Kristin O’Connor is a Planner Coordinator for the Maryland–National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) in Silver Spring, Maryland. She has been an employee of the Montgomery County Planning Department since 2001. Over the last 11 years, she has been involved in all phases of planning including master planning. In 2005, she received a Divisional Achievement Award in March 2005 for her work at M-NCPPC on the Twinbrook Sector Plan. Over the last 23 months she has been the Lead Planner for the Burtonsville Crossroads Neighborhood Plan. Prior to joining the M-NCPPC, she was a regional planner with Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) in Washington, D.C. Ms. O’Connor has a master’s degree from Virginia Tech in Urban Affairs. She is an active member of the National Capital Area of APA.

Eric Luedtke is a Maryland State Delegate representing District 14, which includes Burtonsville, Olney, and Damascus in northern Montgomery County. A native of the county, he also teachers middle school social studies at A. Mario Loiederman Middle School in Aspen Hill. Prior to his election, he served on the East County Citizens Advisory Board (ECCAB). Both as a member of the ECCAB and as a Delegate, he has been involved in promoting redevelopment in Burtonsville.

Miti is the East County Regional Services Director in Montgomery County, Maryland. As one of five Regional Directors, Miti links over 150,000 residents and businesses to County services. She also serves as a liaison to the County Executive’s office, and works closely with the County Council on East County issues. In her role as Regional Director, Miti offers problem-solving assistance to neighborhoods, individuals, businesses and County departments and agencies, including the Montgomery County Planning Department. She also provides staff assistance to the East County Citizens Advisory Board appointed by the County Executive and approved by the County Council. Before being appointed Regional Director by County Executive Isiah Leggett in 2011, Miti served as Chief of Staff to Montgomery County Councilmember Nancy Navarro.

John Carter is the Chief of the Area 3 Planning Division at the Maryland–National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC). He has been and employee of the M-CPPC for over 30 years. During this time, he has been involved in all phases of planning and urban design in Montgomery County including work with the Bethesda, Friendship Heights and Silver Spring CBDs. Prior to joining the M-NCPPC, he was an associate with Perkins and Will, Architects and Planners in Washington, D.C. Mr. Carter received an international design award for the design of high technology buildings in Saudi Arabia from Progressive Architecture Magazine, and a local design award for the design of the American College of Cardiology as an architect with Perkins and Will, Architects and Planners. He also received the Silver Award from the Rudy Bruner Foundation for the regulatory planning process in Silver Spring, and local planning awards from the Potomac Chapter of the American Planning Association. He has a Bachelor of Architecture, a Master of Architecture in Urban Design, and a Master of Planning. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects and the American Planning Association.

Ms. Nelson has over twenty years of experience in planning in Montgomery and Fairfax Counties, with a focus on green infrastructure, forest conservation, water supply protection and waste water planning. Using her knowledge of GIS and data management, she recently developed a system for evaluating the effectiveness of existing forest conservation strategies. She teaches courses in Land Use Principles and Soil Ecosystems. She is the recipient of the Outstanding Award for Planning from APA and the Honor Roll award from the Izaak Walton League in 2010 and is a certified arborist with the International Society of Arboriculture. She has a Masters in Planning from the University of Virginia and a B.S. in Agronomy from Virginia Tech. She travels extensively, observing environmental protection and planning strategies around the country.

Dirk H. Geratz, AICP, is an urban planner with over 20 years of experience in urban planning. He works as a Principal Planner with the City of Alexandria’s Department of Planning & Zoning, where has been employed for nearly five years. His chief responsibilities include managing review of site development plans for public hearings. He specializes in urban design, architecture and site planning. Prior to his current position Mr. Geratz worked as an Urban Design Planner with the City of Annapolis, Maryland. While in Maryland, Mr. Geratz was active in the Maryland Chapter of APA, serving as newsletter editor, Professional Development Officer, and as Chapter President. His first job was as Town Planner with the Town of Blacksburg, Virginia. Mr. Geratz graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture and from Virginia Tech with a Master of Urban and Regional Planning. When not working, he is active in his neighborhood community association and tending to his hobby in bee keeping.

