Our Urban Future: The Next Era of Making Change in America’s Cities

Peggy Bailey is the Executive Vice President for Policy and Program Development. She also currently serves as Vice President for Housing and Income Security. In her role as EVP, she guides the Center’s work to strengthen, reform, and better resource federal and state programs oriented to helping all people meet basic needs like housing, health, and nutrition. As VP for Housing and Income Security, Bailey oversees the Center’s work to protect and expand access to affordable housing and income assistance through programs like the Housing Choice Vouchers, Public Housing, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and Child Support. 

Mauricio Calvo, a visionary leader dedicated to empowering the Latino community, serves as the President and CEO of Latino Memphis, leveraging his extensive experience and deep commitment to foster a thriving and inclusive environment for all members of the community.

Dr. Angela M. Chalk is a 4th generation 7th Ward resident. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Healthy Community Services, a non-profit organization, located in the 7th Ward of New Orleans, LA. She is a Past President of the Louisiana Public Health Association and has served on the American Public Health Association’s Center for Climate, Health & Equity Steering Committee. Chalk’s expertise and research focuses on Community Science, the Urban Heat Island Effect and its effects to overburden African American Communities. Her passion and life’s work is highlighted by her commitment to mitigate the impacts of severe weather events, urban flooding, food insecurity and coastal resiliency at the intersection of climate health and public health.

Shelina is a public health social worker, community connector, and health equity ambassador. She serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI) where she has the honor of leading and working in partnership with a team of 100+ talented public health professionals along with 500+ community partners on over 70 projects in a given year to achieve health and racial equity for all Louisianans. Shelina brings over seventeen years of experience in leadership development, organizational change management, health equity and racial justice, mental health and addictions prevention, treatment and recovery, public health, and health systems development.

Xavier (Xav) de Souza Briggs is a senior fellow at Brookings Metro. He is also a senior advisor and co-founder of What Works Plus, a collaborative of philanthropic donors promoting equity and resilience through America’s generational investments in infrastructure and climate action, and senior advisor to Freedman Consulting, LLC, a mission-driven consulting firm focused on public-interest projects, including What Works Plus. An award-winning educator and researcher, he is also an experienced leader in philanthropy and government.

Bo Delp is the executive director of Texas Climate Jobs Project, a statewide nonprofit advancing a pro-worker, pro-climate agenda to build the Texas labor movement. For nearly a decade, Bo has supported strategic organizing by helping secure more than a dozen municipal and county policies and organizing victories, including the first paid sick time ordinance in the South and the first Responsible Bidder Ordinance in Texas. Most recently, Bo directed strategic research and political efforts for UNITE HERE Local 23, the 18,000-person hospitality workers’ union stretching across the South from Washington, DC, to Texas. Before that, Bo served as the Better Builder Program & Policy Director for Workers Defense Project, a 501(c)3 committed to improving working conditions for low-wage immigrant construction workers in Texas. He previously served in the Obama Administration as assistant press secretary at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC.

Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes is a mother, daughter, educator, organizer, author, event producer, performance artist, and community servant. Most know her through her many pursuits, but the way this writer knows herself and the world around her is through her exploration of the word. Embedded in the cultural soil of New Orleans and watered by the writings of her literary idols, Kalamu ya Salaam, Sonia Sanchez, and Toni Morrison, Asali has grown to bask in the sun of her literary heritage—from the sages who transformed pharaoh to God in Ancient Khemet to the Spy Boys who chant the way clear for Big Chiefs on Carnival Day. Ms. Ecclesiastes excitedly brings her deep roots in New Orleans’ indigenous culture to her work as the new Executive Director of Efforts of Grace and Ashé Cultural Arts Center.

With more than 15 years of power system design engineering experience, Ali Dirul is a clean energy visionary, innovator, and local leader in the city of Detroit, advancing sustainability in communities through clean energy deployment. With a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Physics from the University of Detroit-Mercy and a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering and Alternative Energy Systems from Oakland University, Ali has raised RCI to become a leader in community clean energy innovation, specializing in Battery Energy Storage Systems (ESS) and distributed solar solutions. This leadership has been awarded such recognition as The Green America People and Planet Award for Clean Energy 2017, Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council – Business of the Year 2022, and a Special Tribute from the Governor of Michigan for RCI’s work to positively impact the lives of Michiganders through solar and clean energy education.

