A Crisis is a Terrible Thing to Waste: Transforming America’s Housing Policy

RICHARD BARON

McCormack Baron Salazar (MBS)

A pioneer in the housing development field and a 30-year veteran in revitalizing urban communities, Mr. Baron guides McCormack Baron Salazar (MBS) in re-creating neighborhoods in some of the most distressed inner-city areas across the country. The success of MBS developments across the country – for example, in Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Saint Louis, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Atlanta, and Cleveland - are a testament to the company’s ability to transform neglected, physically deteriorating neighborhoods into areas of prosperity and growth. In 2004, Mr. Baron was selected as the fifth annual laureate of the Urban Land Institute J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development. The Urban Land Institute J.C. Nichols Prize recognizes a person whose career demonstrates a commitment to the highest standards of responsible development.

Mr. Baron is the founder and developer of The Center of Creative Arts (COCA), in University City, Missouri. COCA is a community-based visual and performing arts center that serves more than 50,000 children and adults annually. He was the co-founder and co-chairman of the Vashon Education Compact, a partnership of the St. Louis Public Schools and major corporations. The Compact was working to transform ten low-performing public schools in the City of St. Louis into high-achieving schools.

Recognizing the need for advanced education of community development professionals, in 2003 Mr. Baron founded the Center for Urban Redevelopment Excellence at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Baron serves on the Executive Committee of the Regional Chamber and Growth Association, and on the Boards of St. Louis Downtown Partnership, Downtown Now!, and The Center of Creative Arts. He serves on the Board of Trustees at St. Louis University and the Advisory Board for the Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy at The Brookings Institution.

Mr. Baron is a graduate of Oberlin College, and holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of California-Berkeley and a J.D. from the University of Michigan. Mr. Baron has been awarded honorary degrees from Oberlin College and from St. Louis University.

Moderator
Panel 2: From Front Yards to Schoolyards: Linking Housing Policy and School Reform

RAPHAEL BOSTIC

XAVIER DE SOUZA BRIGGS

Associate Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, Institute of Technology

Panelist
Panel 5: Affordable Rental Housing Programs: Building Real Opportunities for Families

SHAUN DONOVAN

On January 26, 2009, Shaun Donovan was sworn in as the 15th United States Secretary for Housing and Urban Development. He has devoted his career to ensuring access to safe, decent, and affordable housing nationwide, and will carry on that effort in the Obama Administration. Secretary Donovan believes that America's homes are the foundation for family, safe neighborhoods, good schools, and solid businesses, and that housing represents and confers stability - a base from which to raise America's children. He joins HUD with the commitment to make quality housing possible for every American.

Secretary Donovan previously served as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). When he became Commissioner of HPD in early 2004, Shaun Donovan engaged the agency in a top-to-bottom strategic planning process. This resulted in new and innovative policy and programmatic solutions, and better measurement of results. During his service, HPD's New Housing Marketplace Plan to build and preserve 165,000 units of affordable housing was the largest housing plan in the nation.

Before his service as HPD Commissioner, Secretary Donovan worked in the private sector on affordable housing portfolios, and was a visiting scholar at New York University, where he researched and wrote about the preservation of federally-assisted housing. He was also a consultant to the Millennial Housing Commission on strategies for increasing the production of multifamily housing. The Commission was created by the United States Congress to recommend ways to expand housing opportunities across the nation.

Secretary Donovan rejoins HUD after his previous service as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multifamily Housing, where he was the primary federal official responsible for privately-owned multifamily housing. At that time, he ran housing programs that helped 1.7 million families access affordable housing. He also served as acting FHA Commissioner during the presidential transition.

Prior to his first service at HUD, he worked at the Community Preservation Corporation (CPC) in New York City, a non-profit lender and developer of affordable housing. He also researched and wrote about housing policy at the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University and worked as an architect. Secretary Donovan holds Masters degrees in Public Administration and Architecture from Harvard University.

Keynote

CAROL GALANTE

Carol Galante is the President of BRIDGE Housing Corporation, the largest nonprofit developer of affordable apartments and homes in California. BRIDGE specializes in the development of family and senior affordable apartments, rental and ownership housing, and an array of revitalization, transit-oriented, urban infill, and mixed-use/mixed-income developments. Since 1983, BRIDGE has created over 13,000 homes serving over 35,000 Californians.

Ms. Galante is responsible for the overall direction of BRIDGE, including real estate development, property and asset management, and corporate administration, as well as its major affiliates such as BUILD, an investment advisor to CalPERS under the California Urban Real Estate Program, and BASS, a licensed life care provider. Prior to BRIDGE, she was the Executive Director of Eden Housing, Inc., where she developed affordable homes and formed a property management subsidiary. Ms. Galante has also worked for the cities of Santa Barbara, Richmond and Philadelphia.

She is a Director of the national Housing Partnership Network, the California Housing Consortium, the Center for Creative Land Recycling, and the One California Bank Foundation. In June 2005, the State Senate appointed Ms. Galante to the California Housing Finance Agency Board of Directors. She is also a member of the Advisory Board for the Bay Area Council, sits on the advisory committees of several banks, and is active in the Urban Land Institute. Ms. Galante co-chaired California’s successful Proposition 1C campaign in 2006 that garnered approval for a $2.85 billion bond for affordable housing and urban infill development. She is a licensed real estate broker and holds a B.A. from Ohio Wesleyan and a Master of City Planning from U.C. Berkeley.

