Public Service: helped lead Oklahoma City through a transformational renaissance and into the upper tier of American Cities. Committed to innovative, yet conservative, practical, ideas and actions that address major public policy issues with a focus on job creation through quality of life initiatives involving economic development, infrastructure, sports, health care, sustainability, public education, neighborhood development and safety. In recognition of national commitment to wellness, invited by the First Lady Michelle Obama to sit in her box at the 2010 State of the Union Address. ? Leadership: served as President for the Unites States Conference of Mayors 2016-2017. Considered to be one of the nation’s foremost experts on municipal issues--with a reputation for bi-partisan leadership. Considerable experience lobbying on behalf of cities in Congress, White House and State Capital. Testified before Congress three times—housing and urban programs, economic development strategies, and infrastructure issues. During tenure as Mayor helped create 100,000 new jobs leading to Oklahoma City’s economy to become one of the strongest in the nation, with the lowest unemployment rate and one of the highest economic development rankings. Spoke at 2012 and 2016 Republican National Conventions. First mayor to ever reach “Diamond Level” in National League of Cities continuing education program. In 2018, named #25 on Fortune Magazine’s list of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders.

Calvin Gladney, LEED AP, is President and CEO of Smart Growth America and is a nationally recognized thought leader on the equitable and sustainable revitalization of communities. Prior to being named President and CEO of Smart Growth America in April of 2018, Mr. Gladney was Managing Partner of Mosaic Urban Partners, a real estate development and advisory services firm that advised non-profits, cities, and elected officials on how to sustainably and equitably regenerate their communities. In 2017, Mr. Gladney was also the Urban Land Institute’s Senior Visiting Fellow for Equity. Over the past ten years, Mr. Gladney has worked on community revitalization projects in more than 25 cities and has served as a strategic advisor on projects with estimated development costs of over $1B and totaling more than 5M square feet of planned development. He has worked on community revitalization projects throughout the United States including projects in Baltimore, Baton Rouge, Birmingham, Boston, Denver, Detroit, the District of Columbia, Grand Rapids, Houston, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Louisville, Memphis, Oakland, Pittsburgh and Prince George’s County, MD. Mr. Gladney through Mosaic was also part of the team that developed a new 31-unit apartment building and a separate two-story restaurant in Washington, DC. Prior to founding Mosaic, Mr. Gladney served as Vice President of the Anacostia Waterfront Corp. (AWC), a DC quasi-public real estate corporation where he assisted the CEO with the management of the Corporation and was the project manager for a master-planned, mixed-use redevelopment of 67 acres of city land. Mr. Gladney also previously served as the General Counsel and Transactions Manager at BRIDGE Housing Corporation, a private developer in San Francisco, CA. At BRIDGE Mr. Gladney was the lead businessperson in the investment of $60 million of CalPERS equity in multiple real estate development deals. He also provided strate

Randy Clarke joined the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) as General Manager and CEO in July 2022. He’s not just Metro’s GM/CEO; he’s also a customer who uses the service every day. The insight Randy gets from his daily rides helps him lead Metro to innovate and improve on behalf of customers. Before joining Metro, Randy served more than four years as President and CEO of Capital Metro in Austin, Texas, where he helped secure one of the country’s largest voter-approved transit referendums in US history. The initiative, called Project Connect, resulted in a multi-billion-dollar infusion for CapMetro’s capital program. Prior to his work in Austin, Randy held key leadership positions in public transportation around the country. He served as the Vice President of Operations and Member Services for the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) in Washington DC from 2016 to 2018. Randy also spent more than six years in various positions with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) in Boston, including Deputy Chief Operating Officer and Assistant General Manager of Engineering, Maintenance and Preparedness, and Senior Director of Security. Originally from Nova Scotia, Canada, Randy holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and History from Acadia University and a master's degree in Public Policy from the University of Southern Maine. He lives in Washington DC with his wife Kimberley (they met in Boston while riding the subway to a Red Sox game) and their two dogs. You can follow Randy on Twitter @wmataGM.

Clark Mercer is Executive Director of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG). In this role, he is responsible for the nonprofit association’s overall administration, supporting the Board of Directors and policy committees, and representing COG before a variety of government, business, and other stakeholder organizations. Mercer is an executive leader with more than 20 years of experience in the public, private, and civic sectors, including serving as a Chief of Staff to Virginia Governor Ralph Northam. Born and raised in Alexandria, Virginia, Mercer received a Master of Public Policy degree from The George Washington University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University.

