Ali Barar, AIA
Principal, GGA+

Ali Barar draws upon his 30 years of practice in the Los Angeles affordable housing community to bring planning and design leadership to his valued non-profit clients and the residents they serve. Often designing within dense and complex urban neighborhoods, his human-centered, user-experience approach has led to several pivotal developments that have sensitively reshaped communities across LA. These include the rapidly changing communities of East Los Angeles, Sun Valley, North Hollywood, and the historic core of Pasadena. He has a deep understanding of entitlement issues, as well as the nuances of his clients’ service models, facility program and unit mix design. His community involvement and planning expertise include 10 years of service on the Pasadena Design Review and Planning Commissions. Prior to Joining GGA, Ali was the Architectural Director at Abode Communities. He received his undergraduate education from both the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-arts in Paris and the University of North Carolina. He holds a Master of Architecture degree from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Alice Kimm, FAIA
Principal, John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects & Co-Founder, Open Source Homelessness Initiative (OSHI)

Alice Kimm co-founded John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects (JFAK) in Los Angeles in 1996. JFAK’s work spans educational, institutional, and commercial ventures as well as housing, civic environments, and installations. Alice holds a B.A. in Economics from Cornell, an M.Arch from Harvard, and is a former Fulbright Scholar. A longtime educator, she directed Undergraduate Architecture at USC from 2010-2014. Alice was named a 2004 Emerging Voice by the Architectural League of New York and elevated to the American Institute of Architects’ College of Fellows in 2010. In 2020, Alice with John Friedman and a group of collaborators formed Open Source Homelessness Initiative (OSHI), a nonprofit organization that uses centralized information, resources, and inspiration to educate, as well as to map significant datasets to accelerate innovation in eradicating homelessness. OSHI also connects policymakers, service providers, designers, thought leaders, developers, and artists to collaborate on practical solutions that prioritize human dignity and access.

Amy Anderson
Senior Vice President, Social Impact Lead, Wells Fargo

Amy Anderson is a Senior Vice President with Wells Fargo’s foundation, providing strategic leadership for national philanthropic investments that expand the supply of affordable housing. Wells Fargo’s Housing Affordability Philanthropy catalyzes pathways to affordable and quality homes, especially for underserved communities, by investing in change makers, fostering collaboration, and supporting systemic change in the housing sector. Amy Anderson most recently served as the Chief Housing Officer for Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. In this role, Amy advanced the Mayor’s goals of increased housing production and a stronger safety net for vulnerable and economically disadvantaged Angelenos, using innovation, streamlining, inclusive planning policies, and expanded financial resources to make them possible. During her tenure she helped to realize key COVID emergency programs that lower health risks for impacted populations by improving access to housing, including Project RoomKey, Homekey and emergency rental assistance.

Arielle Rouleau, AIA, LEED AP
Associate & Project Architect, AC Martin

Arielle is a licensed architect and Associate at AC Martin. Her focus as an architect is the design of multi-family housing in Los Angeles and the Southern California region. She has permitted over 2,000 residential units within the last 5 years, in partnership with a variety of private and non-profit development organizations. She strongly believes that design excellence is not solely about aesthetics, but about the successful realization of a project’s objectives through design process efficiency, workflow, and coordination with stakeholders. Arielle is a graduate of the University of Southern California School of Architecture.

Aubrey Merriman
Chief Executive Officer, LifeMoves

Prior to joining LifeMoves, Aubrey served as the CEO at Boys & Girls Clubs of North San Mateo County, where he led the agency through a period of unprecedented growth. Aubrey was one of 15 researchers from throughout the country selected to attend the prestigious Community Fellows Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Aubrey moved to the Bay Area in 1999, accepting the ED position with Camp Fire USA, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz Counties. He then became the founding Silicon Valley Regional VP for Special Olympics Northern California & Nevada where he spent over 12 years, eventually becoming Chief Development Officer. Aubrey then became ED of Summer Search Silicon Valley, building the most diverse team throughout the national footprint of Summer Search. A passionate proponent of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, Aubrey firmly upholds that organizations with demographically diverse talent pools and leadership teams perform better. Leveraging diversity as a competitive advantage can result in greater innovation and success. Aubrey translates this conviction through ABC: Acting as an inclusive leader to ensure an inclusive culture. Building a balanced leadership pipeline by striving to recruit, retain, develop, and advance leaders of color, and Committing to catalyzing conversations and conditions that foster collaboration across demographically diverse teams. Aubrey is a graduate of the Stanford University School of Business, Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders and a Senior Fellow with the American Leadership Forum of Silicon Valley (Class XXXVII). Aubrey was recognized with the Paul Harris Fellows Award from the South San Francisco Rotary Club and he also serves on the Board of Directors for the Center for Excellence in Nonprofits. Aubrey graduated summa cum laude with an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Hawaii Pacific University and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Hawaii.

