gown Task Force, the Indiana Borough Planning Commission, Pennsylvania League of Cities, University Community Network and the Pennsylvania State Association of Borough, College and University Communities.

Professor Watts is a member of the Department of Geography and Regional Planning at Indiana University of Pennsylvania where he teaches in the areas of site planning, urban design, land use policy and law. He received his undergraduate degree in urban studies from the University of Wisconsin and his graduate degrees from the College of Architecture at Virginia Tech. Over the years he has worked in support of a number of community based organizations and local municipalities on a variety of recreation, housing, traffic management and land use initiatives. His current areas of research and practice include urban horticulture, civic engagement and asset based community development. He is a member of the Indiana Community University Collaborative, The Center for Civic Engagement and Student Leadership and the PLCM University Community Network.

Stephanie A. Smith is Municipal Outreach Coordinator with Lancaster Farmland Trust, located in Strasburg, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Lancaster Farmland Trust is one of the leading locally-operated farmland preservation non-profits in the nation. Stephanie possesses professional planning and preservation experience in the non-profit, private, and public sectors in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in History at The College of New Jersey and a Master of Arts degree in Historic Preservation Planning from Cornell University. In 2007 and 2008, Stephanie gained experience in the Survey and Outreach Unit at the New Jersey State Historic Preservation Office in the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), assisting municipalities develop preservation regulations and programs at the local level. Stephanie concentrated her graduate academic interests on rural planning issues. She collaborated with fellow graduate students in updating the American Farmland Trust's publication, "Local Guide to Planning for Agriculture in New York." She wrote her master's thesis on Sicilian-American farming heritage in Woolwich Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey, which analyzed the impact of unplanned residential development on the community's economic and social lifestyles. Her research was presented at the New Jersey Forum Conference at Monmouth University in Fall 2010. At Lancaster Farmland Trust, Stephanie assists plain sect farmers in preserving their land through conservation easements and guides Lancaster County municipalities to institute better preservation land use policy, including Agricultural Security Area (ASA) outreach, zoning ordinance changes, and TDR banking and program administration.

John D. Snook is Senior Advisor on the staff of Brandywine Conservancy. He has worked with local governments, land trusts, landowners, and developers for nearly 35 years, balancing community development and conservation objectives, through creative use of planning, regulatory, and design tools. He has been an adjunct professor of land use planning at West Chester University, is an elected Supervisor in East Bradford Township, Chester County, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the North American Land Trust. He has a B.A. in Architecture (with honors) from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of Architecture in Urban Design from Virginia Tech. John was principal author of the first Open Space Plan for Chester County and has spearheaded a number of municipal open space programs. He has witnessed the preservation of over half the land mass in his own township, East Bradford, through both municipal regulation and acquisition of conservation interests, partnering with three land trusts and benefiting from grants from Chester County and DCNR. John has written numerous regulatory provisions promoting conservation design, resource protection, traditional neighborhood design, and transferable development rights (TDR). He was a principal contributor to the Brandywine Conservancy publication, "Transfer of Development Rights - A Flexible Option for Redirecting Growth in Pennsylvania," and the "Lancaster County TDR Practitioners Handbook."

Erin Wells serves as a Local Government Liaison at the Northwest Regional office of the Department of Environmental Protection. She liaisons with local governments, their economic development organizations, and their businesses and associations to encourage economic growth while balancing sensitive environmental issues. This includes providing customer service regarding environmental concerns, promoting effective communications, and fostering innovative problem solving. Erin was previously employed as Program Coordinator of Allegheny College's Center for Economic and Environmental Development (CEED) where she coordinated faculty and students in college-community partnerships that addressed local and regional sustainability issues. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies/Geography from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.

Craig Lobins is District Manager of the Office of Oil and Gas Management at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The Northwest District Oil and Gas Operations is responsible for oil and gas permitting in the northern 27 counties of Pennsylvania. The district is also responsible for the inspections of well sites in the 12 northwestern counties. Mr. Lobins has more than 25 years of experience with DEP. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Lobins was DEP’s Environmental Cleanup & Brownfields Program Manager. Mr. Lobins is a licensed professional geologist, holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from Edinboro University and has 31 graduate hours in Geophysics from University of Akron.

Susan Hockenberry is the Executive Director of Local Government Academy (LGA). LGA offers training and technical assistance to elected and appointed officials, as well as citizens in southwestern Pennsylvania. Susan was the Director of Administration and Finance for the Township of O’Hara. She is a member of the International City Management Association and the Government Finance Officers Association and has received the both the Distinguished Budget Award and Certificate of Excellence for Financial Reporting from the latter. Susan serves on the Board of Directors of the Government Finance Officers of Western Pennsylvania, and Sustainable Pittsburgh. She is a graduate of Leadership Pittsburgh XXI, and recently completed the Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders at Stanford University. She has also taught American Politics to college undergraduates, Civics and World Cultures to high school students.

An Lewis is Executive Director of Steel Valley COG, a 9 member COG serving 50,000 residents in the Mon Valley region of southwestern Pennsylvania. An has a MS in Public Management and Policy from Carnegie Mellon University and is an Adjunct Professor for University of Pittsburgh where she teaches GIS and public policy analysis. Steel Valley COG, in partnership with Twin Rivers and Turtle Creek COGs has commenced a 43-community blight alleviation program.

