Founder, Culturekitchen

Liza Sabater Founder, culturekitchen Liza Sabater is a feminist culture critic, techactivist, and web producer. She is a first- wave net native who has been online for 20 years, publishing on the web through different media for over 10 years, and blogging for a little over 5 years. She is the founder of culturekitchen (http://culturekitchen.com), which has been described as a progressive’s dream with “a little attitude, a lot of scholarship, a good dose of humor and plenty of enlightening stuff.” It is the founding blog of the Feminist Bloggers Network and the Digital Ethnorati Project. She also publishes The Daily Gotham (http://dailygotham.com), a member of BlogPAC’s 50 state initiative, and described by New York politics insiders as “the 800lb gorilla” of New York City’s grassroots. It is one of the founding blogs of the New York Progressive Bloggers Caucus.

Shaady Salehi Program Manager, Active Voice Shaady Salehi is program manager at Active Voice. In addition to planning and managing many of AV’s film-based campaigns, Shaady works directly with local and national organizations and helps develop strategies to maximize the use of film to meet defined objectives. She has spoken at a range of festivals and conferences discussing the effectiveness of using documentaries as a community engagement tool, including the American Association of Colleges and Universities Institute and the National Coalition on Dialogue and Deliberation Conference. Prior to joining the Active Voice team, she received her M.A. in cultural anthropology at UC Davis, focusing on the role of the Internet in provoking cultural resistance and social change among urban youth in Iran.

Frank J. Omowale Satterwhite Founder and Senior Advisor, National Community Development Institute (NCDI) In a typical year, Frank J. Omowale Satterwhite provides management services to over 75 community organizations. He conducts training programs for consultants working in communities of color and helps design and implement community-building initiatives in cities around the country. During the past 25 years, he has assisted more than 1,200 organizations in 85 cities and 42 states. He has served as Associate Director, College Entrance Examination Board; Associate Dean and Chairman of African American Studies, Oberlin College; Assistant to the Superintendent and Acting Superintendent, Ravenswood City School District; and President of the Community Development Institute. Omowale is Chair-Elect of the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Nonprofit Management. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Applied Research Center, Urban Habitat, and Praxis Project. He has also served on the East Palo Alto City Council, the East Palo Alto Redevelopment Agency Board, and the San Mateo County Planning Commission.

Ellen Schneider Founder and Executive Director, Active Voice Ellen Schneider is founder and executive director of Active Voice, a non-profit team of strategic communication specialists who put powerful media to work for personal and institutional change in communities, workplaces, and campuses across America. Schneider was formerly executive producer of P.O.V., PBS’s longest running independent nonfiction film series. She created High Impact Television®, a technique for creating links between programming, individuals, grassroots organizations and other media; and the Television Race Initiative, one of the few media projects recognized as a “promising practice” by President Clinton’s Initiative on Race. She was a member of the start-up team for the congressionally mandated Independent Television Service and has served on panels and juries ranging from the Sundance Film Festival to the RioCine Festival in Brazil.

Michael Schramm Analyst/Programmer, Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, Case Western Reserve University Michael Schramm is extensively involved in the development and maintenance of the Center’s Northeast Ohio Community and Neighborhood Data for Organizing (NEO CANDO) database. He also assists the community on a continuing basis with data and GIS mapping and conducts regular training sessions on how to use the NEO CANDO as a tool for social change. Michael has been working with Cleveland’s community development organizations since 2001 and has implemented ArcIMS web mapping applications for the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission in Chicago and for the CleveInfo project in Cleveland.

Phoebe Seaton Directing Attorney, California Rural Legal Assistance Phoebe Seaton is the Directing Attorney in California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc.’s office in Delano, California. Phoebe graduated from UCLA School of Law in 2005. Before joining CRLA, Inc., she interned with the National Economic Development Law Center, represented Guatemalan victims of human rights abuses before Guatemalan and International law bodies, and represented low-wage workers in administrative proceedings. Currently, Phoebe co-directs CRLA, Inc.’s Civil Rights and Equity Project for Non-Border Colonias and litigates employment cases on behalf of agricultural and other workers. CRLA, Inc.’s Civil Rights and Equity Project brings community organizations, community members, policy advocates, and researchers together to advocate for improved representation from and for unincorporated communities in California’s San Joaquin Valley as well as greater and more equitable infrastructure investment in these communities.