Panelist
Panel 5: Affordable Rental Housing Programs: Building Real Opportunities for Families

EDWARD L. GLAESER

Lead Paper
Panel 1: Connecting the Dots Between Housing, Transportation, Energy and the Environment

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE

Staff Director and Chief Economist, President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board

Keynote Roundtable

F. BARTON HARVEY III

Former Chairman of Enterprise

Bart Harvey joined Enterprise soon after its founding in June, 1984 and succeeded James Rouse as Chairman and CEO in October, 1993.  In January, 2007, he turned over CEO of Enterprise Community Partners to Doris Koo, the first Executive Director of Asian-Americans for Equality.  In March, 2008, Mr. Harvey retired as Chairman of Enterprise Community Partners and Enterprise Community Investment.

Enterprise is a leading provider of capital and expertise for affordable housing and community development.  Enterprise works with partners – developers, investors, government, and primarily community-based nonprofits – to reach our common goal and has raised and invested over $9 billion that has produced over 240,000 homes for low income households.

Enterprise continues to shape ways to ensure better outcomes for low-income families, such as by bringing together leaders from the environmental and community development fields to create the Green Communities® initiative in 2004. This $555 million initiative has far exceeded its five-year goal of building more than 8,500 affordable homes that promote health, conserve energy and natural resources, and promote easy access to jobs, schools and services.

Mr. Harvey was appointed by Congress to the Millennium Housing Commission from 2000 – 2002 and has been a Director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta as well as on the Advisory Boards for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  He has served on numerous Boards including the Baltimore Education Scholarship Trust, Center Stage, the National Housing Conference, National Housing Trust, and Shepherd’s Clinic.  Most recently Mr. Harvey was chosen as the 2008 recipient of The Urban Land Institute J. C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development as well as the National Housing Conference’s 2008 Housing Person of the Year.

Before joining Enterprise, for ten years Mr. Harvey worked in domestic and international positions for the investment bank, Dean Witter Reynolds (now Morgan Stanley), leaving as Managing Director of Corporate Finance.  He has an MBA and BA from Harvard University and lives in Baltimore with his wife and three children.

Panelist
Panel 5: Affordable Rental Housing Programs: Building Real Opportunities for Families

DWIGHT M. JAFFEE

Willis Booth Professor of Banking, Finance, and Real Estate at University of California at Berkeley

Dwight M. Jaffee is the Willis Booth Professor of Banking, Finance, and Real Estate at the Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley, where has taught since 1991. He previously taught for many years in the economics department of Princeton University. Professor Jaffee is a member of the Haas School’s Finance and Real Estate groups, and co-chair of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics.

His primary areas of research are insurance (especially earthquakes, terrorism, and auto) and finance (especially mortgage backed securitization and the government sponsored enterprises). Recent research papers in the insurance field relate to why private firms do not offer catastrophe insurance, the government’s role in catastrophe insurance, and the structure of monoline insurers. Recent research papers in the finance field relate to the subprime mortgage crisis, US mortgage market policy, and the role of the government sponsored enterprises. Overall, Professor Jaffee has authored 6 books and over 100 articles.

He has served in advisory roles for the World Bank, the Federal Reserve System, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Panelist
Panel 3: Where Do We Go From Here?: The Future of Fannie and Freddie

PETER ENGBERG JENSEN

Since October 2006, Peter Engberg Jensen (55) has been Group ChiefExecutive of the Nykredit Group—a Danish-based financial services groupwith activities ranging from mortgage banking, commercial banking andinsurance to investment, pension and estate agency business.

The Group has 4,000 staff and operates chiefly in Denmark , but alsooffers corporate loans for properties located in Sweden , Germany ,Norway , England and Poland , just as the Group offers privateresidential mortgages in Poland and to Scandinavians residing or owningholiday homes in France and Spain . 

Peter Engberg Jensen joined Nykredit in 1997 as Group Managing Directorin charge of the finance and treasury areas and before then he occupiedleading positions in the Danish financial sector. He holds a master'sdegree in economics from 1978 and completed the ISMP, InternationalSenior Management Programme, at Harvard in 1992.

In spring 2007, he assumed the post as Chairman of the Association ofDanish Mortgage Banks and is furthermore President of the EuropeanMortgage Federation. Peter Engberg Jensen also acts as an externalexaminer at the University of Copenhagen and the Copenhagen BusinessSchool.

Keynote Roundtable

PAUL JORISSEN

Partner, Co-Head, Global Finance, Mayer Brown

CHRISTOPHER JOYE

Christopher Joye is a financial economist and the founder of the award-winning Sydney-based research group, Rismark International, which he established in 2003 on the basis of a landmark affordable housing report he produced for the Australian Prime Minister's Home Ownership Task Force. Rismark has pioneered the development of the world’s first mass market, private sector ‘shared equity’ finance program in which the lender participates in both the capital gains and wears the losses associated with home ownership without charging any interest. Since that time the initiative has won numerous industry awards and served as the basis for government-sponsored shared equity programs in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The program’s awards include Money Magazine’s “Best New Product of the Year, 2008” and Your Mortgage Magazine’s “Best New Product of the Year, 2007”. In 2007 Christopher was selected by The Bulletin magazine as one of Australia's “10 Smartest CEOs” and by BRW Magazine as one of “Australia's Top 10 Innovators”.