Brian Lane, FAIA, LEED AP
Principal, KoningEizenberg

Brian has overseen many of the firm’s award-winning community buildings, housing, mixed use, and hospitality projects. He builds neighborhoods, drawing on experience that spans a range of project types for governmental, commercial, non-profit and private clients. His skills converged in the design of many award winning projects, including the 28th Street Apartments, which received a 2015 National AIA Honor Award. His visualization and graphics skills, combined with his planning knowledge, have enabled numerous cities and agencies to evaluate planning and urban design strategies. Recently, he has contributed to the dialogue on emerging ordinances that will aid housing production in Los Angeles and is frequently called upon to share his expertise in community forums and public programs. Under his leadership, KoningEizenberg has earned over 170 design and sustainability awards, and was honored as AIA California’s Firm of the Year in 2009. In 2021, Brian was elevated to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects for design work that propels social benefit and accelerates affordable housing production, while raising the benchmark for neighborhood buildings.

Dana Cuff, PhD
Director, cityLAB, UCLA

Dana Cuff is Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at UCLA where she is also Director of cityLAB, an award-winning think tank that advances experimental urbanism and architecture (www.cityLAB.aud.ucla.edu). Since receiving her Ph.D. in Architecture from Berkeley, Cuff has published and lectured widely about spatial justice, the architectural profession, and affordable housing. She is author of several books, including The Provisional City about postwar housing in Los Angeles, and a co-authored book called Urban Humanities: New Practices for Reimagining the City, documenting her collaborative, cross-disciplinary research and teaching at UCLA funded by the Mellon Foundation. Based on cityLAB’s design research, she co-authored a landmark bill that permits “backyard homes” on virtually all 8 million single-family properties in California (AB 2299, Bloom-2016), doubling the density of suburbs across the state. She and her team are currently working on a wide range of new forms of affordable housing to be co-located with schools. cityLAB recently initiated a satellite center in one underserved neighborhood of Los Angeles, where a deep, multi-year exchange with community organizations is already demonstrating ways that humanistic design of the public realm can create more compassionate cities. Cuff was the recent recipient of two prestigious awards: Women in Architecture Activist of the Year (2019, Architectural Record) and Educator of the Year (2020, American Institute of Architects Los Angeles).

Daniel Simons, FAIA, LEED AP
Principal, David Baker Architects

Daniel Simons, FAIA, LEED AP, is a Principal at David Baker Architects, a progressive architecture firm in San Francisco that creates acclaimed buildings and communities in diverse environments. With more than 20 years of architectural experience, Daniel has focused on the field of sustainable multifamily housing. He guides DBA’s sustainability initiatives and uses his extensive knowledge of green building practices and progressive city planning to minimize the buildings’ environmental impact while improving the quality of life for residents. In 2018, Daniel was elevated to Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, recognizing his exceptional work and contributions to architecture and society. He is an ongoing lecturer at the U.C. Berkeley College of Environmental Design, where he helps guide future generations of designers.