Vicky Selkowe Poverty Attorney and Manager, Wisconsin Council on Children & Families Vicky Selkowe is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School, and works as a poverty attorney and manager for the Wisconsin Council on Children & Families. She is the vice-chair of the city’s Affirmative Action Commission and a member of the Equal Opportunities Commission. Selkowe is also secretary of the Worthington Park Neighborhood Association and a founder of the Eastside Neighborhoods Traffic Action Group. A labor activist, she formerly served on the bargaining team for AFT Local 3220 and as a Council member for the Workers’ Rights Center.

Lisa Servon Associate Professor of Urban Policy, Director of the Community Development Finance Project, Milano the New School for Management and Urban Policy. Professor Lisa Servon teaches and conducts research in the areas of urban poverty, community development, economic development, and issues of gender and race. Her work has been funded by the Open Society Institute, the Aspen Institute, the Ford Foundation, the Fannie Mae Foundation and others. She spent 2004 -2005 as Senior Research Fellow at the New America Foundation in Washington DC, and 2001 as a scholar in residence at Policy link. Servon is the author numerous journal articles and two books: Bridging the Digital Divide: Technology, Community, and Public Policy, and Bootstrap Capital: Microenterprises and the American Poor. Julia W. Seward Director of State and Local Policies, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Julia W. Seward is Director of State Policy for the national office of Local Initiatives Support Corporation in Washington DC. Her responsibilities include both implementation of sound community development policy in states where LISC is located and development of LISC’s smart growth work. Before joining LISC, Julie was employed as Vice President and Corporate Community Reinvestment Officer at Signet Banking Corporation in Richmond, Virginia. Her responsibilities included formative development and leadership of its innovative, community-based CRA initiatives and management of Signet’s philanthropic program. Active in numerous professional and community organizations, Julie has served as Chairman of the Consumer Advisory Council for the Federal Reserve System’s Board of Governors, was a Founding Chair of the Community Reinvestment Committee of the Consumer Banker’s Association, and now serves on the Boards of the Virginia Housing Coalition, the Virginia Literacy Foundation, the Virginia Housing and the Environment Network, and the National Neighborhood Coalition.

Carey Shea Associate Director, Initiative to Rebuild New Orleans; Program Officer, Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation currently has Carey Shea stationed at the Greater New Orleans Foundation as she stewards the finalization and adoption of the Unified New Orleans Plan. Later this year she will formally join the staff of the Foundation to launch a $25MM community-revitalization project for the City of New Orleans. Previously, she was the Chief Operating Officer and Acting Director of Real Estate and Construction at Habitat for Humanity-NYC. Previously, she was the Director of Community revitalization at the Surdna Foundation. Ms. Shea has also held positions at the Local Initiatives Support Corporation and the East New York Urban Youth Corps. In the 80’s she led a sweat-equity project through the Urban Homesteading program on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. She is a graduate of Hampshire College and is currently enrolled in the Construction Project Management program at the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen.

Ashley Shelton Director of Policy Initiatives, Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation Ashley Kennedy Shelton is the Director of Policy Initiatives at the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation. She develops the policy framework needed to create a better Louisiana for all of its citizens in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Ashley served as Director of Grantmaking for the Baton Rouge Area Foundation for six years. In that capacity, Ashley was responsible for all competitive grantmaking funds, consulted with nonprofits about the funding priorities of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, matched the needs of donors with the needs for nonprofits, and created all grant material for grant review committees. Ashley also successfully coordinated the Foundation’s grantmaking program in Puerto Rico and a community campaign to raise AIDS awareness that was launched in June of 2004. Ashley currently serves on the boards of directors for numerous nonprofits.

Carolina Simunovic Environmental Health Director, Fresno Metro Ministry; Co-chair, Central Valley Air Quality Coalition Carolina Simunovic works as Environmental Health Director for Fresno Metro Ministry, a multi-faith social justice organization located in Fresno, California. Fresno Metro Ministry works to solve problems related to health care access, public health, air quality, hunger and nutrition, and works to build better relationships among diverse cultural groups. Carolina’s work has dealt with understanding the various geographic, scientific, and political forces that created the San Joaquin Valley’s “extreme” air quality problem, and empowering communities to advocate for clean healthy air policies. Carolina also serves as co-chair of the Central Valley Air Quality Coalition. This is a coalition of over 85 health, environmental justice, and community organizations that have united to help clean up the Valley’s unhealthy air. Carolina was born in Santiago, Chile, moved to California at the age of five, and now considers Fresno her home. She earned a Bachelors of Arts degree from Brown University.