He previously worked with Goldman, Sachs & Co. in London and Sydney and with the Reserve Bank of Australia. In 2008, the Australian Government embraced a radical policy proposal developed by Christopher and Joshua Gans of Melbourne University to provide $8 billion of liquidity to the Australian mortgage-backed securities market to mitigate the adverse effects of the global financial crisis. Rismark’s executive team comprises numerous PhDs who have developed and patented the market-leading Rismark ‘hedonic’ house price indices. Rismark’s house price indices have recently been selected by the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) as the benchmark for what will be the world’s second listed residential property derivatives market (following the Chicago Mercantile Exchange). In 2002 and 2003, Christopher led the Australian Prime Minister’s Home Ownership Task Force and was the principal author of its key report, which included co-authors from NYU, Cambridge and Harvard. Christopher served as a Director of The Menzies Research Centre, which is a leading Australian think-tank, from 2003 to 2007. He has published widely on policy matters relating to housing and financial economics and is a frequent media commentator. Christopher received Joint 1st Class Honours (Economics & Finance) and the University Medal in Economics & Finance from the University of Sydney, where he was a Credit Suisse First Boston Scholar and University Honours Scholar. Christopher studied for a PhD at Cambridge University in 2002 and 2003, where he was a Commonwealth Trust Scholar.

BRUCE KATZ

Vice President at the Brookings Institution

Bruce Katz is a Vice President at the Brookings Institution and founding Director of the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program. The program seeks to redefine the challenges facing cities and metropolitan areas by publishing cutting-edge research on major demographic, market, development, and governance trends. Mr. Katz regularly advises national, state, regional, and municipal leaders on policy reforms that advance the competitiveness of metropolitan areas. He focuses particularly on reforms that promote the revitalization of central cities and older suburbs and enhance the ability of these places to attract, retain, and grow the middle class. In 2006, he received the prestigious Heinz Award in Public Policy for his contributions to urban and metropolitan America.

Mr. Katz is a frequent writer and commentator on urban and metropolitan issues. He is the editor or co-editor of several books on transportation, demographics, and regionalism. His op-eds and articles have appeared in a wide range of major national and regional newspapers including The Atlantic Monthly, Baltimore Sun, Boston Globe, BusinessWeek, Christian Science Monitor, Hartford Courant, Philadelphia Inquirer, Washington Post, New York Times, and Los Angeles Times. Mr. Katz frequently appears on TV and radio, including National Public Radio’s Morning Edition, PBS’s The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, and CNN.

Before joining Brookings, Mr. Katz served as Chief of Staff to Henry G. Cisneros, former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Mr. Katz has also served as the staff director of the Senate Subcommittee on Housing and Urban Affairs. He is also a Visiting Professor of Social Policy at the London School of Economics. Mr. Katz is a graduate of Brown University and Yale Law School.

Conference Address

MICHAEL P. KELLY

Michael P. Kelly is the Executive Director of the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA). Mr. Kelly is the only registered architect to head a large public housing agency, and is the former Harvey-Wadsworth Professor of Urban Affairs at Tulane University 's School of Architecture .   Additionally, he is certified planner and member of the American Institute of Certified Planners.

 Before joining DCHA, Mr. Kelly was the Executive Director of the New Orleans Housing Authority (HANO) from 1995 to 2000 where, among other achievements, he was successful in removing the agency from HUD's Troubled Housing Agency list.   Prior to his tenure at HANO, Mr. Kelly was the Executive Director of the San Francisco Housing Authority for two terms.

Mr. Kelly is an active professional in the affordable housing industry.   He currently is the President of the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities, an advocacy organization whose 60 members represent virtually every major metropolitan area in the country.   He is a Founding Board Member of the National Organization of African Americans in Housing, and serves on the board of the National Housing Conference and City Year. He has served on several national task forces and committees, including HUD's Troubled Housing Recovery Team and the negotiating committee on Public Housing Operating Subsidy.   He also served as an advisor to the congressionally charted Millennial Housing Commission.

Mr. Kelly received his BS in Architecture and Urban Planning from Princeton University .   He received a Master's in Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley and a Master's in Education from San Francisco State University .   He is also a member of the American Institute of Architects, the National Organization of Minority Architects, and the American Planning Association.

JILL KHADDURI

Jill Khadduri is a Principal Associate at Abt Associates, Inc., a policy research firm based in Cambridge , MA , and Bethesda , MD.   She joined Abt in 2000 after many years in leadership roles in HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research.   Her recent work has focused on preservation of affordable housing, the relationship between neighborhood revitalization and school improvement, the housing voucher program, and the Low Income Housing Tax Credit.    Currently, she directs a study that measures the costs of homelessness for families and individuals and is participating in studies of rent reform in assisted housing and alternative approaches for serving homeless families.    Her most recent publications are: "Designing Sustainable Subsidized Rental Housing Programs:   What Have We Learned?" (with Charles Wilkins) in Nicholas Retsinas and Eric Belsky, eds., Revisiting Rental Housing:   Policies, Programs, and Priorities.   Washington DC :   The Brookings Institution, 2008, "Policy Roadmap for Expanding School-Centered Community Revitalization."   (with Heather Schwartz and Jennifer Turnham), 2008 (available at www.enterprisecommunity.org), and "Housing Vouchers are Critical for Ending Family Homelessness," National Alliance to End Homelessness, Homelessness Research Institute, 2008 (available at www.endhomelessness.org),.   Dr. Khadduri holds a BA from Smith College and an MA and Ph.D. from the School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University.