Denice Wint, LEED AP
Director of Real Estate Development, EAH Housing

Denice Wint is responsible for affordable housing real estate development and project management across assigned geographic areas, and for assisting in the promotion and execution of the EAH Housing mission. Ms. Wint is primarily responsible for the supervision of project management of multi-million-dollar rental housing and other real estate development projects on behalf of EAH and facilitating relationships within the assigned geographic areas to further the EAH mission. She ensures successful closing of a specified number of real estate projects when compared against approved project completion timelines and within board approved budget limits. Ms. Wint also, manages activities during the Predevelopment, Development, Initial or Construction Closing, Construction, and Final Closing stages. Ms. Wint joined EAH in 2018 after serving as the Director of Projects & Services, for Innovative Housing Opportunities (IHO). She oversaw real estate and community development projects as well as enhanced services programs. Before working at IHO, Denice worked at Los Angeles Housing Partnership (LAHP) for over seven years starting out as an Assistant Project Manager and working up to Senior Project Manager. She brought extensive experience in community and economic development, complex financial modeling, transit-oriented development (TOD), infill, historic, and mixed-use development including commercial components. Leading to this position, Denice was at Abode Communities where she served as a LISC AmeriCorps member. Ms. Wint is an elected member of the Harbor City Neighborhood Council, a board member of Southern California Association of Non Profit Housing and Richmond Neighborhood Services, serves on various committees, and often is an invited panelist or speaker to many local industry groups. She is an economic empowerment advocate and lends her expertise in teaching long-term financial management and financial resource development skills to low-income communities. Ms. Wint holds a master’s degree in Public Policy from USC and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Scripps College.

Elizabeth Funk
Founder & CEO, Dignity Capital

Elizabeth Funk is an accomplished executive and public company CEO with extensive expertise in global markets, technology, and strategic growth. She is a thought leader and veteran in harnessing the power of capitalism to solve the world’s most pressing problems. She has served as the General Partner of several impact funds, including as the founder of the Dignity Fund, one of the first for-profit funds in the microfinance industry. She now serves as the Senior General Partner at Dev Equity, an impact fund currently deploying Fund II investing in low incoming housing, urban revitalization and preservation, and sustainable agriculture companies across Latin America (Nicaragua, Honduras, Panama, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Peru) where she serves as an active board member advising her portfolio companies. Elizabeth started her career as a Product Manager for Microsoft Word and on the founding team of Microsoft Office. After graduating as a Baker Scholar from Harvard Business School, she joined Yahoo! as one of the earliest employees, was a founder of Yahoo! Shopping, among other Yahoo! services. Elizabeth was President and CEO of CML Global Capital, a publicly traded investment conglomerate based in Canada. As CEO she oversaw several major transactions and eventually a privatization of the corporation. Elizabeth has recently founded a new entity, DignityMoves, to address the crisis of homelessness in the United States. Together with fellow members of Young Presidents Organization (YPO) she has developed a model using prefabricated modular units to rapidly and cost-effectively build dignified, interim housing solutions.

Farooq Ameen, AIA
Principal, City Design Studio

Farooq Ameen is the founding principal of City Design Studio, an architecture and urban design practice dedicated to revitalizing communities. Ameen’s works, writings, and exhibitions have been widely published including “The South Asian Paradigm”, “Fifty Under Fifty, Innovators of the 21st Century” and the forthcoming “deCoding Asian Urbanism”. Ameen has held academic appointments at SCI-Arc (Los Angeles / Lugano), Woodbury University, Calpoly Pomona among others and has lectured widely. Recent and current projects include the King Solomon Village Housing in Los Angeles, the West Santa Ana Transit Corridor TOD Strategic Plan for 15 station areas in Los Angeles County; the Clippers Plaza Development in Inglewood and the Zizhu International High Tech Zone Mixed-Use District in Shanghai. Ameen is a member of the Board of Directors at the A+D Architecture and Design Museum. He received a Master of Architecture from UCLA.

François Bar
Professor of Communication and Spatial Sciences, Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, USC

François Bar is professor of communication and spatial sciences at USC. He serves on the Annenberg Innovation Lab research council and is a steering committee member of the Annenberg Research Network on International Communication. His research and teaching explore the social and economic impacts of information technologies, with a specific focus on telecommunication policy, user-driven innovation and technology appropriation. His most recent work examines the potential of information technology for economic, social and cultural development, in places ranging from East Africa to Latin America to South Los Angeles.

Gail Peter Borden, FAIA
Professor, Director of Graduate Programs, Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design, University of Houston & Principal, Borden Partnership & Author, “City of Refugees”

Gail Peter Borden, FAIA is a Professor and Director of Graduate Programs at the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design at the University of Houston. He is principal of Borden Partnership and has authored numerous books including: Material Precedent, Matter, Principia, Lineament and New Essentialism. As an architect designer, artist, theoretician, and practitioner, his work focuses on the role of materiality and architecture in contemporary culture.