Ronald C. Sims Executive, King County, Washington King County Executive Ron Sims has built his career in public service around the progressive principles of social justice, good government, and environmental stewardship. He has a national reputation for boldness and vision, and is a champion of reforming government processes to better serve the people of the dynamic, forward-thinking Puget Sound region. Sims has taken a leadership role on a range of issues, and has compiled a notable list of accomplishments. During his two terms as County Executive, Sims has established a strong record of environmental protection. An ardent conservationist, Sims has protected more than 100,000 acres of green space in the County since 1997. He won regional praise and national recognition for his leadership in a three-county effort to restore the runs of the prized Chinook salmon, declared threatened by the National Marine Fisheries Service earlier in 1999.

Suzanne Siskel Director, Community and Resource Development, The Ford Foundation Suzanne Eloise Siskel has held her current post at the Ford Foundation since July 2005. She oversees Ford’s support for community-focused programs that address poverty and injustice in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Russia, and the United States. For the previous five years she served as the Ford Foundation’s Representative for Indonesia. She joined the Foundation in 1990, serving first as Program Officer for Rural Poverty and Resources and Assistant Representative in Indonesia, and later, from 1997-2000, as Representative for the Philippines. Her grantmaking in Southeast Asia included work on the development and expansion of indigenous and social justice philanthropy; strengthening civil society; promoting economic and social development and community-based natural resources policy and management; and building local capacity for socio-economic research and analysis. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Fulbright Association. Ms. Siskel holds degrees in social anthropology from Harvard University and The Johns Hopkins University.

Edward Sivak Director of Policy and Evaluation, Enterprise Corporation of the Delta; Founder, Mississippi Economic Policy Center As Director of Policy and Evaluation at the Enterprise Corporation of the Delta (ECD), Ed Sivak founded and runs the Mississippi Economic Policy Center, a public policy initiative that informs the policy debate on issues that affect low-wealth Mississippians. He also manages several of ECD’s community development projects including the Collaborative for Enterprise Development, an effort funded by the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation to rebuild small businesses in New Orleans. Prior to joining ECD, Sivak worked as a program coordinator at L’Arche Irenicon, a nonprofit organization that provides homes to adults with developmental disabilities. Sivak holds a Master of Public Policy from the Georgetown Public Policy Institute and a Bachelor of Arts from Marquette University. He is currently the Chair of the Community Affairs and Housing Subcommittee of the Federal Reserve Board’s Consumer Advisory Council and a board member of the Mississippi Low-Income Child Care Initiative.

Tavis Smiley Host, The Tavis Smiley Show (PBS) From his celebrated conversations with world figures, to his work to inspire the next generation of leaders, as a broadcaster, author, advocate and philanthropist, Tavis Smiley continues to be an outstanding voice for change. Newsweek profiled him as one of the “twenty people changing how Americans get their news” and dubbed him one of the nation’s “captains of the airwaves.” Smiley hosts the late night television talk show, “Tavis Smiley” on PBS, and “The Tavis Smiley Show” on public radio. Smiley, who started his career as an aide to the late Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley, also offers political commentary twice weekly on the Tom Joyner Morning Show. The mission of his nonprofit organization—Tavis Smiley Foundation—is to enlighten, encourage and empower Black youth. The most recent of Smiley’s eleven books is What I Know For Sure: My Story of Growing up in America.