Mr. Roy O. Priest has forty years of experience in the social equity and justice fields working in the public, non-profit, and private sectors and helping numerous disadvantaged peoples in the nation. During his tenure as CEO of the Virginia Housing Development, Limited Liability Corporation, Mr. Priest has overseen the redevelopment of 364 units of affordable housing across 7 sites in Alexandria for the benefit of low-income citizens. His efforts include the transformation of the James Bland and James Bland Addition sites into the new Old Town Commons neighborhood and the Glebe Park Apartments site into the Alexandria Crossing at West Glebe and Alexandria Crossing at Old Dominion sites. In addition to being Chief Executive Officer of VHD, LLC, Mr. Priest is also CEO of the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA), where he plans and directs the operation of the Authority’s low-income and Section 8 Programs. Before taking the helm as CEO of VHD, LLC and ARHA, Mr. Priest served in many other administrative positions. His career began in 1967 when he worked for the District of Columbia Redevelopment Land Agency as Project Director. In 1975 he helped create the first consolidated housing department in Washington D.C. − the Department of Housing And Community Development. Mr. Priest later held a seventeen-year tenure in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as the Director of the Office of Economic Development, UDAG Program, and CDP Director in Buffalo, New York, where he helped in the creation and direction of the Empowerment Zone Program. Afterwards, he became President and CEO of the National Congress for Community Economic Development for a seven-year tenure. Mr. Priest is currently the Board Chairman of Youthbuild USA and also holds a place on several Advisory Boards including: Commercial Lending, LLC; Intrust, LLC; and the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, ILSR. He is principal owner of Community Development Concepts, Incorporated; a consulting firm that provides solutions to economic development challenges facing communities, government, and non-profit organizations. Mr. Priest received his Bachelor of Science degree from the Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. He also holds a Masters of Public Administration from American University and a Masters of City and Regional Planning from the Catholic University of America. His various positions in the area of development have helped him gain insight into urban redevelopment that is hard to acquire without the forty years of experience to which Mr. Priest can attest.

Brian Allan Jackson (AJ) is a partner with EYA, LLC, a Washington, DC area urban infill development company and Builder Magazine’s 2009 Builder of the Year. Currently, AJ serves as Senior Vice President of Land Acquisition and Development and is leading EYA’s participation in more than one billion dollars of public-private development partnerships, including: Shady Grove Station, a 90-acre mixed-use/mixed-income/transit-oriented redevelopment partnership with Montgomery County, Maryland, Old Town Commons – a partnership with the Alexandria Virginia Redevelopment and Housing Authority to create more than 500 units of mixed-income housing, and Capitol Quarter, EYA’s portion of the Arthur Capper/Carrollsburg HOPE VI redevelopment in Washington DC. In addition to his acquisition and development responsibilities, AJ directs strategy and planning for the firm and serves on EYA’s Executive Committee and Investment Committee. Prior to joining EYA, AJ served as Chief of Staff at the U.S. General Services Administration, the single largest owner and operator of real estate assets in the United States. While at GSA, he played a key role in several high-profile development project as well as in GSA’s response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the anthrax attacks in Washington, DC. AJ is a full member of the Urban Land Institute, where he serves as Assistant Chairman of the Public Private Partnership Council (Gold Flight). In addition, he is the incoming 2013 President of the Maryland - National Capital Building Industry Association. He holds a LEED Green Associate credential from the US Green Building Council and is a member of the African-American Real Estate Professionals Association. AJ is frequently asked to speak about Workforce Housing, mixed-income development and Smart Growth. He holds a BA with Honors in economics from the University of Alabama and an MBA with Distinction from the Harvard Business School.

I am a land use attorney. And a city planner. For the past couple years, I have been involved in numerous development projects and planning exercises of all sizes. I have many years of public sector experience with the Montgomery County Planning Department, and a private sector vantage point in my current role with Miller, Miller & Canby. I know how community input tends to occur. Those that adamantly oppose a project show up at every public meeting, drowning out alternative perspectives. Supporting residents tend to show at one meeting then promptly disappear back to normal life far away from urban planning and real estate development. Accordingly, both private and public sector participants have come to dread the obligatory community meetings that dovetail with planning and development projects. I’m a believer that there is a better way to effectively engage a community. Crowdsourcing and crowdfunding may provide an answer.