Gio Aliano, AIA
Principal Architect, Abode Communities

Gio Aliano is principal architect of Abode Communities, a multidisciplinary organization dedicated to bringing housing and social equity to communities throughout California. As leader of Abode Communities’ architectural design studio, Aliano’s holistic approach to delivering well-designed environments is anchored by the philosophy that architecture must be accessible for all in order to create a true sense of dignity and purpose. Aliano has more than three decades of design experience and is particularly immersed in the intricacies of affordable/supportive housing and mixed-use projects with community-serving uses such as health and education. Among his current work, he is leading the advancement of modular, prefabricated design as a means to address the housing and homelessness crisis as part Abode Communities, Mercy Housing, and LA Family Housing’s $40 million City of Los Angeles HHH Innovation Challenge award.

Greg Comanor
Partner, Daylight Community Development

Greg Comanor is a native Angeleno focused on affordable housing and public policy. He completed his undergraduate degree at Washington University in St Louis and completed his MBA at UCLA Anderson School of Management. He’s worked in investment banking, consulting, and affordable housing development before founding Daylight Community Development. He is an avid Philadelphia sports fan and fully Trusts The Process.

Iris Anna Regn
Civic Art Project Manager, Special Projects, Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture

Iris Anna Regn is a designer and creative strategist working as Civic Art Project Manager, Special Projects at the LA County Department of Arts and Culture. With a background in architecture and social practice, she focusses on placemaking, community building, and creative mentorship through the collaborative development of transdisciplinary art and design projects. Her projects range in scale and scope from LA County’s publication in support of ADUs to helping define the vision for Arts and Culture in the 2020 LA River Master Plan.

Jennifer McElyea
Senior Managing Partner, Watt Investment Partners

Jennifer leads Watt Investment Partners, the commercial real estate investment arm of the Watt Companies. Her 20 year real estate investment career includes investment banking, private equity, development and public-private partnership experience. She is a sought out thought leader on the topic of leveraging private capital for the creation of affordable housing and has a deep expertise in California land-use law, the entitlement process, and building community and financial stakeholder consensus. Jennifer is currently heading the development of a major Los Angeles mixed-income project in partnership with LA Metro and LA County, in addition to launching ETHOS, an affordable housing preservation strategy. She is an appointee to the Board of the California Organized Investment Network (COIN) and is actively involved in advancing California housing policy.

Joanne Price
VP Real Estate & Operations, LifeMoves

Joanne has 15+ years’ experience overseeing commercial real estate investment and development across multiple sectors including commercial office, retail, residential and government. Jo’s passion for real estate started when she first studied at the renowned Bartlett School of Architecture at the University College London, where she learned to embrace sustainable yet forward thinking design while preserving deep cultural heritage by connecting with local communities through grass roots efforts. This philosophy has blossomed throughout Jo’s career and coupled with a MSc in project management makes her a highly collaborative, creative and tenacious manager known for resolving complex real estate issues. Jo aims to combine her wealth of experience to enhance and extend LifeMoves facilities to increase capacity for our clients and help address the crisis of homelessness in Silicon Valley. Jo grew up on a farm in Wales and traveled extensively before settling in California. She is also an active volunteer and Urban Land Institute (ULI) class facilitator.

John S. Egan, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP
Principal Architect, EGAN | SIMON architecture

As Principal of EGAN|SIMON architecture, John Egan’s 24+ years of practice has focused on affordable housing, education, hospitality and mixed-use projects. Being a licensed architect, and well‐versed in both design and construction management, his work is recognized by many organizations including the Clinton Global Initiative, US Green Building Council and the Southern California Association of Non-Profit Housing (SCANPH). He is routinely called upon to speak at events including the Annual Housing California Conference and California Affordable Housing Development Association. John believes in environmentally responsible architecture and his practice borrows from the past, and current technologies, to create progressive architecture.