Kay Fernandez Smith Senior Associate, PolicyLink Kay Fernandez Smith coordinates PolicyLink’s Louisiana recovery work, collaborating with state and local officials, community-based organizations, and faith leaders to shape equitable rebuilding of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. She also developed and managed Advancing Regional Equity: The Second National Summit on Equitable Development, Social Justice, and Smart Growth, held in Philadelphia in May 2005. Previously, Smith served as program fellow of the FAITHS Initiative at the San Francisco Foundation, overseeing grantmaking in social justice and coordinating youth leadership training. She was also a Fulbright Hayes Scholar to the Philippines. Smith holds a Bachelor of Arts in social welfare from the University of California at Berkeley and a Master of Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Nathaniel Smith Director of Partnerships and Research for Equitable Development, Office of University-Community Partnerships, Emory University At Emory University, Nathaniel Smith facilitates Emory partnerships and research opportunities with external and community organizations to achieve balanced, sustainable and inclusive development throughout the metropolitan Atlanta region. A native of Atlanta, Nathaniel began his career in Community Economic Development as a child of civil rights activists. Through years of exposure to social justice advocates, he became involved as a youth volunteer with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and later served as a National Youth Spokesperson for the organization. Prior to joining Emory, Nathaniel served as Public Policy Manager at the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership (ANDP). Nathaniel serves on several boards, including the Sierra Club Georgia Chapter ExCom, City of Atlanta Beltline TAD Advisory Committee (Vice Chair), The Civic League for Regional Atlanta, Georgia Stand-Up, The Grady High School Foundation, Jerusalem House, and The IMPACT! Group. Patricia L. Smith Director of Special Initiatives, The Reinvestment Fund Patricia L. Smith. Esq., director of Special Initiatives for The Reinvestment Fund (TRF), is responsible for projects involving two or more lines of business. A CDFI, TRF manages more than $435 million in capital, investing in affordable housing, charter schools, high-quality supermarkets, and green businesses across the Mid- Atlantic region. Ms. Smith has held senior positions with Mayor John F. Street’s Administration, National Congress for Community Economic Development, The Philadelphia Foundation, Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, City Council of Philadelphia, and Community Legal Services. She serves in leadership positions on the boards of numerous community organizations. In 2006, Ms. Smith appeared in the PBS documentary, Edens Lost and Found: How Ordinary Citizens Are Restoring Our Great American Cities, and was one of six community leaders who met privately with HRH Prince Charles during his 2007 visit to Philadelphia.

Lottie Sneed Senior Community Organizer, BUILD (Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development Lottie Sneed’s organization, BUILD, is a subsidiary of the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) based in Chicago, with 57 affiliates in 21 US states and three other countries. Mrs. Sneed’s early career was in the area of social services. For over twenty years, she has worked as a community leader and organizer for various IAF organizations in Maryland and Washington. In 2007, BUILD, through the work of its Save Our Youth/Save Our City Campaign, secured 10,000 signatures of registered voters to support their agenda, which calls for: the building of 30 new recreations centers, fully staffed; double the number of young people employed over the summer; an increase of after-school slots for 2000 young people, and the creation of a $100M to address neighborhood blight. The agenda followed a successful organizing campaign for community investment. The fruit of the labor was a $59M fund for the acquisition of properties for rehab or for demolition and future development.

Loel S. Solomon National Director of Community Health Initiatives and Evaluation, Community Benefit Program, Kaiser Permanente Dr. Loel Solomon is responsible for the design, implementation and evaluation of a national effort to improve health in Kaiser Permanente communities through multi- sectoral, place-based efforts focusing on environmental and policy change. This effort, Community Health Initiatives for Healthy Eating and Active Living, or HEAL, is a critical element of Kaiser Permanente’s comprehensive approach to preventing obesity and obesity-related diseases. Prior to coming to Kaiser Permanente, Dr. Solomon served as Deputy Director of the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) for Healthcare Quality and Analysis, where he oversaw the state’s hospital outcomes reporting program, analyses of racial and ethnic health disparities, and dissemination of healthcare data to researchers and members of the public. He served as a senior manager at the Lewin Group in Washington DC and as a member of Senator Edward Kennedy’s health staff.

Marion Standish Director, Community Health and the Elimination of Health Disparities Program, The California Endowment As director for The Endowment’s Community Health and Elimination of Health Disparities program, Marion Standish leads the foundation’s efforts to develop initiatives to address the health disparities and environmental factors that contribute to the poor health of underserved communities. She designed California Works for Better Health (CWBH), The Endowment’s partnership project with The Rockefeller Foundation. CWBH was a four-year effort to build the capacity of community-based organizations to improve neighborhood health status through regional employment strategies. Prior to joining The Endowment, Standish was founder and director of California Food Policy Advocates, and earlier served as Director of the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation. Standish serves on the board of directors of the Food Research and Action Center, the San Francisco Community Boards Program, and the Neighborhood Funders Group. She was recently appointed by California’s Chief Justice to the Judicial Council’s Legal Services Trust Fund Commission, and by Mayor Gavin Newsom to San Francisco’s Children Youth and Families Commission.