Lead Paper
Panel 5: Affordable Rental Housing Programs: Building Real Opportunities for Families

FELICIA MARCUS

In December 2001, Felicia joined the Trust for Public Land, a national non-profit organization devoted to conserving land for people. TPL brings visioning, finance, real estate, design/construction and community engagement expertise to conserving or restoring a range of landscapes dear to people—from inner city parks and playgrounds to river greenways, working ranches and farmland, natural areas, and places of cultural importance.  As TPL’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, she is responsible for helping manage the organization’s 450 employees in over 40 offices across the United States.  Previously, Felicia was appointed by President Clinton and served as the Regional Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region IX from October 1993 until January 2001. The office addresses environmental issues in California, Arizona, Hawaii, former trust territories in the Pacific, and over 140 federally recognized Indian tribes.  In addition to managing the region’s nearly 1000 employees, Felicia played a leading role in large scale, historic multi-party negotiations such as the Bay-Delta Accords and subsequent Cal-Fed agreements; the Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission and subsequent Western Regional Air Partnership; and U.S.-Mexico Border programs and agreements.  In addition to bringing unlikely allies together to make environmental progress, her hallmarks included engaging the public meaningfully in the work of the Agency, building capacity and close working relationships with tribes, leadership on environmental justice issues, and diversity work within the agency.  Prior to joining the EPA, Felicia served as the president of the Board of Public Works for the city of Los Angeles.  Appointed by Mayor Tom Bradley, she was responsible for the city’s wastewater, solid waste, street maintenance, street trees, major construction, and other critical programs in a time when the City went from garnering lawsuits to garnering national awards for environmental excellence.  Felicia also has extensive prior experience as a public interest lawyer and community organizer in Los Angeles, with experience in air, water, toxics, and land use matters representing and being a leader of non-profit groups.  Her current volunteer Board involvements include the California League of Conservation Voters, San Francisco Baykeeper, Urban Habitat, Natural Heritage Institute, and the Environmental Law Institute, among others.

Panelist
Panel 1: Connecting the Dots Between Housing, Transportation, Energy and the Environment

MARY NICHOLS

Mary D. Nichols, JD, was appointed Chair of the California Air Resources Board in July 2007, a post she held previously under Gov. Edmund H. Brown, Jr. from 1979 to 1983. At CARB she is responsible for implementing California's landmark greenhouse gas emissions legislation as well as setting air pollution standards for motor vehicles and fuels. After graduating from Cornell University and Yale Law School, Ms. Nichols practiced environmental law in Los Angeles, bringing cases on behalf of environmental and public health organizations to enforce state and federal clean air legislation. President Clinton appointed her to head the Office of Air and Radiation at US EPA, where she was responsible for, among many other regulatory breakthroughs, the acid rain trading program and setting the first air quality standard for fine particles. She also served as California's Secretary for Natural Resources from 1999 to 2003. Prior to her return to the ARB, Ms. Nichols was Professor of Law and Director of the Institute of the Environment at UCLA.

Panelist
Panel 1: Connecting the Dots Between Housing, Transportation, Energy and the Environment

ENRIQUE PENALOSA

Former Mayor, City of Bogotá, Columbia: Urban Strategist

Enrique Penalosa has achieved positive results in diverse activities in which he has been involved. He is also an influential thinker on urban challenges particularly those related to the relation between urban design and sustainability, mobility, equity, public space and well being. His vision and proposals have significantly influenced policies in numerous cities throughout the world. He is currently a consultant on Urban Vision and Sustainability Strategy and has worked with many local, regional and national governments as well as other organizations all over the world. He is Senior International Advisor to the ITDP (Institute for Transportation and Development Policy). 

As mayor of Bogotá, the 7 million inhabitant's capital of Colombia, between 1998 and 2000 he implemented profound changes which transformed the city and its citizens's attitude towards it. He massively improved slums, built formidable schools and nurseries, beautiful libraries and hundreds of parks and other pedestrian spaces. He was a leading innovator in America in creating a bicycle path network, restricting car use and radically improving pedestrian facilities, building more than a hundred kilometers of pedestrian streets and greenways. Inspired in the Curitiba model he created the TransMilenio bus system which has been a model to many cities throughout the world.

Penalosa has lectured at many universities throughout the world as well as many environmental, urban, and managerial forums. His articles have been published and his work and ideas have been featured in publications from many countries. 

He holds a BA in Economics and History from Duke University, a Master's Degree in Government from the IIAP in Paris and a DESS in Public Administration from the University of Paris II. He also was Visiting Scholar at New York University for 3 years and has taught at several Colombian universities.