Donovan Duncan’s understanding of the housing industry’s impact on communities is a key aspect of his professional expertise. As an Executive Vice President for Urban Strategies, Inc., he brings over twenty years of experience in the Community and economic development and Housing industry, including managing and implementing asset and property management strategies within the federal, state, and local ecosystems. His lived experience further enhances his understanding of why housing is at the nexus of sustaining community impact.

Nia Evans is the Executive Director of the Boston Ujima Project. Her educational background is in the areas of labor relations, education leadership, and policy. Her advocacy includes a focus on eliminating barriers between analysts and people with lived experiences as well as increasing acknowledgment of the value of diverse types of expertise in policy. She is a co-creator, along with artist Tomashi Jackson, of Frames Debate Project, a multimedia policy debate project that explores the intersection between drug policy, mental health services, and incarceration in the state of Massachusetts.

Anne Evens, M.Sc., Ph.D., is the Chief Executive Officer of Elevate, a nonprofit organization based in Chicago. Elevate works to promote equitable access to clean, healthy, safe, and affordable heat, power, and water for people in their homes and communities — no matter who they are, or where they live. Elevate designs and implements housing upgrade programs that reduce costs, protect people from the health effects of climate change, and ensure that the benefits of clean and efficient energy use reach those who are most in need. In doing this work, we create revenue for diverse small businesses and jobs for people in their communities.

Chandra Farley serves as Chief Sustainability Officer for the City of Atlanta. In this role, Chandra sets direction for the City’s sustainability and resilience goals and leads the interdepartmental, and community-wide, engagement necessary to address the inequitable effects of climate change. Chandra’s charge is the development of a comprehensive climate resilience strategy that will address energy insecurity, healthy housing, food systems, waste diversion, building decarbonization, workforce training, and fleet electrification while advancing the City’s goal to achieve 100% clean energy for 100% of Atlantans by 2035. Chandra is also developing the strategy to leverage the historic federal investment in clean energy and the Justice40 Initiative to advance these goals through a lens of environmental justice. 

Dr. Toni Flowers is a passionate educator and a seasoned professional trainer. Throughout her career she has served in many roles and capacities, including as a registered nurse, medical anthropologist, diversity practitioner, executive coach, adjunct professor and returning guest lecturer and several prominent universities and organizations. She believes that experiential learning facilitates transformation. She is nationally recognized as an executive leader and professional trainer on the topics of diversity strategy and action planning, customer experience, health equity, cultural competency, population health, health literacy, biases, emotional intelligence, organizational culture change and social marketing, providing presentations to national, regional, and local audiences annually.

Foreman is the President and CEO of the Emerald South Economic Development Collaborative, which generates community wealth and amplifies local culture through shared pride, power, and investment for Chicago’s mid-South Side. Emerald South attracts and coordinates investment through community convening and collaborative partnerships that increase local ownership and prosperity.

Jesús Gerena is CEO of UpTogether (previously Family Independence Initiative), a national organization with a bold mission of changing policies, systems, and underlying beliefs so that all people in the United States are seen and invested in for their strengths and are able to build power, reinforce their autonomy, and drive their own economic and social mobility.

Dr. Michael G. Griffin is leading innovation in community health care by improving patient outcomes and experiences. As President and CEO of both Ascension DePaul Services (ADS), since 2008, and the Federally Qualified Health Center, DePaul Community Health Centers
(DCHC), since 2012, Dr. Griffin runs a nonprofit health care organization with a nearly 190-year history of service. Dr. Griffin works to provide access to compassionate, holistic, high-quality primary and preventive health care services, regardless of patients’ ability to pay, while leading DCHC’s expansion from one to eleven health centers, twenty-three school-based sites, and three mobile medical and dental units, serving more than 55,000 New Orleans area residents annually. Additionally, ADS operates two facilities in both Dumas and Gould, Arkansas, respectively. Dr. Griffin is recognized as a leading proponent of patient-centered care and quality focused on improving overall community health status and tackling social determinants of health.