Jonas Weber, AIA, LEED AP
Associate and Modular Lead, David Baker Architects

Jonas Weber AIA, LEED AP, is an Associate with David Baker Architects, a progressive architecture and urban design firm based in San Francisco, Oakland, and Birmingham, Alabama. With more than two decades of professional experience, including focused collaboration on sustainable multifamily projects, Jonas is a leader of DBA’s modular design studio. He is currently guiding the completion of Tahanan Supportive Housing—a high-density modular development for formerly unhoused residents in San Francisco—and recently completed the Union Flats—a 243-unit market-rate transit-oriented modular community in Union City, California. His affordable housing experience includes buildings for low-income seniors, youth aging out of foster care, and formerly homeless families. Jonas has also managed projects for a range of religious institutions, which he finds has attuned him to the ways users engage form, space, and materials. You can contact him at jonasweber@dbarchitect.com.

Karla Grijalva, AIA
Senior Associate, NAC Architecture

Karla Grijalva is an Architect and Senior Associate at NAC, based in Los Angeles. She has over 28 years of experience, focusing on civic, educational, and healthcare project types. She is especially interested in sustainability and interior environments and believes that design should be human-centric, driven by the stories of people who use the spaces. Karla’s recently completed and notable projects include The Lotus, an interim housing project on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles, as well as the Reentry Opportunity Center, a one-stop facility to assist probation clients. These facilities serve Los Angeles County’s most vulnerable population and create the environments necessary to aid each person who uses them. Karla holds a Masters of Science in the Built Environment, Energy Efficiency and Climate Responsive Architecture from Arizona State University and a Bachelor degree in Architecture from Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey.

Kelsey Madigan, LCSW
Director of Interim Housing, LA Family Housing

Kelsey Madigan is the Director of Interim Housing for LA Family Housing. Kelsey has received her Master’s degree in Social Work at University of Michigan and is licensed as a Clinical Social Worker in the state of California. She oversees the programmatic operations and program development at all 13 of LAFH’s family and individual adult interim housing sites. Kelsey provides consultation in best practices for design and program implementation for interim housing sites nationwide. She also utilizes her clinical background to assist LAFH’s Real Estate Development Department in taking a trauma informed care approach when informing design and build of new interim housing sites, which most recently includes The Willows.

Lise Bornstein, AIA, LEED AP
Partner, KFA, LLP

As a partner at KFA Architecture, Lise is in charge of project concept and design, and incorporates her love of art and community while achieving her clients’ goals. Focused on strong design concepts, she has managed projects with complex entitlement packages, multiple funding sources and significant community outreach while working collaboratively with clients, consultants, contractors and in-house teams. Lise is the partner in-charge for a diverse portfolio of affordable and permanent supportive housing projects including the West Los Angeles VA Campus, PATH Metro Villas, Step Up on Colorado, Blue Hibiscus, SP7, Hayworth House, Pico Robertson Senior Community, and the Havenhurst Apartments. Since 1990, KFA has designed over 6,000 units of affordable housing in 57 different buildings for 27 different affordable housing developers in Los Angeles County. Twelve of these projects, containing nearly 1,800 units, have been in Downtown Los Angeles and on Skid Row. It has been a great point of pride for the firm to participate in housing people who might otherwise be sleeping on our streets, in substandard conditions, or beyond their affordability range. The firm’s affordable housing experience includes projects for families, seniors, special needs, veterans, and the formerly homeless. KFA has been an active member of the Southern California Association of Non-Profit Housing (SCANPH) since its start in Los Angeles and has received dozens of awards for affordable housing design.

Lorcan O’Herlihy, FAIA
Founder & Design Principal, Lorcan O’ Herlihy Architects

Lorcan O’Herlihy, FAIA, is the founder and design principal of Lorcan O’ Herlihy Architects [LOHA]. Since LOHA’s 1994 inception, O’Herlihy has sought opportunities to engage the ever-changing complexities of the urban landscape, embracing the role of architecture as a catalyst of change. His social concerns and fascination with the structure of cities has inspired an exploration of the creative interaction between public and private spaces and an emphasis on social and civic connectivity. O’Herlihy’s professional pursuits have run in parallel to his academic and intellectual ambitions, enriching and heightening both. He received a Master of Arts in Histories and Theories from the Architectural Association in London, writing a dissertation on social connectivity and generative urban strategies. He has taught and lectured extensively over the last decade, and is currently a Professor at the University of Southern California.