Irene McLaughlin is an attorney and a mediator with a strong record of public service related to neighborhood quality of life in the Pittsburgh region. She is a solo practitioner offering blight reduction related legal expertise and mediation services for community development initiatives and charitable legal services for lower income homeowners living in distressed neighborhoods. Ms. McLaughlin served as a City Magistrate with Pittsburgh Magistrates Court from 1993 to 2003 specializing in hearing municipal prosecutions related to property code enforcement. Irene is a Supervising Attorney with University of Pittsburgh School of Law Externship Program and Duquesne University School of Law Urban Development Clinic. She is a presenter for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute and the Housing Alliance’s ‘Homes Within Reach’ annual conference. She received her B.S. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, her J.D. from CUNY Law School at Queens College and her M.A. with a concentration in Conflict Resolution from the McGregor School at Antioch University. Irene is a 2002 YWCA of Greater Pittsburgh Racial Justice Awards recipient.

A graduate of Indiana University of PA with BS in Accounting, John Nath started as a Code Enforcement officer for the Borough of Bellevue in 1997. He worked as a Building Official for a local third party agency from 1998-2003. Obtained the Master Code Professional national certification in 2002 and a PA Building Code Official in 2004 . A co-owner of Professional Code Services, a third party agency and serve as Building Official and Plans Examiner, Nath has served as Zoning Officer, Code Enforcement Officer, Bldg Official and Plans Examiner for over 35 municipalities in western PA over the last 15 years.

Bill Fontana took the reins as PA Downtown Center Executive Director on May 1, 2000, ushering in an exciting period of renewal for the organization. Prior to joining PDC, Bill served for two and a half years as executive director of the Rahway Center Partnership, a New Jersey special improvement district. He also served as Chairman of the Rahway Historic Preservation Commission. From 1979 to 1997, Bill worked on redevelopment efforts in western Pennsylvania, including time with the Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County and the County Departments of Planning and Economic Development. His roles during those 17 years included Commercial Revitalization Coordinator, enterprise Zone Coordinator and Senior Planner. He was instrumental in laying the groundwork for the "Waterfront" project that stretches across the communities of West Homestead, Homestead and Munhall. Bill holds a bachelor's and master's degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Pittsburgh.

A principal with the consulting firm Wallace Roberts & Todd, LLC (WRT) in Philadelphia, David Rouse, AICP has over 30 years of experience in community planning and design and leads the firm’s national sustainable communities planning practice. David’s work has been recognized with many awards, including APA state chapter awards for the Amherst (NY), Annapolis (MD), Greensboro (NC), Irving (TX), Lancaster County (PA), Portsmouth (VA), and Union County (PA) Comprehensive Plans; the National Outstanding Planning Award for a Plan for the FOCUS Kansas City Comprehensive Plan; and EPA’s Overall Excellence in Smart Growth Award presented to Lancaster County. Examples of his Pennsylvania work include the Lancaster County Growth Management and Green Infrastructure Plans, the Union County Comprehensive Plan, the Donegal and ELANCO Region Comprehensive Plans, and the Allegheny County Comprehensive Parks Master Plan. Recent national projects include comprehensive plans for Austin (TX) and Albany (NY), the Cleveland Metroparks Strategic Plan, and Atlanta’s Project Greenspace. David is currently leading WRT’s work as prime consultant for the Destination Erie Regional Plan for Sustainable Development. He is a member of APA’s Policy and Legislative Committee and served on the Sustaining Places Task Force appointed by former APA President Bruce Knight and CEO Paul Farmer to promote the comprehensive plan as the leading policy document to help communities achieve sustainability. David has a Masters Degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Bachelors Degree in History from Harvard College.

Jake S. Welsh, AICP is the Director of the Erie County Department of Planning, serving in that capacity since 2006. He oversees a professional staff of eight, an annual budget of over $3 million, and the management and coordination of a broad range of federal, state and local planning programs which include Regional Comprehensive Planning, Agricultural Land Preservation, Coastal Zone Management, Community Development Block Grant, Recycling / Solid Waste Management, Subdivision and Land Development, Transportation / Erie MPO, National Scenic Byway, and related project/contract management and grants administration. Mr. Welsh began his career as a professional planner in 1992, and has worked extensively with public officials, federal, state and local agencies, local and regional planning commissions and governing bodies, engineering and planning consultants, and the public to develop, prepare and implement plans and planning policies at the local, county and regional level. He received his B.A. degree in Geography from West Virginia University in 1988, where he also majored in Landscape Architecture. Mr. Welsh holds several certificates in land use and transportation planning, and received the professional AICP planner certification by the American Institute of Certified Planners in 1999. Professional affiliations also include the National Association of County Planners (NACP), member; Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Planning Association (PA APA), Board of Directors and Professional Development Committee; PA APA NW Section, Executive Council and Professional Development Officer; and County Planning Directors Association of Pennsylvania (CPDAP), member.