Dr. Catherine Ross Dr. Catherine Ross is an internationally recognized expert on transportation systems planning, urban planning and quality growth. She has extensive experience in both the public and private sector and directs Georgia Institute of Technology’s Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development (CQGRD) where she also serves as serves as Harry West Professor and Advance Professor in the School of City and Regional Planning in the College of Architecture. In July 2009, Dr. Ross was selected to advise the Obama Administration on the first-ever White House Office of Urban Affairs. She is the editor of Mega regions: Planning for Global Competitiveness (Island Press, 2009) and the co-author of The Inner City: Urban Poverty and Economic Development in the Next Century (1997). Dr. Ross has conducted research on transportation and urban planning and how to make cities, neighborhoods and regions safer, healthier places for all to live. She is the author of co-author of MegaRegions: Planning for Global Competitiveness (Island Press, 2009) and The Inner City: Urban Poverty and Economic Development in the Next Century (1997). For 20 years, Dr. Ross has conducted research on transportation and urban planning and how to make cities, neighborhoods and regions safer, healthier places for all to live. She has authored more than 300 reports, articles, books and monographs. Her research provides solutions to numerous problems including global warming, affordable housing, traffic congestion, keeping local jobs in a global economy, air quality and childhood obesity. Her work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy-China, the Federal Transit Administration and many city, state and local governments throughout the country. Dr. Ross served on the Executive Committee of the National Academy of Science, Transportation Research Board and on the board of the Eno Foundation and the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA). She served as a Senior Policy Advisor for the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences and has held several other national leadership positions including President of the National Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP). Dr. Ross is also a member of the AAA Auto Club South Board of Directors. Dr. Ross was owner of Catherine Ross & Associates for 25 years and has held a number of leadership positions at Georgia Tech, including vice provost for academic affairs, associate vice president for academic affairs, co-director of the Transportation Research and Education Center, and director of the College of Architecture’s doctoral program. She started as an assistant professor in the Graduate Planning Program in 1976, became an associate professor in 1984, and a full professor in 1990. Ross earned a bachelor’s degree from Kent State University in 1971, followed by a masters degree in regional planning from Cornell University in 1973. She earned her doctorate in city and regional planning from Cornell in 1979 and did post-doctorate work at the University of California, Berkeley. She speaks regularly to conferences around the world from Beijing to New Orleans and New York.

Mr. Dean Grandin, AICP Dean has been working with the City of Orlando for over a decade, currently serving as Planning Official and City Planning Division Manager within the Economic Development Department. Dean brings thirty-five years of professional planning experience to the City. Prior to Orlando, he held the position of Planning Director/Deputy Director of Development for the City of Miami Beach, Florida. Before that he was the Planning Director for the City of Yonkers, New York. Dean’s professional affiliations include, but are not limited to, membership in the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), the American Planning Association (APA) and the Florida Chapter of the APA, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Congress for the New Urbanism and the Urban Land Institute. He has held many other professional affiliations throughout his career and currently serves as the Chairman of the UCF Planning Advisory Board. Dean received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Gettysburg College and a Master of Urban Planning degree from New York University. He is married to an attorney and has two daughters who are now attending high school and college.

Dr. Brandi Blessett is an assistant professor in the School of Public Administration at the University of Central Florida. Her research interests include administrative responsibility, capacity building, and social justice. She recently published two book chapters in Prison Privatization: The Many Facets of a Controversial Industry titled “Private Prisons as a Response to the ‘Second Ghetto’” and “Prisons for Profit: The Political and Economic Implications of Private Prisons.” Dr. Blessett has published in Administrative Theory & Praxis and the Journal of Health and Human Services Administration. Brandi is currently working with several nonprofit organizations in Central Florida to enhance organizational capacity, improve education outcomes, and decrease health disparities for local residents. She received her Ph.D. from Old Dominion University in 2011. Her dissertation was titled “Dispersion or Re-segregation: A Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Public Policies and their Impact on Urban African American Mobility.”

Jill Hamilton Buss Current Executive Director at Healthy Central Florida Past Vice President, Marketing and Communications at Heart of Florida United Way Development/Marketing Manager at Howard Phillips Center for Children & Families, part of Arnold Palmer Hospital Senior Account Executive at Orlando Magic Education *Rollins College *University of Florida *Universidad de Los Andes Jill Hamilton Buss' Experience Executive Director Healthy Central Florida May 2011 – Present (1 year 6 months) Winter Park, Florida On February 6, 2012 Healthy Central Florida was launched with the help of 500 business and community leaders and a special appearance by Dr. Mehmet Oz. HCF is a healthy community collaborative founded by Florida Hospital and the Winter Park Health Foundation. Our goal is to make Central Florida the healthiest community in the nation. By using best practice models from around the country and working closely with partners from all sectors, we're striving to measurably improve health, happiness and well-being of children and adults. Initially HCF is focusing on Winter Park, Maitland and Eatonville and will expand to other communities in the near future. Vice President, Marketing and Communications Heart of Florida United Way Nonprofit; 51-200 employees; Nonprofit Organization Management industry October 2006 – May 2011 (4 years 8 months) I was responsible for overseeing all marketing, communications, branding, media relations and key events, including the organization's largest fundraiser, Chef's Gala. United Way underwent a significant transformation in the last five years and being on the senior leadership team and working with great staff and volunteers was a pleasure and a privilege. Development/Marketing Manager Howard Phillips Center for Children & Families, part of Arnold Palmer Hospital August 2001 – October 2006 (5 years 3 months) Orlando, FL Senior Account Executive Orlando Magic Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Sports industry May 1995 – December 1999 (4 years 8 months)