L. Benjamin Starrett Executive Director, Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities Ben Starrett brought to the Funders’ Network a vast wealth of experience from his work in Florida: in city government, the Legislature, and a wide variety of roles with the Florida Department of Community Affairs, including his work as State Coordinator of the Eastward Ho! initiative. As Executive Director of the Funders’ Network, Ben has built a membership organization of nearly ninety philanthropic foundations, representing over $50 billion in assets, who are interested in supporting Smart Growth efforts through their awards and grants. His previous work as a Collins Fellow with the Collins Center resulted in a series of articles by Neal Pierce on the challenges facing South Florida and Miami, and numerous other initiatives to strengthen the South Florida region.

Nico Strange Owl Member of the Board of Directors, First Peoples Fund Nico Strange Owl is a co-author of Four Great Rivers to Cross, a collection of stories which together chronicle the history and culture of the people we call the Cheyenne (the Tse Tse Stus), from creation accounts and the introduction of horses to the present. Nico is herself a member of the Cheyenne. As a member of the board of First Peoples Fund, she helps further the Fund’s mission “to honor and support the creative community-centered First Peoples artists, and nurture the collective spirit® that allows them to sustain their peoples.” The Fund’s vision “is to communicate to the world the roots and philosophy of Indigenous artistic expression and its relationship to the collective spirit of First Peoples. We will strive to provide support and voice to the creative Indigenous artists who share their inspiration, wisdom, knowledge and gifts with their communities.”

John Talmage President and Chief Executive, Social Compact John Talmage was selected to be the President/CEO by the Social Compact Board of Directors in May of 2006 after serving as Deputy Director. Prior to joining Social Compact, John served as the Deputy Director for Economic Development for the City of New Orleans. In New Orleans, John focused on business development issues, including workforce development, international trade, and business recruitment and retention. Before joining the Mayor’s office in New Orleans, John worked in New York City, working primarily for the New York City Council. While in New York, John worked with communities throughout North Brooklyn to address economic development, housing, and land-use matters. Mildred Thompson Senior Director and Director of the PolicyLink Center for Health and Place, PolicyLink At PolicyLink, Mildred Thompson leads the work of the organization’s health team, participates in research focused on understanding community factors that impact health disparities, and identifies practice and policy changes needed to improve individual, family, and community health. She has authored several reports and journal articles focused on reducing health disparities, increasing awareness about social determinants of health, and effective ways to impact policy change. Prior to joining PolicyLink, she was director of Community Health Services for Alameda County Public Health Department; director in Oakland for Healthy Start, a federal infant mortality reduction program; and director of San Antonio Neighborhood Health Center. Thompson has degrees in nursing and psychology and a graduate degree in social work from New York University. She has also taught at Mills College and San Francisco State University, and has worked as an organizational development consultant.

J. Phillip Thompson Associate Professor of Urban Politics, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Phil Thompson has worked as Deputy General Manager of the New York Housing Authority, directly responsible for managing 12,000 employees and overseeing $400 million yearly rehabilitation projects. He has also served as Director of the Mayor’s Office of Housing Coordination and principle mayoral liaison to the 1991 New York City Council Re-Districting Commission. Phil is a frequent advisor to trade unions and has received grants from the Ford and Soros Foundation in recent months in support of his proposal of establishing community-building partnerships between the national office of the Service Employee’s International Union (SEIU) and community groups across the United States. Phil’s most recent publication is a book called Double Trouble: Black Mayors, Black Communities, and the Call for a Deep Democracy.

Doua Thor Executive Director, Southeast Asia Resource Action Center Doua Thor is the Executive Director of Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC.) Ms. Thor has worked with national and grassroots Southeast Asian American organizations as well as other diverse refugee organizations for many years, formerly as a New Voices Fellow with Hmong National Development, Inc. (HND). Currently, she serves on the boards of Asian & Pacific Islander American Vote and of the Asian Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund (APIASF), and is a member of the Nielsen Media Research Asian Pacific American Advisory Council. Ms. Thor is Hmong American. She and her family moved from Laos to Detroit in 1979. They were one of hundreds of thousands of Hmong families who became refugees after supporting and fighting on the side of the United States during the Vietnam War. She holds a graduate degree from the University of Michigan’s School of Social Work with a concentration in social policy and evaluation.

