2025 Fall Advisory Council Meeting
Attendee List & Face Book
Please scroll for photos, ordered by Elected Officials, Partner Attendees, AFA Board and Staff.
* denotes AFA Advisory Council member.
ELECTED OFFICIALS
Mayor Freddie O'Connell*, Nashville, TN & Fall 2025 Meeting Host
Mayor Quinton Lucas*, Kansas City, MO & Advisory Council Co-Chair
Mayor Kate Gallego*, Phoenix, AZ & Advisory Council Co-Chair
Mayor Bryan Barnett*, Rochester Hills, MI
Mayor Jane Castor*, Tampa, FL
Mayor Andre Dickens*, Atlanta, GA
Mayor Alyia Gaskins, Alexandria, VA
Controller Chris Hollins, Houston, TX
Chairman Mike Kelly, Johnson County, KS
Mayor Tim Kelly*, Chattanooga, TN
Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson*, RIverside, CA
Mayor Lauren McLean*, Boise, ID
Mayor Christina Muryn, Findlay, OH
Mayor Angie Deuitch, Michigan City, IN
Mayor Steve Patterson, Athens, OH
Mayor Steven Reed*. Montgomery, AL
Councilmember Emmanuel V. Remy, Columbus, OH
Mayor Rex Richardson, Long Beach, CA
Mayor Daniel Rickenmann*, Columbia, SC
Mayor Andy Schor*, Lansing, MI
Mayor Cara Spencer, St. Louis, MO
Mayor Matthew Tuerk, Allentown, PA
Clerk Anna Valencia*, Chicago, IL
Mayor Layne Wilkerson, Frankfort, KY
Mayor Corey Woods*, Tempe, AZ
Mayor Paul Young, Memphis, TN
ATTENDING PARTNERS
Kendra Abkowitz, City of Nashville
Diana Alacorn, Nashville Dept of Transportation & Multimodal Infrastructure
Brett Annunziato, Farpoitn Development
Clarence Anthony, National League of Cities
Anum Bashir, Delivery Associates
Claudia Bilotto, WSP USA
Stephen Bland, WeGo Public Transit
Laurel Blatchford, Delivery Associates
Jennifer Bradley, Kresge Foundation
David Briggs, Fifth ThirdBank
Jamari Brown, CIty of Nashville
Robert Burns, Walton Family Foundation
Hal Cato, Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee
Henry Cisneros*, American Triple I
Ciara Coleman, NEO Philanthropy
Charisse Conanan Johnson, Next Street
Andi Crawford, Next Street
John Cross, Sustainable Cities Fund
Daryl Curry, Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce
Tom Curtin, Meridiam
Katie Dailinger, National League of Cities
Reid Day, City of Kansas City
Sarah Dusseault, LA4LA
Eric Elk, HNTB Corporation
Glenn Farner, LiUna
Brad Freeze, Nashville Dept of Transportation & Multimodal Infrastructure
Valerie Friedmann, Trust for Public Land
Donna Frisby-Greenwood, The Pew Charitable Trusts
Cait Garozzo, The Skills Initiative
J.T. Geren, Heartland Forward
David Gilford*, Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners
Ben Gilsdorf, National Association of Counties
David Goldwater, Stantec
Todd Greene, Urban Institute
Sara Guice, Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust (LECET)
Patrick Hamilton, City of Nashville
Katy Hamilton, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
Adriane Harris, ThinkTennessee
Robbie Hayes, HNTB Corporation
Shelly Hazle, Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce
Colin Higgins, National Housing Crisis Task Force
Angela Hubbard, Metro Nashville Planning Department
Josh Humphries, California Community Foundation
Dr. Shanna Jackson, Nashville State Community College
Larry Jacob*, Consultant
Jenna Johnson, Heartland Women in Trades
Bruce Katz*, New Localism Associates
Lucy Kemp, Metro Nashville Planning Department
Omar Khan, WSP USA
Andrew Kieve, Tolemi
Mikaila Kruse, City of Riverside
Payton Lang, City of Columbia
Caitlin Lewis, Work for America
Rory Linehan, Bentley Systems
Andy Lucyshyn, Gresham Smith
Marisa Luzzatto, Sunnylands
Luke McGowan, Bloomberg Philanthropies
RJ McGrail, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
Radhy Miranda, Mars Consulting Partners
Jeff Morris, Nashville Moves
Paul Nelson, WSP-USA
Scott Niesen, RaganSmith, A Pape-Dawson Company
Ron Nirenberg, City of San Antonio
Nathan Ohle*, International Economic Development Council
Maura Pally, Blackstone Charitable Foundation
Monica Parisa Rabii, NEO Philanthropy
Bret Perkins, Comcast Corporation
Benjamin Preis, National Housing Crisis Task Force
Ashley Putnam, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
Allen Ramsey, RaganSmith, A Pape-Dawson Company
Sam Reed, Jigsaw
Miles Sandler, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
Joe Scantlebury*, Living Cities
Libby Schaaf, The Abundance Network
Megan Sheekey, Bloomberg Associates
Dana Shubat, City of Phoenix
Charles Small, LA Metro
Julie Smith, City of Nashville
Katya Spear, Mayors Innovation Project
Carrie Stokes, Barge Design Solutions
Stuart Sunshine, WSP-USA
Sabrina Sussman, City of Nashville
Alan Thompson, RaganSmith, A Pape-Dawson Company
Jennifer Tolentino, Results for America
Lynda Tran, Lincoln Room Strategies
Denise Turner Roth, Neighborhood Nexus Development
Jannet Walker-Ford*, WSP-USA
Chris Weinman, Gresham Smith
Peter Weitz, Farpoint Development
Evan Wessel, The Wessel Group
Chris Wheat, Sustainable Cities Fund
Otis Williams, St. Louis Development Corporation
Kristin Wilson, City of Nashville
Erin Winn, Johnson County
Kate Wright, Climate Mayors
John Zeanah, City of Memphis
AFA BOARD AND STAFF
Mary Ellen Wiederwohl, President and CEO
Aaron Thomas, Former CEO and Strategic Advisor
Yusef Robb, Senior Advisor
Liju Varghese, Chief Financial Officer
Anne Bovaird Nevins, Chief of Economic and Community Impact
Ross van Dongen, Chief of Infrastructure and Workforce Development
A.J. Herrmann, Director of Policy and Program Innovation
Caitlin Shearer, Director of Communications
Liz Alkire, Senior Manager of Workforce Development
Chanell Hasty, Senior Manager
Samantha Deutchman, Manager of Events and Operations
Stephanie Orlando, Manager of Economic Mobility
Taylor Pitel, Manager of Infrastructure
Kian Kamas, Senior Advisor
Josh Cohen, Senior Advisor, AFAA
Stacy Cumberbatch, Economic Development Advisor
Benjamin Weiser, Infrastructure Research & Policy Consultant
Mandy Benson, Human Resources Consultant
Michelle De La Isla, AFA Board Chair
Reyahd Kazmi, AFAA Board Chair
Deidre Lind, AFA/A Board Vice Chair
Marcia Hale, AFAA Board