Marina Quiñonez, R.A.
Senior Architect, Architectural Division, Bureau of Engineering, Department of Public Works, City of Los Angeles

Marina has been working in design and construction for the last 17 years with the Bureau of Engineering, City of Los Angeles. As the Program Manager for the Homeless Facilities Program, she has recently focused on the Mayor’s Homeless Initiative that built 14 “A Bridge Home” facilities with 1,283 beds and three Navigation Centers. The current Phase 2 of the Initiative includes a series of Tiny Home Villages, currently totaling 673 beds, as well as safe camping and safe parking sites. Marina has also participated in the design and construction of many recreation centers for the Department of Recreation and Parks, most notably as the design architect for the new Woodland Hills Recreation Center. Marina graduated from UCLA with a Master’s degree in Architecture in 2006 and Woodbury University in 2005 where she completed her Bachelor’s Degree.

Mark Lahmon, AIA, LEED AP
Founder, LAHMON ARCHITECTS

Mark Lahmon received a Bachelor of Architecture from Woodbury with honors in 1997. He spent 7 years working as a carpenter for a small contractor before starting a summer internship at OMA followed by work with Frank Gehry and John Sergio Fisher on performance theatre design and documentation. After 6 years at Killefer Flammang Architects, he became a founding partner at PSL Architects concentrating on affordable housing for 10 years before launching LAHMON ARCHITECTS in 2015. Mark founded Lahmon Architects building on his experience in design and construction of multi-family and mixed-use housing with an emphasis on publicly funded housing. Lahmon Architects is primarily concerned with creating unique architecture that is absent of current design trends. We strongly believe that well-designed architecture with unique character contributes to one’s self-worth through a sense of comfort, pride, and empowerment, laying the foundation for upward mobility. Our design approach is one that is largely rooted in the articulation of methods of constructability paired with the experience of the designed environment while also responding to context. To date, Mark is responsible for over 30 affordable housing projects providing over 1,500 affordable units, many receiving awards at local and national levels.

Mark Oberholzer, AIA
Associate Principal, KTGY

Mark Oberholzer’s strength is engaging with the context of client goals, zoning complexity, urban design, stakeholder influences, economic imperatives and design integrity to tease out extraordinary architectural solutions. Over the last five years, Mark has been at the forefront of KTGY’s expertise in innovative construction techniques – harnessing the design possibilities of modular construction, bearing steel stud systems and heavy timber. Mark sees construction technology as another part of the context of design, bringing a conviction that collaboration, imagination, hard work and a sense of humor are the best tools to reaching the goal of better design.

Michael H. Anderson, AIA, NOMA
Principal, Anderson Barker, Inc.

Michael Anderson is principal architect of Anderson Barker, an architecture, urban economic development firm in Los Angeles. His expertise is transit stations, communities, aviation, civic, commercial, residential, and municipal infrastructure projects such as streetscapes, parking structures, community centers, and parks. He focuses to aid municipalities to modernize underserved communities and increase homeownership utilizing business strategies that are mutually beneficial to all parties. He is currently working on a pilot project for accelerated equity housing and transit-oriented community (TOC) solutions by collaborating public funding, private capital sources, and real estate development companies. He is currently completing a book, Urban Magic: Vibrant Black and Brown Communities Are Possible.

Michael B. Lehrer, FAIA
Founding Partner, LehrerArchitects LA

Michael B. Lehrer, FAIA founded LehrerArchitects LA in his native Silverlake District of Los Angeles. The work–from the intimate to the monumental–is grounded in the idea that beauty is a rudiment of human dignity. He designs for the community with a reverence for light and space. Delight is a matter of extreme gravitas in the work. The work is to elevate every day and celebrate the community. In 2020, The American Institute of Architects Los Angeles bestowed the Gold Medal, its “highest honor” on Michael. “His devotion to fellow humans is matched by his mastery of craft,” stated 2020 AIALA President Greg Verabian, AIA. “He is an architect fully engaged in architecture as a means to contribute to society as a whole.” He was President of the American Institute of Architects, Los Angeles in 1999 and founded their annual, ongoing Legislative Day that year which has fundamentally changed the nature of the profession in LA and is in its 20th year. He initiated the AIA/LA push to make GREAT STREETS a central initiative in our city.