I co-founded Popularise and Fundrise with my brother Dan. Why? Because after spending years slogging away as a real estate developer, I was fed up with how broken the system is, and wanted to do something to change it. I'm also managing partner at real estate firm WestMill Capital, and at a green venture fund called US Nordic Ventures. My time working in big real estate taught me why the wrong things get built. The decision makers are out of touch. The financial incentives are all wrong. I was a clockmaker. I know how the system ticks. Popularise and Fundrise sound simple--but it will change the fundamental gearing of the real estate system.

Shane is a lawyer, policy analyst, weekday bicycle commuter, and weekend recreational cyclist. Formerly the head of the Office of Green Economy within the District of Columbia’s Department of the Environment, Shane has been involved in the environmental planning and development of many of the projects currently changing the face of the District. In addition to his detailed understanding of infrastructure and land development policy, Shane comes to WABA with an understanding of the larger social and environmental benefits of cycling. When not biking, Shane spends his time kayaking, camping, following the slow-but-steady improvement of the Nationals, and trying to make his 1912 rowhouse “greener” on the cheap. Shane possesses graduate degrees in law and public policy from the George Washington University and a Bachelor’s degree in Religious Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University. He is admitted to the New York Bar.

Alex is a second year graduate student at the University of Maryland's school of Urban Studies and Regional Planning, with a focus on transportation planning and community development. This past summer Alex worked for the Washington Area Bicyclist association as their East of the Anacostia River Program Coordinator. The program organized community events, outreach, education primarily in the Congress Heights, Anacostia and Washington Highlands communities of Ward 8. In addition to his work with WABA Alex is a graduate intern with the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development on the St. Elizabeths East redevelopment project.

Veronica O. Davis, PE (Partner/Principal Planner) is responsible for the management of major planning functions of Nspiregreen, LLC such as civil infrastructure and urban planning, economic analysis, policy development, and long range planning. In addition she conducts sustainability analysis and facilitates community outreach and engagement. Veronica has a Master of Regional Planning and a Master of Engineering from Cornell University. She has a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineer from the University of Maryland.

Chris oversees the Community Challenge Planning Grant for the District of Columbia, a comprehensive neighborhood revitalization effort that targets several Ward 8 communities. Previously, he served as a Capital City Fellow with the DC Department of Housing and Community Development, District Department of Transportation, and DC Department of Real Estate Services. Prior to joining the District Government, Chris worked with the Montgomery County, MD, Planning Department on the Zoning Code Rewrite project and earned a Master’s degree in Community Planning from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Adrienne is a gifted and ambitious associate, with Lee and Associates. Her educational background includes a Master's Degree from Morgan University with studies in landscape architecture, urban design and master planning. She has participated as a designer / planner in landscape architecture projects through all phases from conceptual master planning, community planning, to detail development, and construction. Recent projects include the Shaw Arts streetscape study, the Henson Creek Masterplan, DC Spray Parks, the DC 9/11 Memorial Grove, and Kingman Island. Previously, Ms. McCray worked for the Office of Planning and Programming with the Maryland Transit Administration in Baltimore, Maryland developing a Wayfinding package for the Metro transit system and pedestrian connectivity studies for existing transit systems.

Allison Forbes is a student of urban planning and economic development at the University of Maryland, College Park. She has served as a Research Assistant to the National Center for Smart Growth and Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development. Prior to joining the urban planning program, Allison helped protect public land in Colorado and led Sierra Club’s grassroots advocacy campaigns to support strong federal global warming and clean energy policies. Allison launched an energy efficiency initiative with the Blue Green Alliance to increase the number and quality of jobs in clean energy sectors. She remains committed to sustainable economic development strategies and to strengthening civic engagement in planning and economic development.