Moderator
Panel 1: Connecting the Dots Between Housing, Transportation, Energy and the Environment

ALEX J. POLLOCK

Alex J. Pollock has been a resident fellow at American Enterprise Institute since 2004, focusing on financial policy issues, including government-sponsored enterprises, retirement finance, housing finance, corporate governance, and accounting standards. He has written extensively on the housing bubble and bust and is the author of the one-page mortgage disclosure proposal. Previously, he spent thirty-five years in banking, including twelve years as president and chief executive officer of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, while also writing numerous articles on financial systems and management. He is a director of Allied Capital Corporation, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation, the International Union for Housing Finance, and chairman of the board of the Great Books Foundation. He is a graduate of Williams College, University of Chicago, and Princeton University.

Panelist
Panel 3: Where Do We Go From Here?: The Future of Fannie and Freddie

SHELLEY POTICHA

President and CEO of Reconnecting America

After spending two decades working as an advocate and urbanist, Ms. Poticha joined Reconnecting America to form the Center for Transit-Oriented Development, and in 2005 assumed the role of President of Reconnecting America. Ms. Poticha's efforts have led to a renewed national conversation about the role of transit in shaping our communities and the importance of building diverse and inclusive neighborhoods. She leads Reconnecting America's efforts to provide fact-based information on best practices in transit-oriented development; bring together developers, city leaders and transit officials to identify and remove barriers to building TOD; and work with policy-makers to ensure that transit is designed with people and development opportunities in mind.

Ms. Poticha has worked closely with a number of communities to help bring the latest thinking about transit and TOD to fruition, including: the San Francisco Bay Area, where she led a team to create the first regional TOD policy that conditions the allocation of new transit funds on good land use planning; Denver, where she worked with both the City and the transit district to create a TOD Strategic Plan and TOD Policy; the Twin Cities to educate a wide variety of community, business and government groups about the value of focusing a portion of the region's growth in neighborhoods served by transit; and in Seattle, where she helped define a funding program for construction of a new streetcar. She also has led a series of national research projects with the CTOD partners to develop new tools for defining the market for TOD and transit, including creation of the National TOD Database; Hidden in Plain Sight: Capturing the Demand for Housing Near Transit, a market-based assessment of housing demand for TOD; the Affordability Index, a tool for quantifying consumer costs of housing and transportation choices; the TOD Typology, recommendations for place types that are appropriately connected to transit; and the Mixed-Income TOD Initiative, a set of research and policysetting efforts to ensure that neighborhoods near transit are diverse.

Prior to this position, she was the Executive Director of the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) from 1997-June 2003. CNU is a nonprofit membership organization made up of professionals, elected officials, and community activists who share a belief that compact, pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use neighborhoods are the best building blocks for vibrant communities. During her tenure, Ms. Poticha guided CNU's growth into a nationwide coalition with a prominent voice in national debates on urban revitalization, growth policy, and sprawl. She also forged alliances with major land development interests, environmental and community organizations, and federal agencies.

As Executive Director of CNU, Ms. Poticha launched a number of key initiatives including resource materials and education programs addressing inner-city revitalization, mixed-income housing, infill development techniques, environmental preservation, alternative transportation policies, and real estate finance reform. She grew the organization from 150 to over 2,500 members; staged annual conferences that drew 1,500 attendees; and oversaw the development and execution of major new programs, including a Regional Partnership Program, an awards program, and a website and media strategy.

Before joining CNU, Ms. Poticha was a planner and consultant for 17 years, working with urban and suburban communities, regional agencies, non-profit groups, community activists, and developers. She served as the San Francisco Bay Area representative for the Surface Transportation Policy Project (STPP), a non-profit organization advocating transportation policies and investments that help protect environmental quality, strengthen the economy, promote social equity, and make communities more livable. For eight years she was a Senior Associate with Calthorpe Associates, a Berkeley-based consulting firm that provides planning and urban design services to public agencies and developers interested in promoting compact regions, pedestrianand transit-oriented neighborhoods, and livable communities

Ms. Poticha has lectured extensively throughout the United States and has served on the faculty of the University of California, University of Oregon, the Seaside Institute, Lincoln Land Institute, and the Mayor's Institute on City Design. She has co-authored three books: The New Transit Town , Charter of the New Urbanism , and The Next American Metropolis , as well as numerous articles and publications on new urbanism, mixed-income housing and transit-oriented development.

She has served as a member of the U.S.-China Residential Building Commission and as an advisor to HRH Prince Charles and The Prince's Foundation, UK. Ms. Poticha holds a Master of City Planning from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She lives in Oakland, California with her husband and twin daughters.

Panelist
Panel 1: Connecting the Dots Between Housing, Transportation, Energy and the Environment

WENDELL PRITCHETT

Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania

Wendell Pritchett is a professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania, where he has been teaching since 2001. He served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the law school from 2006 to 2008. During that time he oversaw the development of the law school curriculum, the creation of a junior faculty mentorship program, and the reorganization of student law journals. Pritchett is also a member of the faculty of the graduate programs of the School of Design and the History Department in the School of Arts and Sciences, and he has led or participated in many university wide initiatives. He is a founding member of the Penn Institute on Urban Research, was one of the principle investigators on a major federally-funded project to examine racial disparities in the treatment of prostate cancer, and served for three years on the Provost’s Planning and Budget Committee, the primary advisory group to the chief academic officer. Before coming to Penn, Pritchett spent five years as assistant professor of history at Baruch College of the City University of New York.