Petra Todorovich Director, America 2050 Petra Todorovich’s organization, America 2050, is a national initiative based at Regional Plan Association to shape America’s growth in the 21st century. Prior to launching America 2050, Ms. Todorovich directed the Association’s Region’s Core program and for five years led the Civic Alliance to Rebuild Downtown New York, a coalition of civic groups that came together after 9/11 to shape the rebuilding of the World Trade Center and Lower Manhattan. She authored the 2004 Civic Assessment of the Lower Manhattan Planning Process and other pieces of analysis on the rebuilding process and New York City development. Ms. Todorovich received a B.A. from Vassar College and a Masters in City and Regional Planning from the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Jermaine Toney Lead Researcher, Organizing Apprenticeship Project Jermaine Toney is the lead researcher with the Organizing Apprenticeship Project. He is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Minneapolis, MN. He received his B.A. from University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. Toney received his M.S. from New School for Social Research in NYC. He has worked for Phillips Neighborhood Healthy Housing Collaborative, and has conducted policy research for Bedford Stuyvesant Family Health Center, Drum Major Institute for Public Policy, NYC Department of Transportation and Central Community Housing Trust.

Andrea Torrice Director, The New Metropolis; Producer, documentary and educational television Andrea Torrice has ten years’ experience as a producer of public television documentaries and educational television. Her programs have covered a range of topics including the environment, health, peace studies, and cultural issues. She produced programs for PBS affiliate KQED TV in San Francisco and the McNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. Her documentaries have been featured in numerous festivals worldwide, including the Berlin, Mill Valley, Women in the Director’s Chair, and London International festivals. She was the recipient of a Gold Award from the Corporation for Public broadcasting for her environmental documentary Bad Chemistry. Her documentary Forsaken Cries: the Story of Rwanda won an award at the Rosebud International Human Rights Film Festival. She has also worked with dozens of educational and non-profit community organizations in developing programs.

Henrie Treadwell Senior Social Scientist, National Center for Primary Care, Morehouse School of Medicine Henrie Treadwell is the senior social scientist and associate director of development in the National Center for Primary Care at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, whose mission is to promote excellence in community oriented primary health care and optimal health outcomes for all Americans, with a special focus on underserved populations and on the elimination of health disparities. Her major responsibilities include program oversight and management for a special informing policy initiative, Community Voices, which is funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and oversight of the men’s health programs. Prior to joining the National Center for Primary Care, Dr. Treadwell served for 16 years as program director at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek. Dr. Treadwell received her B.A. in biology from the University of South Carolina, where she enrolled as the first African American student as a result of a desegregation lawsuit.

Sarah Treuhaft Senior Associate, PolicyLink Sarah Treuhaft researches and writes on a variety of equitable development topics including the use of information technology tools for community building, regional equity strategies, economic development, and healthy neighborhood environments. She also provides data and mapping analysis for PolicyLink projects. Treuhaft holds a master’s degree in city planning and a master’s in international and area studies from the University of California, Berkeley.

Margery Austin Turner Director, Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center, the Urban Institute Marge Turner’s Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center concentrates on communities—housing developments, neighborhoods, cities, and suburbs—that make up America’s urban regions. The Center’s research investigates factors that shape the quality of life in these communities, the opportunities they offer residents, and the effectiveness of federal, state, and local public policies that govern urban housing and neighborhoods. Marge is an expert in these areas: cities and metropolitan regions; neighborhood indicators; community building and development; race, ethnicity, and gender; racial/ethnic disparities; housing; housing markets and choice; racial segregation; and data. Her most recent publication was Housing in the Nation’s Capital (October 2007), a report sponsored by the Fannie Mae Foundation.

Jennifer S. Vey Fellow, Metropolitan Policy Program, Brookings Institution Jennifer S. Vey’s work at the Brookings Institution focuses on the competitiveness and quality of life of central cities and regions in the new economy. She is the author of Restoring Prosperity: The State Role in Revitalizing America’s Older Industrial Cities, Organizing for Success: A Call to Action for the Kansas City Region and Higher Education in Pennsylvania: A Competitive Asset for Communities. Prior to joining Brookings in June, 2001, Jennifer was a Community Planning and Development Specialist at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. She earned a Master of Planning degree from the University of Virginia in 1997, and holds a B.A. in Geography from Bucknell University.