Molly Rysman
Chief Program Officer, Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority

Molly Rysman has spent over twenty years working to ensure that solutions to homeless are grounded in principles of housing justice. She currently serves as the Chief Program Officer for the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, one of the largest Continuums of Care in the country. She previously served as the Senior Homeless and Housing Deputy for Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl. Her experience in the public and nonprofit sectors includes having served in leadership roles for the Corporation for Supportive Housing, Skid Row Housing Trust, and working for Eric Garcetti when he was Los Angeles City Council President. She currently serves on Board of Directors for the American Institute of Architects Los Angeles. In 2017 Molly was awarded a Stanton Fellowship which allowed her to create the Reframing Homeless Solutions project and co-host the Housing Justice LA podcast. Molly started her career providing direct services in a homeless youth drop-in center and domestic violence shelters.

Nerin Kadribegovic, AIA
Partner, LehrerArchitects LA

A third-generation architect passionate about resolving complex design problems, especially where the economy is of paramount importance; he finds beauty in the rigor and discipline of dissolving obstacles; his forté is navigating extremely restrictive challenges with heightened creative thinking, strategic logic, and aesthetic to discover unconventional design solutions. He is obsessed with artfully directing natural light through the built space to create nuanced unexpected experiences. As a partner, Nerin plays a strategic design and business leadership role. Informed by a multi-cultural background coupled with extensive global travel, in overseeing major projects he contributes unique perspectives on contemporary design agendas and social issues impacting today’s architectural process. Enduring displacement as a refugee of the war in Bosnia, his experience evokes deep empathic connection to homelessness and critical issues facing our city. Nerin served as lead architect on the award-winning ‘Restore Neighborhoods Los Angeles design project. Featured on the cover of Dwell Magazine in 2020, the project is a key social impact design endeavor reflecting Lehrer Architect’s signature core values: strength, utility/economy, and ‘beauty as a rudiment of human dignity.

Nika Soon-Shiong
Executive Director, Fund for Guaranteed Income (F4GI)

Nika Soon-Shiong is the Executive Director of the Fund for Guaranteed Income (F4GI), which supports guaranteed income pilots in the United States to catalyze the vital redistribution of wealth and build momentum towards an income floor for all Americans. She directs the F4GI Compton Pledge, the largest guaranteed income initiative in United States history in partnership with Compton Mayor Aja Brown’s office, Black Lives Matter, One Fair Wage, Brother Crusade, and over 20 advocacy organizations. She is a doctoral candidate at Oxford University’s Department of International Development, where her research examines how India’s national ID system is re-engineering notions of universal social incorporation that are expressed in both citizenship and welfare processes. Nika is also a member of the West Africa Unique Identification for Regional Integration and Inclusion team at the World Bank Group, a $394.1m operation providing foundational identification to 100 million individuals to enhance the reach and quality of social protection at the regional level. When Covid-19 hit, she authored a report on using digital technologies to deliver cash transfers and supported partnerships, fundraising, and technical strategy for One Fair Wage’s Emergency Fund for Workers. She has recently joined the Board of One Fair Wage and Compton Community Development Corporation. Prior to her PhD, Nika worked in the Office of the President at the World Bank Group to support new corporate and regional approaches given disruptive technologies’ impact on development pathways. She established the World Bank Group’s strategy for managing partnerships with global companies including Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft (among others) to influence the technology industry towards development objectives. Nika remains a consultant in the Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice, where she led an innovation challenge powered by MIT Solve to unearth solutions towards a social insurance platform for informal sector workers. Previously, Nika researched school infrastructure delivery and public procurement processes for a grassroots activist movement in South Africa. She developed political education materials, media publications, and reports, as well as led community organizing work. The Department of Education committed to implementing her policy recommendations following the activism of high schoolers across the country. During her time in South Africa and Botswana, she led three photography-based storytelling initiative to uplift community voices around issues of joblessness and opportunity.