Professor Pritchett received his B.A. from Brown University in 1986, a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1991, and his PhD. in History from the University of Pennsylvania in 1997. He has written two books and numerous articles on topics relating to urban history and policy, particularly in the areas of housing, race relations, land use, and economic development. His first book, Brownsville, Brooklyn: Blacks, Jews, and the Changing Face of the Ghetto (University of Chicago Press 2002), explores race relations and public policy in 20th century Brooklyn. His most recent book, Robert Clifton Weaver and the American City: The Life and Times of an Urban Reformer (University of Chicago Press, 2008), is a biography of the first African-American cabinet secretary, a leading thinker and practitioner of 20th century urban development.

During 2008, Pritchett served as Deputy Chief of Staff and Directory of Policy for Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter. Among other initiatives, he was responsible for the production of the City’s Five Year Plan and Budget, the reorganization of the city’s poverty programs, and the supervision of the operations of the Mayor’s office. During 2007, Pritchett served as Chair of the Urban Policy Task Force for Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. Earlier in his career, Pritchett served as Director of District Offices for Congressman Thomas M. Foglietta (D-PA) and as an attorney representing non-profit organizations in the development of affordable housing. Over the past fifteen years, Pritchett has served in leadership positions in numerous nonprofit organizations. He was Board Chair of Community Legal Services of Philadelphia from 2005 to 2008 and helped expand the organization over that time from an annual budget of $6 million to over $10 million. Through several positions as an attorney, as well as his current roles as President of the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation, Vice-Chair of the Redevelopment Authority of Philadelphia, and member of the Pennsylvania State Planning Board, he has used his extensive experience in policy analysis and development to promote economic opportunity in the Philadelphia region.

Panelist
Panel 5: Affordable Rental Housing Programs: Building Real Opportunities for Families

WENDY D. PURIEFOY

President, Public Education Network

Wendy D. Puriefoy is a nationally recognized expert on issues of school reform and civil society. Ms. Puriefoy is well known for her passionate advocacy of education equity for poor and disadvantaged children and has written and spoken extensively on the issues.

Ms. Puriefoy has been president of Public Education Network (PEN), the nation’s largest network of community-based school reform organizations, since PEN was founded in 1991. Under her visionary leadership, PEN has grown into a national network of local education funds reaching some 12 million children, or about 24 percent of the nation’s public school population.

Ms. Puriefoy has been deeply involved in school reform since the 1970s when she served as a special monitor of the court-ordered desegregation plan for Boston’s public schools.

As president of PEN, Ms. Puriefoy has successfully advocated and implemented systemic reform initiatives in school finance and governance, curriculum and assessment, parent involvement, school libraries and school health. With support from leading national foundations, PEN recently launched multi-million dollar initiatives on teacher quality, standards and accountability, and schools and community services.

Ms. Puriefoy also is a noted leader in the philanthropic world. Prior to being recruited as president of PEN, Ms. Puriefoy was executive vice president and chief operating officer of The Boston Foundation, a community foundation with an endowment of over $750 million supporting public health/welfare, educational, cultural, environmental, and housing programs in Boston, Massachusetts.

Ms. Puriefoy serves on the boards of numerous high-profile national organizations including DEMOS, Hasbro Children’s Foundation, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), the Milton Hershey School and the National Center for Family Philanthropy. In the past, Ms. Puriefoy served on the boards of FairTest, Jobs for the Future, Ms. Foundation for Women, The PEW Forum on Standards-Based Reform, Women and Philanthropy, the National Charities Information Bureau, the Council on Foundations, Teach for America, Children’s Express, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and the Boston Annenberg Challenge.

Ms. Puriefoy received a bachelor of arts degree from William Smith College and holds three master of arts degrees in African American Studies, American Studies, and American Colonial History from Boston University.

Panelist
Panel 2: From Front Yards to Schoolyards: Linking Housing Policy and School Reform

LEWIS RANIERI

Chairman, Ranieri Partners Management LLC

Keynote Roundtable

RICHARD ROTHSTEIN

Research Associate at Economic Policy Institute

Richard Rothstein is a research associate of the Economic Policy Institute. From 1999 to 2002 he was the national education columnist of The New York Times. Rothstein's recent book is Grading Education: Getting Accountability Right (Teachers College Press, 2008). He was a member of the national task force that drafted the statement, "A Broader, Bolder Approach to Education" (www.boldapproach.org), and is also the author of Class and Schools: Using Social, Economic and Educational Reform to Close the Black-White Achievement Gap (2004) and The Way We Were? Myths and Realities of America’s Student Achievement (1998).

Moderator
Panel 2: From Front Yards to Schoolyards: Linking Housing Policy and School Reform

AMY ELLEN SCHWARTZ

Director of the Institute for Education and Social Policy

Amy Ellen Schwartz, a renowned scholar in public policy and economics, is Director of the Institute for Education and Social Policy (IESP) and Professor of Public Policy, Education, and Economics at the Steinhardt School of Education and Wagner School of Public Service. Schwartz’s research is primarily in applied econometrics, focusing on education policy and finance, and urban policy more generally. Her current research projects examine high school reform, the relationship between housing, schooling and neighborhoods, equity and efficiency in school spending, and the education of immigrant students. Her work has been published in the American Economic Review, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, The Journal of Human Resources, The Journal of Public Economics, and Education Finance and Policy, among other academic journals. The author of several book chapters, she co-edited the 2005 Yearbook of the American Education Finance Association (AEFA), Measuring School Performance and Efficiency, and edited City Taxes, City Spending: Essays in Honor of Dick Netzer. She currently serves as the President of the American Education Finance Association, and on various boards including the editorial board for Education Finance and Policy and the Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession (CSWEP).