Bio to come.

Toni L. Griffin is founder of urban American city (urbanAC LLC), a planning and design practice working with public, private, and nonprofit partners to reimage, reshape, and rebuild more just cities and communities. urbanAC leads transformative projects rooted in addressing historic and current disparities involving race, class, and culture. The firm has collaborated with cities on the cusp of just social and economic recovery including strategic city plans for Detroit, Chicago, and Pittsburgh, as well as equitable public realm designs for Rochester and St. Louis.

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, District Bridges, and Greater Greater Washington. Her most recent writing includes two co-authored chapters in Hyperlocal: Place Governance in a Fragmented World and a series on the future of downtowns, including what to do about public safety and adaptive reuse. She also previously served two years on the city council of Mount Rainier, a small town in Prince George’s County,
Maryland.

Lara thinks climate change is everybody’s problem and she wishes someone would bother to do something about it. Her experience in climate adaptation is foundational. She is co-­‐author of two books on climate change adaptation, Buying Time: A User’s Manual for Building Resistance and Resilience to Climate Change in Natural Systems and Climate Savvy: Adapting Conservation and Resource Management to a Changing World. She co-created the Climate Adaptation Knowledge Exchange (CAKEx.org), the National Adaptation Forum, and an engaged stakeholder process that has helped over 7000 individuals, organizations and communities create adaptation strategies applicable to their work. Some other projects relevant to this project are Climate Savvy Coastal Zone Planning with First Nations in British Columbia, Climate Adaptation Toolkit for Marine and Coastal Protected Areas, The State of Marine and Coastal Adaptation in North America, and a host of others that can be found on the EcoAdapt website.

John Harper is the CEO of FSG, a global nonprofit consulting firm that partners with foundations and corporations to create equitable systems change. Throughout his career, John has been a thoughtful and inclusive leader with a deep commitment to advancing equity, shifting power, and uplifting the voices of historically marginalized communities. At FSG, John has successfully led engagements with notable organizations such as W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Cleveland Foundation, Ares Charitable Foundation/Ares Management, the James S. McDonnell Foundation, and numerous multinational corporations. Prior to joining FSG, John worked in the nonprofit sector
for over a decade, leading strategy and development for both direct service and field-building nonprofits. As a highly sought after speaker, he regularly writes and speaks on topics of systems change, place-based philanthropy and collaborative civic infrastructure, and translating global corporate purpose into local impact.

Elwood Hopkins has worked in urban planning and policy for thirty-five years. He was Founder and Managing Director of Emerging Markets, Inc. a consulting firm that helped banks and supermarkets to expand retail operations into low-income areas nationwide. Previously, he was Executive Director of Los Angeles Urban Funders, a consortium of twenty-one foundations investing in neighborhoods impacted by the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Unrest. He began his career as a Research Scientist at the New York University Urban Research Center with visiting appointments at universities and policy institutes in Bangkok, Jakarta, Tokyo, Bombay, Delhi, Calcutta, Lagos, Nairobi, Cairo, Istanbul, Rio de Janeiro, and Mexico City. He advised the United Nations Development Program, HABITAT, Organization of American States, German Marshall Fund, and World Bank. He earned a BA from Harvard University and an MA from the UCLA School of Public Affairs; and he served as a fellow or Advisor to the USC Center on Philanthropy & Public Policy, UCLA Urban Planning Program, and UCLA Center for African American Studies. He is currently Presidential Fellow at the Kresge Foundation. 

Bio to come.

For the last ten years, Scott Kratz has been working with the Ward 8 non-profit Building Bridges Across the River and District agencies to transform an old freeway bridge into a park above the Anacostia River. The old 11th Street Bridges that connect Capitol Hill with communities east of the river have reached the end of their lifespan, Kratz is working with the community to use the base of one of the bridges to create a one-of-a-kind civic space supporting active recreation, environmental education and the arts. 