As a second year planning graduate student at the University of Maryland, College Park, Alison is specializing in economic development with a number of focus areas: higher-education related economic development, social equity, innovation driven development, manufacturing, and international economic partnerships. During the Fall 2012 semester she is interning with the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development to identify partnership opportunities between Maryland and the Cote d'Opale region of France. She has worked with consulting firms in various capacities including Abt Associates Inc. and Fourth Economy Consulting in Pittsburgh, PA, where she supported the University Economic Development Association and clients ranging from environmental advocacy groups to real estate developers. Prior to her graduate studies, Alison implemented and managed international development programs focused on strengthening the private health sector’s role in the health systems of numerous African and Asian countries. She is fluent in French and holds two Bachelors’ degrees in American Studies and French from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Lynette Boswell is the division chief of research and strategic planning for the Baltimore City Planning Department. Boswell directs research initiatives in economic development, housing, public health, transportation and environmental planning for the city. Her division's research focus includes: identifying city-wide redevelopment strategies and prioritization analysis, and supporting public policy analysis related to Baltimore's food deserts. Prior to this position, Boswell worked for the Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration as the planning manager for the Planning Partnership Program. While working as a program analyst, she completed her doctorate studies which investigated the impact of federal investment programs on Baltimore Maryland neighborhoods given existing housing market conditions. Her thesis work questions whether neighborhood housing market typologies matter as a tool to measure the impacts of the HOME Partnership Investment Program in Baltimore, Maryland. Boswell earned a master in urban design degree at the University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Planning. She completed her doctorate degree in urban and regional planning and design at the University of Maryland, College Park. There she served as a research fellow for the Consortium of Race, Class and Ethnicity, and conducted interdisciplinary research related to housing and economic development.

Rich is a nationally known thought leader in the emerging economic development opportunities field. Rich was previously with a government affairs firm where he founded and grew the Economic Architecture practice, a national consulting group focused on emerging industries and community planning. After dozens of projects completed nationwide, this successful practice spun out to form Fourth Economy Consulting in 2010. Rich has managed both private and public sector projects having previously served the Commonwealth as Pennsylvania’s Deputy Secretary of Technology Investment. In this position, Rich directly managed technology investment programs totaling over $82 million annually. As Executive Director of the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority, Rich and his team were credited with the creation of hundreds of new Pennsylvania companies and thousands of jobs within the Commonwealth. Rich also supervised numerous other state-funded entrepreneurial and technology commercialization organizations. He designed and launched the Keystone Innovation Zone program to spur economic development around Pennsylvania’s university research institutions and create entrepreneurial networks across the state. He holds a B.A. in Political Science and a M.A. in Public Policy from the University of Pittsburgh.

Seema D. Iyer is the associate director and research assistant professor for the Jacob France Institute in the University of Baltimore’s Merrick School of Business. Her responsibilities include assisting the institute’s director, David Stevens, in its management and strategic planning objectives. Prior to joining UB, Iyer managed Baltimore’s division responsible for data and policy analysis, geographic information systems services and population forecasting. She spearheaded part of the city’s critical planning efforts as director of the 2010 Census Complete Count Campaign and co-chair of its 2009 Food Policy Task Force. In 2006, she was project manager of Baltimore’s Comprehensive Master Plan, and, in 2008, she managed the city’s planning grant to develop the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy. Iyer holds a Ph.D. in urban and regional planning from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and has extensive international research experience gained through her study of comprehensive planning strategies in post-socialist countries. Iyer also has previously worked in higher education, as a visiting lecturer in the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of City and Regional Planning, and as a faculty lecturer in the Department of City Planning and Architecture at Morgan State University. She earned a masterof arts degree in regional science and a bachelor of arts degree in mathematics and Russian studies, both from the University of Pennsylvania. Among her professional activities, Iyer is a member of the American Planning Association, the Baltimore chapter of the Urban Land Institute and an affiliate of the University of Maryland National Center for Smart Growth Research & Education. In 2010, she was selected as one of Maryland’s Leading Women by the Daily Record.