ROBERT J. SHILLER

Arthur M. Okun Professor of Economics, Yale University

Robert J. Shiller is the Arthur M. Okun Professor of Economics, Department of Economics and Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University, and Professor of Finance and Fellow at the International Center for Finance, Yale School of Management. He received his B. A. from the University of Michigan in 1967 and his Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1972. He has written on financial markets, financial innovation, behavioral economics, macroeconomics, real estate, statistical methods, and on public attitudes, opinions, and moral judgments regarding markets.

His 1989 book Market Volatility (MIT Press) is a mathematical and behavioral analysis of price fluctuations in speculative markets. His 1993 book Macro Markets: Creating Institutions for Managing Society's Largest Economic Risks ( Oxford University Press) proposes a variety of new risk-management contracts, such as futures contracts in national incomes or in real estate that would permit the management of risks to standards of living. His book Irrational Exuberance (Princeton 2000, Broadway Books 2001, 2 nd edition Princeton 2005, and in 15 foreign language editions) is an analysis and explication of speculative bubbles, with special reference to the stock market and real estate. His book The New Financial Order: Risk in the 21 st Century ( Princeton University Press, 2003, 2004, and in 8 foreign language editions) is an analysis of an expanding role of finance, insurance, and public finance in our future.

He has been research associate, National Bureau of Economic Research since 1980, and has been co-organizer of NBER workshops: on behavioral finance with Richard Thaler since 1991, and on macroeconomics and individual decision making with George Akerlof since 1994.

He is co-founder, with Karl Case and Allan Weiss, of Case Shiller Weiss, Inc., an economics research and information firm which was sold in 2002 and renamed Fiserv CSW, Inc. He is also co-founder and principal, with Allan Weiss and Samuel Masucci, of MacroMarkets LLC, a firm devoted to the development of innovative risk-management devices for our largest risks.

He served as Vice President of the American Economic Association, 2005, and President of the Eastern Economic Association, 2006. He writes a column "Finance in the 21 st Century" for Project Syndicate, which publishes around the world, and an "Economic View" column in the Sunday New York Times.

Panelist
Panel 4: Reclaiming the Promise of Homeownership: New Models to Help First-Time Homebuyers Achieve Stability and Build Wealth

WARREN SIMMONS

Executive Director, Annenberg Institute for School Reform

Warren Simmons is Executive Director of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. The Institute’s mission is to develop, share, and act on knowledge that improves the conditions and outcomes of schooling in America, especially in urban communities and in schools serving disadvantaged children. The Institute provides technical assistance and support to several multi-site urban education reform initiatives focused on high school transformation, district redesign, and K–12 improvements in teaching and learning. Before joining the Institute in 1998, Dr. Simmons was Executive Director of the Philadelphia Education Fund where he supported districtwide efforts to enact a ten-point reform agenda called Children Achieving. During his 30-year career Dr. Simmons has also designed and funded urban education research and policy initiatives at the National Institute of Education, the Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs, and at the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Dr. Simmons has also worked directly with schools as special assistant to the superintendent in Prince George’s County Public Schools, and as Director of Race Equity Programs for the Mid-Atlantic Equity Center. Dr. Simmons received a Ph.D. in psychology from Cornell University. He serves on the boards of several national and local education organizations including the Public Education Network, PLATO Learning, Inc., the Merck Institute, the National Center on Education and the Economy, the Campaign for Educational Equity and the Cowen Institute’s National Advisory Council.

Panelist
Panel 2: From Front Yards to Schoolyards: Linking Housing Policy and School Reform

President, Center for Community Self Help; Senior Vice President, Center for Responsible Lending

Eric Stein is president of Center for Community Self-Help and serves as chief operating officer for Self-Help and its affiliates.  Self-Help (www.self-help.org) is a nonprofit community development lender whose mission is to create ownership and economic opportunity for people of color, women, rural residents and low-wealth families and communities.  Its programs include direct home lending, financing home loans to low-income families through banks and credit unions via its secondary market program, commercial and community facilities lending, retail credit union services, and residential and commercial real estate development.  It has provided over $5 billion in financing to over 55,000 home buyers, small business owners and nonprofits in North Carolina and across the nation, with a loss rate of less than 1%.  It has offices throughout North Carolina, in Washington, DC and Oakland, CA.

Eric is also senior vice president of Self-Help’s affiliate, Center for Responsible Lending (www.responsiblelending.org), which is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and policy organization dedicated to protecting homeownership and family wealth by working to eliminate abusive financial practices.  Eric has testified in Congress on predatory mortgage lending, foreclosure prevention and court-supervised modifications.  He is on the Community Development Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. 

Eric was formerly executive director of CASA, a nonprofit organization that develops housing for primarily homeless persons with disabilities.  In addition, he worked for Fannie Mae's Office of Low- and Moderate-Income Housing, Congressman David Price and U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Sam J. Ervin, III.  Eric holds a law degree from Yale Law School and a B.A. from Williams College.