Jim Wallis President and Chief Executive Officer, Sojourners Jim Wallis is the author of the New York Times bestseller God’s Politics, which electrified Americans disenchanted with how the Right had co-opted all talk about integrating religious values into our politics by offering an alternative voice. His latest book is The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith & Politics in a Post–Religious Right America. Wallis is a leading figure at the crossroads of religion and politics in America today, the author of eight books, and the founder of Sojourners, a global faith and justice network. He is a public theologian, an internationally renowned speaker and preacher, a faith-based activist, a husband, a father of two young boys, and a Little League baseball coach. Visit Jim Wallis and Sojourners at their website www.Sojo.net and read his daily blog at www.GodsPolitics.com.

Joan Walsh Managing Editor, Salon Joan Walsh is an American editor, writer, and blogger. Since February 2005 she has been the editor-in-chief of Salon.com, a San Francisco-based on-line magazine. She joined Salon as its first full-time news editor in 1998, and became managing editor in 2004. Walsh had previously worked for In These Times and the Santa Barbara News and Review. She has written freelance articles for a variety of newspapers and magazines, including the Los Angeles Times and The Nation. Other areas of interest include education, community development, and urban poverty issues. She has published two books, Splash Hit: The Pacific Bell Park Story and Stories of Renewal: Community Building and the Future of Urban America.

Peter M. Ward Professor of Public Affairs & Sociology and C.B. Smith Sr. Centennial Chair in US-Mexico Relations, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas Peter M. Ward earned his Ph.D. in geography from the University of Liverpool in 1976. He held senior teaching positions at the Universities of London and Cambridge before moving in 1991 to The University of Texas at Austin, where he is a Professor in the Department of Sociology and at the LBJ School of Public Affairs. He was the Director of the Mexican Center of the Institute of Latin American Studies at UT Austin from 1992 to 1996. In 2000 he was appointed C.B. Smith Sr. Centennial Chair in US- Mexico Relations. Since 1997 he has coordinated the Mellon Sociology of Latin America Ph.d. Program. Dr. Ward has written eleven books. His principal research interests are Latin American urbanization, contemporary Mexican politics, housing policy and planning, Mexico City, and colonia-type housing in the United States. At various times he has served as adviser to the Mexican government and to several international development agencies.

Denice Warren Chief Information Systems Designer, Greater New Orleans Community Data Center As deputy director of the Community Data Center, Denice’s role is to design information systems that effectively deploy content, designs, and programming across projects. She has nearly fifteen years of experience in user-centered design, and specializes in creating large web sites that convey complex information through an intuitive user experience. For the past five years in particular, she has been focused on mapping community resources for better planning in the nonprofit sector. Denice currently serves on the Agenda for Children’s Kids Count Data Advisory Panel, VIA LINK marketing committee, LouisianaRebuilds.info Steering Committee, and RWJF Workgroup on “Evaluation of health department web-based data query systems.” Denice is one of the founding parents of Abeona House, the first new childcare center to open in post-Katrina New Orleans.

Donele Wilkins Executive Director, Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice Donele Wilkins has over two decades of experience in occupational and environmental health as an educator, consultant, trainer, administrator and advocate. In 1994, she co-founded Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice, a non-profit organization addressing urban environmental issues in the City of Detroit. Ms. Wilkins has coordinated and organized several conferences and gatherings to highlight the plight of her community. As a consultant, Ms. Wilkins has assisted several community organizations and put them on the correct path toward increasing their capacity to transform their communities. She is a mom of two, which motivates her to change conditions in her community so that they can have a brighter future. With her leadership, DWEJ was able to shut down the Henry Ford Hospital Medical Waste Incinerator.

