Bios

Dan Kildee

Dan Kildee

Daniel T. Kildee is Co-Founder and President of the Center for Community Progress. Prior to founding the Center, Kildee served as Genesee County Treasurer from 1997-2009. Before his election as Treasurer, Dan served for 12 years as a Genesee County Commissioner, including five years as Chairman of the Board of Commissioners.

Dan also has served as President of the Genesee Institute, a research and training institute focusing on Smart Growth, urban land reform, and land banking. Dan was a member of the Executive Committee of the National Vacant Properties Campaign.

He founded the Genesee Land Bank - Michigan's first land bank - and serves as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. In 2007, Dan's Land Bank program was named winner of the Harvard University/Fannie Mae Foundation Innovations in American Government Award for Affordable Housing. In 2009, Dan was named one of the "GOOD 100" by the Los Angeles-based GOOD Magazine.

Paul Tait

Paul Tait

Paul Tait is the Executive Director of the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG). SEMCOG is the only organization in Southeast Michigan that brings together all of the region's governments to solve regional challenges.

Tait also serves in a dual capacity as the President of the Metropolitan Affairs Coalition (MAC). MAC is a unique coalition of business, labor, and government that is a catalyst for addressing some of Southeast Michigan's most pressing issues, including those affecting the economy.

Paul Tait also has a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and a Masters degree in Health Planning from the University of Michigan, and is also a graduate of the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government.

Brett Theodos

Brett Theodos

Brett Theodos is a Research Associate with the Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center at the Urban Institute. In that capacity, he has conducted several performance evaluations of government programs and independent research demonstrations. His expertise is in affordable housing, economic and community development, access to capital for low-income individuals and businesses, and geographic mobility.

Mr. Theodos is currently co-directing an evaluation of seven models of "shared equity" homeownership opportunities. He is researching financial outcomes for businesses and communities under the New Markets Tax Credit program.

Before joining the Urban Institute, Mr. Theodos was contracted by NeighborWorks America and the McAuley Institute to assist in designing the Success Measures Data System, a participatory internet-based management and evaluation system for not-for-profit groups. He received his MPP from Georgetown University and BA in Economics and Political Science from Northwestern University.

Angela Uttke

Dr. Angela Uttke, urban planner AKNW and urban designer. She is professor at the Institute of City and Regional Planning in the University of Technology Berlin and head of the Department of Urban Design and Urban Development.

Before, she was a senior researcher and lecturer at the Institute of Urban Affairs (Difu) in Berlin and held advanced training courses for city planning officials on urban planning issues and public participation. Her research interests are in the field of sustainable city development and participatory design methods.

She is a founding member of JAS, Jugend Architektur Stadt e.V., a non-profit association dedicated to build environment education and participation of children and young people.

Mayor Dayne Walling

Mayor Walling's past professional experience includes: Owner and Manager of 21st Century Performance, work with the Genesee County Land Bank's affiliated Genesee Institute, and founder of Flint Club. Mayor Walling has also worked with the Urban Coalition of Minnesota. He was an aide to Washington DC Mayor Anthony Williams, and worked for U.S. Congressman Dale Kildee.

Mayor Walling was born and raised in Flint, Michigan. He has the distinct honor of being Flint's only Rhodes Scholar.

Mayor Walling has an extensive higher education portfolio: Bachelor of Arts in Social Relations from James Madison College at Michigan State University; a second Bachelor of Arts in Modern History from St. Peter's College, University of Oxford; and a Master of Arts in Urban Studies from Goldsmith's College, University of London. He also pursued doctoral studies in Geography at the University of Minnesota, with a fellowship from the National Science Foundation.

Robin Boyle

Robin Boyle

Robin Boyle is a Professor of Urban Planning and Chair of the Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP) at Wayne State University (WSU) in Detroit, Michigan. In addition to his academic and administrative responsibilities at WSU Boyle has recently served on two WSU presidential initiatives: a Midtown (Detroit) Task Force and the review of the Urban Research and Outreach mission for WSU. He also serves on the WSU Standing Committee on the Environment. He is currently co-directing the WSU Detroit Revitalization Fellows Program that is a critical component of a region-wide talent attraction and retention strategy, with a focus on capacity building in Detroit.

Active in professional organizations, he was until recently co-chair of the Detroit chapter of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and currently serves on the board of the Michigan Suburbs Alliance. Boyle is an elected member of the US Urban Affairs Association and for the past five years has served as Chair of the Planning Board for the City of Birmingham, MI.

Rene Rosenbaum

Dr. Rosenbaum is an Associate Professor in the Department of Community Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies (CARRS) and Senior Scholar with the Julian Samora Research Institute (JSRI) at Michigan State University. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Notre Dame University and taught at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and Radford University before he joined Michigan State University in 1990, as Postdoctoral Fellow with the Julian Samora Research Institute. Since 1992, he has served as faculty in CARRS, where he has taught environmental and natural resource economic issues and community economic development. He currently teaches RD 470: The Theory and Practice of Community and Economic Development.

Julia Klaiber

Julia Klaiber

As Director of External Affairs, Julia Klaiber leverages ten years of community development experience in the private, non-profit and public sectors to cultivate strategic partnerships and build capacity for CEOs for Cities, a national network of urban leaders advancing the next generation of great American cities through research, convenings and advocacy.

Julia is the lead project manager of the US Initiative, a national campaign by CEOs for Cities in partnership with The Rockefeller Foundation to imagine a new kind of future for urban life in America. An ambitious movement to define a new American dream, the US Initiative represents an urgent tipping point in the evolution of the American identity toward an optimistic culture of interdependence. Julia works with CEOs for Cities' unique network of civic leaders, influential partners and brave new thinkers to articulate a Declaration of Interdependence with values that define cities of tomorrow, today.

Tony Cipollone

Tony Cipollone

As Vice President for Civic Sites and Initiatives, Tony Cipollone oversees the Annie E. Casey Foundation's significant multi-year investments in Baltimore and Atlanta - cities where Casey is deeply involved in innovative urban redevelopment initiatives aimed at turning tough neighborhoods into communities that provide families and kids with the resources they need to thrive. In both places, Tony has worked to create strong working partnerships with local residents, anchor institutions, community leaders, and elected officials so that East Baltimore and Atlanta's NPU-V neighborhoods can achieve local success and become national models of responsible urban redevelopment.

Arnold Weinfeld

Arnold Weinfeld

As Director of Strategic Initiatives and Federal Affairs for the League, Arnold is responsible for the planning and development of new programs, services, publications, and outreach strategies to support the League's broad policy initiatives and related programming. He also coordinates the League's federal advocacy efforts, working directly with Michigan's Congressional delegation and national local government organizations such as the National League of Cities. He also serves as President of the Michigan Municipal League Foundation, where he works to carry out the Foundation mission of educating local officials in coordination with League programs.

Arnold is a graduate of Michigan State University where he received his bachelors degree in Social Science. He served as an elected member of the Waverly Community Schools Board of Education from 1994-2002 where he held the positions of Treasurer and Board President and is currently Treasurer of the Waverly Education Foundation.