Rebecca Rockey is the Deputy Chief Economist and Global Head of Forecasting at Cushman & Wakefield. In her decade at the firm, her responsibilities have evolved significantly. Her focus spans economics, demographics, financial markets and commercial real estate—both at the macro and micro levels. She manages the production of national and metro-level commercial real estate forecasts across the Americas, develops predictive econometric and statistical models to enhance the firms’ analytical capabilities and contributes to numerous white papers, webinars, media requests and industry/client presentations. In her global role, she extends this expertise to other regions. She is a strategic internal and external advisor across service lines and regions, connecting research themes to actionable and tactical views on the market. She is certified by the International Institute of Forecasters and is a member of the American Economic Association, the National Association of Business Economics (NABE) and the National Economists Club. In 2014, she was part of the forecast team that won the NABE’s Outlook Award (most accurate forecaster). In 2023, she became Co-Chair of NABE’s Commercial Real Estate Roundtable. She previously worked as a consultant at a consulting firm engineering models to forecast agency subsidy costs and loss reserves for Fannie Mae’s single-family private-label MBS portfolio. Prior to that, she was a junior analyst at the Congressional Budget Office in the Financial Analysis Division (FAD). There, she contributed to numerous analyses related to federal credit programs, accounting treatments of federal credit, and the treatment of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the federal budget. She was particularly focused on fair value estimation of federal direct lending and guarantee credit programs and contributed to FAD’s first comprehensive estimate—across more than 100 credit programs with a portfolio value of $3.1 trillion—for the Congress. She is frequently cited in the media and is an advisor to the NYC Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the New York State Budget Division, and the DC Policy Center. She is also a participant in the Beige Book for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Aileen Fuchs is the President & Executive Director of the National Building Museum, where she started her role in May 2021. For fifteen years, Aileen has been working at the intersection of site-specific historic interpretation, adaptive-reuse activations, and cultural destination-making. A former life-long New Yorker, Aileen served as President and CEO of Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden from 2017-2021. She oversaw the property management and cultural programming of the historic 83-acre site. Before that, she served as Executive Director of Exhibits & Programs for the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation. Her work—through public art initiatives, immersive industry tours, education programs, and exhibitions—was transformational in building the brand of the Brooklyn Navy Yard as a national model for urban industrial manufacturing. Prior to these endeavors, she worked in exhibition development with the American History Workshop, developing content for museums and projects in NY, Philadelphia, Boston and DC. Aileen holds an M.A. and Advanced Certificate in Public History from New York University. She currently serves on the Boards of the Washington DC Economic Partnership and the Downtown DC BID, is a member of Federal City Council and serves on the Consultative Council of the National Institute of Building Sciences.

Evan is Executive Vice President of Acquisition and Development at EYA, LLC. He brings a decade of mixed-use and multi-family experience to the EYA development team and works on sourcing new deals as well as shepherding projects through the development process. Prior to joining EYA, Evan was Vice President of Development at Federal Realty Investment Trust, where he was primarily responsible for managing the development of Pike & Rose a 3 million square foot mixed use project in North Bethesda, Maryland. Evan regularly guest lectures about real estate, planning, and development at local universities. He currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Urban Land Institute Washington and is a Trustee of the Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation’s Capital. In 2012, Evan received the Livable Communities Leadership Award from the Washington, DC based Coalition for Smarter Growth. Evan earned a BS in Design and Environmental Analysis from Cornell University and a MBA in Real Estate and Finance from the Wharton Business School. He lives in Washington, DC with his wife and three young children.

Stephanie is President & CEO of the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership (AEDP). Appointed by the Board of Directors in April 2015, Stephanie has held leadership roles in the organization since 2005. In addition to her responsibilities with the AEDP, Stephanie also provides strategic and financial oversight to two related organizations: the Industrial Development Authority of the City of Alexandria and the Alexandria Small Business Development Center. She also offers advice and information to the Alexandria City Council, Planning Commission and City Departments. Stephanie serves in various capacities on Boards, Commissions and Committees related to economic development, marketing and business throughout the Washington, DC region and statewide. Stephanie holds a Bachelor of Science in City & Regional Planning from the University of Virginia, and an MBA from UVA’s Darden School of Business.

Deborah Kerson Bilek is the Executive Director, of ULI Washington, where she manages and oversees ULI's Washington District Council. If you were to ask Deb to describe her job, she would say, “I put people in rooms and make them talk to each other.” Deb is passionate about building community, and her work centers on facilitating multisector collaboration to achieve a common purpose. She facilitates groups and individuals with different interests around issues of importance to the economic competitiveness of the Metropolitan Region.

Bailey, a Principal at Buchanan Partners, has over 17 years of real estate experience in investment, entitlement, master planning, and development in a diversity of product types. She is currently responsible for a range of investment and development activities across Buchanan’s portfolio. In her prior role as Senior Vice President with JBG SMITH, Bailey oversaw the investment in, and design and entitlement of over seven million square feet of mixed-use development in the DC Metro Area. She began her career in the investments group at the JBG Companies and has a background in underwriting and joint venture partnerships. She is a member of Urban Land Institute, participating as a member of the Public/Private Partnership Council (Blue Flight), serves as Treasurer and Board Member for the Northern Virginia Housing Alliance, and is a sustaining member of the Junior League of Washington. Bailey holds a Master of Business Administration from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, and she graduated from Brown University with a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies.