Conexiones: Hispanic Heritage Month Event

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with an evening dedicated to connections and insightful discussion!

Join us for a night of networking and a panel discussion hosted by the ULI LA DEI Committee, AIA|LA JEDI Committee, and the UCLA Latino Alumni Association.

This event will bring together leaders from the AEC industry’s public and private sectors to share their perspectives on the current state of the industry, and future trends from a Latinx viewpoint.

Moderator

Elizabeth Camacho – Partner, Loeb & Loeb LLP

Elizabeth Camacho focuses her practice on land use and development law, including permitting, associated environmental review and related litigation. She works with property developers and owners providing comprehensive land use counsel from the earliest stages of strategic project planning through the entitlement process and, if necessary, defense of any legal challenge.

Elizabeth represents clients in connection with development projects of all sizes across a broad range of uses, including multi-family residential, office/commercial, master-planned communities, entertainment centers, hotels, institutional facilities, energy and public infrastructure. Her experience with general planning and zoning law, historic preservation law and design review is extensive, as is her familiarity with the California Environmental Quality Act, the Subdivision Map Act and the California Coastal Act. She has also worked on endangered species protection, air and water quality regulation, land use and growth control initiatives, and inverse condemnation/takings. In addition, Elizabeth’s practice includes land use-related due diligence and representation of owners, operators and lenders in land use litigation.

Outside of her land use practice, Elizabeth has served as a volunteer attorney for the Alliance for Children’s Rights Foster Child Adoption Project and as a voluntary settlement officer for the Beverly Hills Municipal Court. Elizabeth has dedicated countless hours as a mentor, advocate and fundraiser in support of organizations seeking to increase diversity within the legal profession. She recently completed an eight year term on the Latina Lawyers Bar Association Board of Trustees, including two years as its President, and currently serves as a Trustee for the Mexican American Bar Foundation.

Panelist 

Evelyn Cortez-Davis – Chief of Staff for the Water System at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, LADWP

Evelyn Cortez-Davis, P.E., BCEE is the Chief of Staff for the Water System at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the largest municipal utility in the USA. She has over 30 years of water industry experience in the areas of engineering design, planning, pipeline construction, asset management, water operations, recycled water, water supply, conservation, groundwater remediation, and environmental compliance.

As Chief of Staff supporting LADWP’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Engineer, Evelyn supports Department-wide strategic initiatives, including enterprise performance management, process improvements, sustainability initiatives, equity strategies, and culture management. In her most recent prior role, she was the first Latina to serve as LADWP Director of Water Engineering, overseeing the planning, design, and delivery of major infrastructure projects to supply reliable water to the 4 million people of the City of Los Angeles.

She has also served as the Assistant Director of Water Resources and was the first woman to serve as Assistant Director of Water Operations. She has served on the Colorado River Board of California, on the Board of Directors of the National Water Research Institute, and on the Board of Trustees of WateReuse California. A first-generation immigrant from El Salvador, Evelyn is a proud Bruin who earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from UCLA. She is a registered Civil Engineer in California and is a Board-Certified Environmental Engineer.

Panelist 

Carlos Gonzalez – Division President, Clark Construction

Carlos Gonzalez provides executive leadership for more than $1 billion of construction activities in Southern California.
He is responsible for the region’s day-to-day operations, business development, and project development, including inception, contract negotiations, and monitoring construction progress.

Throughout his tenure at Clark, Carlos has served in project management, field supervision, and overall leadership roles for clients such as the San Diego Padres, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Delta Airlines, LAX, Walt Disney Imagineering, the State of California, JMI Realty, Host Hotels & Resorts, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, the General Services Administration, Veteran Affairs, the University of California, and California State University.

Carlos previously served as general manager of Clark Concrete, Clark’s self-perform structural concrete business unit in the Mid-Atlantic. Carlos earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in civil engineering from San Diego State University. He also earned a master’s degree in business administration and management at the University of California, San Diego.

Carlos serves on the board of directors of the National ACE Mentor Program and Hope Builders. He is also a member of the Civil Engineering Advisory Board at San Diego State University.

Panelist 

Ray Sosa – Chief Planning Officer in LA Metro’s Countywide Planning & Development, Metro

Ray Sosa is the Chief Planning Officer in LA Metro’s Countywide Planning & Development Department (CP&D). LA Metro’s CP&D is responsible for planning the county’s regional transit system and programming federal, state, and local transportation funds for the county’s transit system, highway programs, and locally sponsored, regionally significant projects of all modes of transportation.

Mr. Sosa’s transportation career has spanned for more than two decades in the Southern California region with a focus on planning and delivering major transit projects, both in the public and private sectors including working at the globally recognized, AECOM, where he served in various roles, including VP West Region Transit Rail Market Sector.

Mr. Sosa earned his master’s degree in Transportation planning from the University of California, Los Angeles, and bachelor’s degree in government from Dartmouth College.

Panelist 

Chris Torres – Principal, Agency Artifact

Chris is an award-winning landscape architect and urban designer passionate about creating a more equitable, resilient and vibrant Los Angeles.

As a native Angelino he first discovered urbanism as a musician, performing throughout and falling in love with the unique neighborhoods of the city. He founded Agency Artifact (MBE) as a civic design studio, creating ambitious placemaking experiences. He is currently leading projects such as the Fairplex Specific Plan with over 10,000 units of housing and re-envisioning the Norwalk Civic Center as a mixed-use entertainment destination with affordable housing. He has over a decade of both local and international experience designing urban parks, public art, large-scale housing projects and regenerative infrastructure. Prior to founding Agency Artifact, he led projects at Rios, Walt Disney Imagineering, SOM and the public art program at LA METRO. Chris was a Design Principal at the Jerde Partnership and served as a Vice President for the organization with over 100 designers working globally.

He believes that urban design should be transparent and community-based. Chris is an active public speaker, researcher and educator on topics related to public space and the future of cities. He was a visiting researcher of Urban Design at the Queensland University of Technology, lecturer in Landscape Architecture and Urbanism at USC, Vice President of the LA Forum for Architecture and Urban Design, member of Mayor Garcetti’s Great Street’s design advisory committee and served on the Board of Directors of the Landscape Architecture Foundation. He was appointed to serve as Planning Commissioner for the City of Los Angeles- South LA APC. Chris holds a BA in Urban Studies from LMU, Master of Landscape Architecture from UC Berkeley, and training in Urban Design from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.