As Gulf Coast Housing Partnership’s President and CEO Kathy Laborde provides overall leadership to GCHP, overseeing the organization’s project pipeline, financing, construction, asset management and property management activities. Over the course of her career, Ms. Laborde has developed more than 7,000 affordable and market-rate homes and commercial and community facilities both directly and in partnership with local non-profits, city and state government, and the private sector. Prior to joining Gulf Coast Housing Partnership in 2006, Ms. Laborde operated Kaliope, LLC, a real estate development and consulting company that she established in 1999. Previously, she was the founder and executive director of the first bank-owned community development corporation in Louisiana. Before settling in Louisiana, Ms. Laborde held various management positions with private-sector real estate developers in Missouri and North Carolina.

Max Levine is an entrepreneur and independent investment sponsor based in Los Angeles. With over two decades of experience, he has worked across various industries, including real estate investment, technology, and operating companies. Currently, Max serves as the President of Elysian, a consultancy that supports innovative real estate and operating company ventures. Before founding Elysian, Max co-founded and served as CEO of Nico, the Neighborhood Investment Company. Nico, a venture-backed OpCo/PropCo, pioneered and launched the world’s first Neighborhood REIT, a public non-traded REIT focused on community wealth building. Under his leadership, Nico raised and deployed approximately $35 million in real estate and venture capital. The company received several accolades, including being a finalist for Fast Company’s “World Changing Ideas” in 2020. Nico was supported by leading venture investors, including Alphabet and Collaborative Fund.

Marian Liou is the Director of Arts and Culture at Smart Growth America. She is a founder, community advocate, and attorney who specializes in supporting and affirming diverse communities through arts and culture and community engagement. Her cross-sector experience brings together community members and community-based organizations, artists, arts and culture organizations, advocacy groups, planners, local government, and other partners to nurture and sustain communities that are inclusive, just, and whole. As the founder and executive director of We Love BuHi, Marian established efforts to preserve and strengthen the multicultural Buford Highway community in metro Atlanta through storytelling, creative place-keeping, and design.

Amy Liu is a presidential advisor and senior fellow at The Brookings Institution. She advises executive leadership and oversees special institution-wide initiatives that bring together leading experts and collaborative approaches to addressing key domestic and international challenges. Liu has nearly three decades of experience as a scholar and executive committed to improving governance and public policies at the local, national, and global levels. Most recently, she served as interim president of Brookings, where she guided the institution through a period of adaptation and change, leaving it stronger for its next chapter of leadership. Before July 2022, Liu served as vice president and director of Brookings Metro, which she co-founded in 1996. Today, it is a leading resource for public and private sector leaders interested in promoting prosperous, just, and resilient communities. The program has built a track record of impact by marrying research, civic engagements, and national policy expertise.

Dr. Michael McAfee became President and CEO of PolicyLink in 2018, seven years after becoming the inaugural director of the Promise Neighborhoods Institute at PolicyLink. His results-driven leadership, depth of knowledge about building and sustaining an organization, and devotion to serving the nation’s most underserved populations made him the obvious choice to lead the 20-year-old PolicyLink as Angela Glover Blackwell transitioned to founder in residence.

During his time at PolicyLink, Michael has played a leadership role in securing Promise Neighborhoods as a permanent federal program, led efforts to improve outcomes for more than 300,000 children, and facilitated the investment of billions of dollars in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty. He is the catalyst for a new and growing body of work — corporate racial equity — which includes the first comprehensive tool to guide private-sector companies in assessing and actively promoting equity in every aspect of their company’s value chain. Michael carries forward the legacy to realize the promise of equity — just and fair inclusion into a society in which all can participate, prosper, and reach their full potential.