Panelist
Panel 4: Reclaiming the Promise of Homeownership: New Models to Help First-Time Homebuyers Achieve Stability and Build Wealth

JOSEPH TRACEY

Executive Vice President and Director of Research, Federal Reserve Bank of New York

ROBERT VAN ORDER

Adjunct Professor of Finance, University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of Business

Robert Van Order was Chief Economist of Freddie Mac from1987 until 2002. In that capacity he worked on the development of Freddie Mac models of mortgage default, prepayment and pricing; approaches to risk, capital structure and capital requirements; mortgage market structure; and analysis of housing and the economy. Prior to joining Freddie Mac, Van Order served as Director of the Housing Finance Analysis Division at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

He has taught at the Graduate School of Management, University of California , Los Angeles , Purdue University , the University of Southern California , Queens University in Canada , American University in Washington , D.C. , Ohio State University , George Washington University and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania . He has consulted on mortgage markets in Sri Lanka , India , Latvia , Russia , Ghana , Nicaragua , Brazil , Egypt , Colombia , Poland and Pakistan .

He is currently teaching finance and real estate at the University of Michigan and the University of Aberdeen in Scotland .Mr. Van Order received a Ph.D. in Economics from Johns Hopkins University , an M.A. from the University of Essex , and a B.A. degree from Grinnell College.

SUSAN WACHTER

Richard B. Worley Professor of Financial Management; Professor of Real Estate, Finance and City and Regional Planning, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; Co-director, Penn Institute for Urban Research

Moderator
Panel 3: Where Do We Go From Here?: The Future of Fannie and Freddie

SARAH ROSEN WARTELL

Executive Vice President, Center for American Progress

Moderator
Panel 4: Reclaiming the Promise of Homeownership: New Models to Help First-Time Homebuyers Achieve Stability and Build Wealth

LAWRENCE J. WHITE

Lawrence J. White is Arthur E. Imperatore Professor of Economics at New York University's Stern School of Business and Deputy Chair of the Economics Department at Stern. During 1986-1989 he was on leave to serve as Board Member, Federal Home Loan Bank Board, and during 1982-1983 he was on leave to serve as Director of the Economic Policy Office, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice. He is currently the General Editor of The Review of Industrial Organization and Secretary-Treasurer of the Western Economic Association International.

Prof. White received the B.A. from Harvard University (1964), the M.Sc. from the London School of Economics (1965), and the Ph.D. from Harvard University (1969). He is the author of The Automobile Industry Since 1945 (1971); Industrial Concentration and Economic Power in Pakistan (1974); Reforming Regulation: Processes and Problems (1981); The Regulation of Air Pollutant Emissions from Motor Vehicles (1982); The Public Library in the 1980s: The Problems of Choice (1983); International Trade in Ocean Shipping Services: The U.S. and the World (1988); The S&L Debacle: Public Policy Lessons for Bank and Thrift Regulation (1991); and articles in leading economics and law journals.

He is editor or coeditor of eleven volumes: Deregulation of the Banking and Securities Industries (1979); Mergers and Acquisitions: Current Problems in Perspective (1982); Technology and the Regulation of Financial Markets: Securities, Futures, and Banking (1986); Private Antitrust Litigation: New Evidence, New Learning (1988); The Antitrust Revolution (1989); Bank Management and Regulation (1992); Structural Change in Banking (1993); The Antitrust Revolution: The Role of Economics , 2nd edn. (1994); The Antitrust Revolution: Economics, Competition, and Policy , 3rd edn. (1999); The Antitrust Revolution: Economics, Competition, and Policy , 4th edn. (2004); and The Antitrust Revolution: Economics, Competition, and Policy , 5th edn. (2009, forthcoming). He was the North American Editor of The Journal of Industrial Economics, 1984-1987 and 1990-1995.

Prof. White served on the Senior Staff of the President's Council of Economic Advisers during 1978-1979, and he was Chairman of the Stern School's Department of Economics, 1990-1995.

SUSAN ZELMAN

Senior Vice President of Education and Children's Content, Corporation for Public Broadcasting

Susan Zelman joined CPB as Senior Vice President for Education and Children's Content in September 2008. Dr. Zelman will develop and oversee the vision, focus and related strategy for CPB's education and children's content initiatives and manage CPB's administration of the Department of Education's Ready To Learn grant.

Previously, Dr. Zelman was the Superintendent of Public Instruction with the Ohio Department of Education since 1999. During that time she has advanced Ohio 's educational system from midway among states to seventh this year in Education Week's annual Quality Counts Report.

National and state results show that under her leadership, average student scores on state tests have increased and high school students now outperform national SAT and ACT averages . The Goldman Sachs Foundation recently named Ohio a winner of its Prize for Excellence in International Education, citing innovative programs that prepare Ohio students for the 21 st century global marketplace.

Dr. Zelman has held executive posts at the Missouri and Massachusetts departments of education and chaired the Department of Education at Emmanuel College in Boston . She held a five-year appointment with the Education Technology Center of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and was the recipient of the National Science Research Opportunity Award for Women through Columbia Teachers College .

Gannett Newspapers named Dr. Zelman as one of the 10 most powerful and influential women in Ohio state government. She holds a Ph.D. in education from the University of Michigan and is the recipient of numerous honorary degrees.