Gerrit-Jan Knaap is Professor of Urban Studies and Planning and Executive Director of the National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education at the University of Maryland. Knaap earned his B.S. from Willamette University, his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Oregon, and received post-doctoral training at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, all in economics. Knaap’s research interests include the housing markets and policy, economics and politics of land use planning, the efficacy of economic development instruments, and the impacts of environmental policy. On these subjects, Knaap has published over 50 articles in journals that include the Journal of the American Planning Association, the Journal of Urban Economics, Land Economics, Regional Science and Urban Economics, Policy Analysis and Management; and State and Local Government Review. He received the Chester Rapkin award for the best paper published in Volume 10 of the Journal of Planning Education and Research, with Greg Lindsey he received the 1998 best of ACSP award, and in 2006 he received the Outstanding Planner Award from the Maryland Chapter of the American Planning Association. Funding for his research, in excess of $5.0 million, has been provided by the National Science Foundation, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and numerous other federal, state, and local government agencies. Knaap is the co-author or co-editor of six books: Incentives, Regulations, and Plans: The Role of States and Nation States in Smart Growth Planning; Partnerships for Smart Growth: University and Community Collaboration for Better Public Places; Land Market Monitoring for Smart Urban Growth; The Regulated Landscape: Lessons on State Land Use Planning from Oregon; Spatial Development in Indonesia: Review and Prospects; and Environmental Program Evaluation: A Primer. He currently serves on the State of Maryland’s Smart Growth Subcabinet, the Maryland Sustainable Growth Commission, and the Science and Technical Advisory Committee to the Chesapeake Bay Commission. He previously served on the Development Capacity Task Force appointed by former Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich and on the Task Force on the Future of Growth and Development in Maryland appointed by Governor Martin O’Malley.

Diane Sullivan joined the National Capital Planning Commission, the federal government’s planning agency for the National Capital Region, in the fall of 2007. Her role as lead sustainability planner focuses on implementing the goals of Executive Order 13514: Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy and Economic Performance throughout the agency’s long-term planning initiatives for the National Capital Region, including the agency’s Southwest Ecodistrict Project. Ms. Sullivan previously worked with the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation, managing waterfront projects for the District of Columbia. Prior to this she spent six years working on waterfront redevelopment projects for the Portland, Oregon Office of Planning. She began her career at the San Francisco Planning Department. Diane holds a Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning from Portland State University and a BA from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Joyce Tsepas joined the DC Office of Planning (DCOP) in 2008, and is the Ward 2 neighborhood planner. Ward 2 is populated with 76,645 residents, over 300,000 office workers, 2 university campuses, and over 20,000 million tourists annually. At DCOP, Joyce has developed small area plans for downtown neighborhoods including Mount Vernon Square, and Maryland Avenue in Southwest. Joyce has also played a role in Temporary Urbanism projects like ArtPlace as well as public realm improvement projects. Prior to her time with DCOP, Joyce was Program Coordinator at the American Architectural Foundation (AAF) for the Great Schools by Design program. At AAF, Joyce’s projects included organizing and managing School Design Institutes, Forum’s on emerging topics in school design, the Accent on Architecture Communities Grant Program, and the Richard Riley Award for Schools as Centers of Community. Other professional experience includes work with Urban Studio, an architecture and urban design firm in Atlanta, GA. Joyce has a Bachelor of Science degree in architecture and a master’s degree in city and regional planning from Georgia Institute of Technology.

Otto Condon is an Urban Design Principal with ZGF Architects, LLP, and has over 20 years professional experience in architecture, urban design and planning projects. He has been extensively involved in the development of plans and projects for downtowns, neighborhoods, housing, institutions and transit in Boston, Portland, OR, Chicago, Baltimore, and Washington. International design experience includes professional work in London, and volunteer work in Nicaragua and Guatemala. Otto’s academic experience includes a Master of Architecture, Certificate of Achievement in Urban Design, University of Washington, Seattle, 1995; Diplomado de Arquitectura Urbana, Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, Xochimilco, Mexico City, 1993; Bachelor of Environmental Design, University of Colorado, Boulder, 1985.