Taidgh H. McClory is the founder of THM Advisors, an MBE social impact enterprise dedicated to helping leaders, developers, and institutions embed racial equity strategies into their operating models to generate better social and financial outcomes for the companies and communities they build. McClory’s career in commercial real estate and advertising has spanned over 25 years and includes expertise in strategic planning, real estate brokerage, marketing, brand planning, market research, and economic development. Prior to launching THM Advisors, he served as Director of Social Impact & Inclusion for MP Boston and before that Managing Director/Partner at CBRE/New England, where he led sales management, business development and civic engagement across the NE region.

Bio here

Leona Medley is a distinguished leader and a passionate advocate for community empowerment, currently serving as the Executive Director of the burgeoning Joe Louis Greenway Partnership in Detroit, Michigan. With a rich history in executive leadership, Leona’s journey is marked by her roles within the Rock Family of Companies, where she significantly contributed as the Director of Strategic Community Partnerships and Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement. Her academic foundation in Psychology was laid at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, further solidified by a Masters of Community Development from the University of Detroit Mercy, reflecting her deep commitment to fostering sustainable community growth.

Camilo Mejia’s background as a peace and immigrant rights activist is what originally led him to Catalyst Miami, where he currently serves as Director of Policy and Advocacy, and where his work revolves around community-led policy and engagement initiatives designed to build collective power and achieve collective gains, with a special focus on housing, climate, financial and health equity. Camilo has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a master’s in conflict resolution. He lives in Coconut Grove with his daughter.

Bio here

Bio here

E. Benjamin Money, Jr. joined the North Carolina Community Health Center Association in June 2001 and has served as Chief Executive Officer since December 2008. Ben directs the association’s staff in providing training, technical assistance, and resource development for all federally qualified health centers in North Carolina. He holds a BS in health education and psychology from Springfield College in Massachusetts, and a master’s in public health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is a retired registered dietitian. His career spans over 30 years – with work in public health, community mental health, faith-based nonprofits, and health care to the homeless programs. Ben is chair of the Southeast Regional Healthcare Consortium and vice-chair of the NACHC’s Primary Care Association Leadership Committee.

Cathy Mott is an Author, Executive Coach, Keynote Speaker, facilitator, and trainer who has had the pleasure of working closely with senior leaders for more than 25 years. She is very insightful and has a great talent for helping others discover their natural gifts and talents, which often results in authentic leadership and resilience. Cathy has used her expertise to help change cultures within organizations and inspire leaders to reach new heights of performance and passion. As a certified Social & Emotional Intelligence Coach, Cathy has distinguished herself by her ability to create a place of safety for her readers and clients to explore and define their identity as a leader as they walk through the four quadrants of Emotional Intelligence. She currently serves as an ICF Coaching Education Global Community Ambassador – NALAC North American Latin Asia & Caribbean. Cathy has coached hundreds of executives (C-Suite) and has trained thousands on a national and international level with consistent passion and enthusiasm.

Felipe Pinzon is President & CEO of Hispanic Unity of Florida (HUF), South Florida’s largest community-based organizations dedicated to the immigrant population. He began his career with HUF in 2002 and is a seasoned human services leader and working families advocate with vast
experience in organizational strategy, program design, and fundraising.

Felipe has a master’s degree in public administration from Nova Southeastern University and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. Additionally, he is a graduate of the American Express Nonprofit Leadership Academy.

Erika Poethig is the Executive Vice President for Strategy and Planning at the Civic Committee and Commercial Club of Chicago. In consultation with Civic Committee and Commercial Club members and senior executive leadership, she leads the development and execution of a comprehensive strategic framework and action plan for the Civic Committee and Commercial Club reflecting their distinctive roles in strengthening Chicago’s and Illinois’ economic future. Working with colleagues and key partners, she develops strategies and helps to advance initiatives on immediate and emerging issues and challenges – education, public safety, transportation, economic development, inclusive innovation, business diversity, and state/city finances – that bolster economic opportunity and social mobility in Chicago, in an effort to make our region a better place for everyone to live, work and do business.