David R. Williams Florence & Laura Norman Professor of Public Health, Harvard School of Public Health, and Professor of African and African American Studies and of Sociology, Harvard University Prior to Dr. David R. Williams’s appointments at Harvard School of Public Health, he served as a faculty member first at Yale University and later at the University of Michigan. Dr. Williams holds a master’s degree in public health from Loma Linda University and a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Michigan. He is the author of more than 150 scholarly papers in scientific journals and edited collections, and he was one of the Top 10 Most Cited Researchers in the Social Sciences during the decade 1995 to 2005. The Journal of Black Issues in Higher Education ranked him as the 2nd Most Cited Black Scholar in the Social Sciences in 2006. In 2001, he was elected as a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. In 2004, he received one of the inaugural Decade of Behavior Research Awards, and in 2007 he was elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Jay Williams Mayor, City of Youngstown, Ohio Jay Williams is serving as the 47th Mayor of the City of Youngstown, Ohio. He is the first African-American to be elected Mayor of Youngstown, and having been elected at 34 years of age, he is its youngest. Williams is also the first independent candidate to win the Mayoral seat in more than eighty (80) years. His electoral upset was both historic and stunning, and was viewed by many political observers as a watershed event in the changing political landscape of the community. The City of Youngstown has moved progressively under his leadership. The City’s planning and development efforts have been recognized and rewarded by a number of notable publications and organizations, including The Wall Street Journal, New York Times Magazine, USA Today, the American Planning Association, and Governing Magazine. More importantly, Williams is leading efforts that have a direct impact on improving the quality of life for the citizens of Youngstown.

Roger Williams Senior Fellow, Annie E. Casey Foundation Roger L. Williams is Senior Fellow/Director for Neighborhood Development at The Annie E. Casey Foundation. He is responsible for the Foundation’s Neighborhood Development portfolio, informing the Foundation’s relocation work, managing the Foundation’s grantmaking to national community development groups, and providing guidance and direction to staff and grantees on innovative community economic development financing tools, strategies, and social investments. He also staffs the Foundation’s participation in Living Cities (formerly the National Community Development Initiative). Mr. Williams received a Juris Doctorate from New York University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Haverford College. He serves on the board of the Roundhouse Theatre (Bethesda) and is the former treasurer of the Ellington Fund, which supports DC’s public school for the performing arts.

Jenny Wittner Associate Director, Workforce Development Policy, Women Employed Jenny Wittner is Associate Director of Women Employed where her work focuses on the economic advancement of women in low-wage jobs. Prior to that, she was the director of the Chicago Commons Employment Training Center, a nationally recognized welfare-to-work program that helped parents gain better employment through education and training. Jenny holds a masters degree in linguistics from Northeastern Illinois University and has taught English as a Second Language. She is also the author of several reports and articles on adult education and welfare reform. Beverly Wright Professor of Sociology, Dillard University; Founding Director, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) For more than a decade, Dr. Beverly Wright has been a leading scholar, advocate, and activist in the environmental justice arena. The institution she founded, the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ), is one of the few community/university partnerships that addresses environmental and health inequities in the Lower Mississippi River Industrial Corridor, the area commonly referred to as Cancer Alley. Since Hurricane Katrina, much of the work at the DSCEJ has focused on research, policy, community outreach and assistance, and the education of displaced African-American residents of New Orleans. Dr. Wright provided valuable input into President Clinton’s Environmental Justice Transition paper, and was named to the EPA’s National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC). Dr. Wright has received the Distinguished Alumni Award from State University of New York at Buffalo, and the Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leadership Award.

Deborah Yashar Program Coordinator, Agriculture & Land-Based Training Association (ALBA)

Alex Dong Zhang Community Planner & Organizer, Asian Community Development Corporation Alex Zhang is a community planner and organizer at the Asian Community Development Corporation, a community-based organization that serves the Asian American community of the greater Boston area with an emphasis on preserving and revitalizing Boston’s Chinatown. For the past two years in this position, he has been active in the areas of neighborhood participatory planning, grassroots leadership development, and community capacity building to advocate for positive changes. In 2005, Alex graduated from the School of Architecture and Planning at University of Buffalo with a Master in Urban Planning. He specializes in environmental and physical planning and is also interested in the application of planning technologies in neighborhood development.

Karla Zombro Strategic Initiatives Coordinator, Strategic Concepts for Organizing and Policy Education Karla Zombro is the Strategic Initiatives Coordinator for Strategic Concepts for Organizing and Policy Education, where she helps coordinate local, state, and national policy work; electoral strategies; and capacity-building programs. SCOPE’s electoral work focuses on a bottom-up approach bringing together local CBO’s, unions, churches and students to educate voters and increase turnout in low-income communities of color. Before coming to SCOPE in 1999, Karla was a union organizer for the Service Employees International Union Local 1877, and was the Lead organizer for the Respect at LAX campaign, which organized airport security workers.