Peter Jay Zweig, FAIA
Professor & Curator of International Exhibitions, Gerald. D Hines College of Architecture and Design, University of Houston & Author, “City of Refugees”

Peter Jay Zweig, FAIA, is a Professor and Curator of International Exhibitions at the Gerald. D Hines College of Architecture + Design at the University of Houston. He is principal of the award winning Peter Jay Zweig Architects, is an author / co-author, including: City of Refugees, Houston: Genetic City, Risky Habit[at], History of the Future, was curator of the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale, received 80 worldwide patents, and co-represented the US (BPZ) as one of five firms at the 2010 Guangzhou Biennale.

Rosanne Haggerty
President & Chief Executive Officer, Community Solutions

Rosanne Haggerty is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Community Solutions. She is an internationally recognized leader in developing innovative strategies to end homelessness and strengthen communities. Community Solutions assists communities throughout the US and internationally in solving the complex housing problems facing their most vulnerable residents. Their large-scale change initiatives include the 100,000 Homes and Built for Zero Campaigns to end chronic and veteran homelessness and neighborhood partnerships that bring together local residents and institutions to change the conditions that produce homelessness. Earlier, she founded Common Ground Community, a pioneer in the design and development of supportive housing and research-based practices that end homelessness. Ms. Haggerty was a Japan Society Public Policy Fellow, and is a MacArthur Foundation Fellow, Ashoka Senior Fellow, Hunt Alternative Fund Prime Mover and the recipient of honors including the Jane Jacobs Medal for New Ideas and Activism from the Rockefeller Foundation, Social Entrepreneur of the year from the Schwab Foundation, Cooper Hewitt/Smithsonian Design Museum’s National Design Award and Independent Sector’s John W. Gardner Leadership Award. She is a graduate of Amherst College and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.

Sarah Stripp
Program Manager, Springboard To Opportunities

Sarah Stripp is the Program Manager for Springboard To Opportunities. She is an experienced strategist and program coordinator and has worked for the past seven years in community development based non-profits taking on a variety of roles from providing direct services to coordinating and building local and national partnerships. She has been at Springboard To Opportunities since the beginning of 2016, providing on-the-ground supportive services for families and coordinating and managing larger initiatives for the organization such as The Magnolia Mother’s Trust and the organization’s work around Children’s Savings Accounts. Sarah is currently a W.K. Kellogg Foundation Community Leadership Network fellow and a graduate of the Aspen Institute’s Jackson Workforce Leadership Academy Class of 2020-21, one of several Workforce Leadership in localities across North America.

Hon. Sydney Kamlager
Senator, District #30, State of California

Senator Sydney K. Kamlager represents the 30th Senate District, which includes the diverse communities of Culver City, Ladera Heights, Westmont, and the Crenshaw, Downtown, and Florence neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Elected to the California State Senate in the March 2021 special election, Senator Kamlager has spent her career prioritizing equity and access for Californians, especially for Angelenos. She has authored landmark legislation in the areas of criminal justice reform, health care equity, environmental protections, and affordable housing – including the most transformative probation reform law in the country and legislation requiring implicit bias training for health care professionals, law enforcement, and court employees. Senator Kamlager currently serves on the Appropriations, Budget and Fiscal Review, Governmental Organization, Human Services, Public Safety, and Rules Senate committees. She is Vice Chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus and chair of the Los Angeles County Delegation, and has previously served as chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Incarcerated Women. Prior to being elected to the California State Assembly in 2018, Kamlager served as District Director for California State Senator Holly J. Mitchell while also serving as President of the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD). She is a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority and earned a B.A. in political Science from USC and a M.A. in Arts Management and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University. Senator Kamlager lives in View Park with her husband, Austin Dove, her two step-children, and their dog Kush and cat Kisi Whitepaws.

Wade Killefer, FAIA
President, AIA Los Angeles & Partner Emeritus, KFA, LLP

Wade started KFA in 1975 and it has been his only job since he quit framing houses to attend architecture school. Wade was born in San Francisco and grew up in Washington, D.C., before receiving his B.A. in English from Stanford. He attended UCLA’s School of Architecture and Urban Planning, where he met Barbara Flammang, his partner for 40 years; they were married in 1977 and have two adult children. Barbara and Wade received a special City Re-Builder of the year from the AIA/LA in 2004 for their work igniting adaptive reuse in DTLA: Wade was elected to the College of Fellows in 2006.