Jessica is the daughter of immigrant parents from Mexico and El Salvador. She was born and raised in East Oakland and knows firsthand the impact of arts and culture on building pride, preserving our heritage, and fueling community and economic development. Jessica has dedicated her career to the public sector, working for organizations like the ACLU and SOMOS Mayfair, where she helped to double the organization’s budget. Jessica is excited to co-lead the Mexican Heritage Plaza (La Plaza)— a vibrant cultural institution in East San Jose.

Jamel Randall, a native of Detroit, MI, brings a refreshing and lively approach to sharing the importance of mindfulness and self-liberation. Following the loss of both parents to cancer in 2007, Jamel took on the role of guardian for his disabled sister at just 21 years old. This profound life shift led him to discover yoga, which became a deep passion and career. Over the past 18 years, Jamel has extensively trained in yoga, massage therapy, and Eastern medicine. Recognizing a lack of inclusivity in traditional yoga, particularly for minorities and those not fitting the “yogi” stereotype, he pursued yoga teacher training to inspire others. His mission is to make health and wellness accessible to all communities. In 2016, Jamel founded The Trap Yoga and Massage Studio in downtown Detroit. The studio’s innovative approach has attracted a dedicated following, with thousands participating in classes and transformative training sessions. Jamel authored the book “Trapped:The way out is within” where he developed the T.R.A.P method—a four-part system teaching individuals to prioritize self-care to positively impact others. He has also launched LiL Trap Yogis, a wellness initiative for children, where he using the same method to teach mindfulness to youth.

John works with the MDC team to address the urgent challenge of eliminating disparities to build a South where all can thrive.

Before coming to MDC, John held various leadership roles at the state, national, and international level. Most recently he was Vice President of the Aspen Global Leadership Network at the Aspen Institute, where he mobilized the more than 3,000 Fellows around the world to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and its attendant economic effects. A constitutional scholar and practicing attorney, John served in the Obama Administration as deputy general counsel for the White House Office of Management and Budget and general counsel for the U.S. Agency for International Development. After leaving government service, he joined Prisma Health as an executive and led collaborative, evidence-based efforts to promote health innovation, access, and equity in South Carolina’s largest private-sector employer. While serving in this role, Simpkins facilitated community conversations throughout the Upstate on racial equity in healthcare, housing, and education.

Christy Wallace Slater is a passionate and community-focused philanthropic leader with over 20 years of experience in the public, private, and philanthropic sectors. As the Founder and CEO of Slater Consulting Group, she offers specialized consultancy in nonprofit and philanthropic
program ideation and development, executive-level thought partnership, community outreach, and coalition building. Her career, spanning over two decades, reflects her deep commitment to creating lasting change, particularly in communities across the Southern United States.

Erik Takeshita has sought to advance the role of art and culture in building stronger communities for the past 25 years. He is currently the Co-Director of the Culture & Community Power Fund. Previously, Erik was a Senior Fellow at ArtPlace America, Portfolio Director for Community Creativity at the Bush Foundation, and National Program Director for Creative Placemaking at the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC). Erik was trained as a ceramic artist and holds a master’s degree from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Kristin supports the Community Foundation Climate Collaborative (CFCC), a nonpartisan, nonpolitical membership network consisting of community foundations from across the country that share a commitment to climate change mitigation, adaptation and alleviating poverty and inequity. CFCC has recruited 60+ members from 30+ states and Puerto Rico to date and continues to grow. Kristin’s focus has been on supporting CFCC members to develop, finance and support clean energy projects that leverage incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act.

Brad is a familiar face on the Cleveland economic development scene. Brad currently leads the Site Readiness for Good Jobs Fund (SRF), an organization established by Mayor Justin Bibb and Cleveland City Council to reactivate disinvested industrial land. Seeded with $50 million from Cleveland’s American Rescue Plan allocation, SRF aims to bring 1000 acres into productive use by 2040, creating 25,000 good jobs accessible to residents, restoring neighborhood vitality, promoting climate resiliency/environmental justice and building community wealth.  Since the organization’s founding in August of 2023, the Site Fund has obtained site control on over 300 acres of land across a dozen sites and is creating two 100-acre business parks in the city.