Charles Long (Moderator)

Principal

Junction Properties, LLC

Charles A. Long is a developer specializing in mixed-use infill projects, including acquisition, entitlement, and public private partnerships.   He has recently completed two multi-family projects in Oakland, CA, one at 78 units, the other at 97 units

He served for eight years as city manager in Fairfield, California and has held interim positions for several cities in finance, redevelopment and management, including Interim Town Manager of Mammoth Lakes and Interim City Manager of Pinole and Hercules, California. His assignments have been diverse, including negotiating development agreements, writing redevelopment plans, pro-forma analyses, strategic planning, economic development, organizational development, capital and financial planning, budget reform, base reuse and alternative energy development. He has overseen over $600 million of public financing in his career.

Mr. Long is a full member of the Urban Land Institute and a member of the Public Private Partnership Council. He is a faculty member of the ULI Real Estate School, teaching internationally. He is the author of the book, Finance for Real Estate Development, published by ULI in April 2011 and winner of the 2012 National Association of Real Estate Editors Silver Award.

Mr. Long has a BA in economics from Brown University and a Masters of Public Policy from U. C. Berkeley. He served in the U.S. Army as an infantry platoon sergeant.

Damon Burns

CEO

Finance Authority of New Orleans

Damon Burns is a New Orleans native with 15 years of experience in public finance, entrepreneurship, economic development and financial technology. Since July 2016 he has served as Chief Executive Officer of The Finance Authority of New Orleans (FANO), a quasi-government financial institution with a mission to invest in affordable housing, economic development and climate resilience projects that improve the quality of life in New Orleans.

FANO encountered financial and operating challenges after Hurricane Katrina and the Great Recession that resulted in an almost overnight 90% decline in total assets. Burns is leading a plan to reestablish FANO as a key investor in New Orleans’ economic growth. Early milestones include the implementation of a new business model focused on providing homeowners, businesses and government agencies with green financial products designed to increase climate resilience and economic opportunity.

  In 2017, The Center for Community Investment selected Burns to participate in the Fulcrum Fellowship program with a goal of accelerating the strategic vision of FANO. Prior to joining The Finance Authority of New Orleans, he founded Munivestor, a financial technology company focused on the municipal finance industry using $225K in venture capital. Munivestor’s customers included municipalities, commercial banks and asset managers. The startup was selected to participate in some of the nation’s premier startup programs including Techstars’ Risingstars Bootcamp, Morgan Stanley’s FinTech Investor Showcase and PowerMoves NOLA.

Cory Bytof

Sustainability Program Manager

City of San Rafael

Cory is the Sustainability Program Manager for the City of San Rafael. He co-authored and is responsible for implementing the City’s Climate Change Action Plan 2030, which is being used as a model by the other cities in Marin County. Cory approaches sustainability from an interdisciplinary lens with a focus on community + collaboration. Cory helped form the anti-litter coalition San Rafael Clean, is a member of the City’s Emergency Operations Center, and developed the City’s Emergency Volunteer Intake Center. In addition, Cory is past-chair of the Marin Climate Energy Partnership, a consortium of local governments and public utilities working together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Marin County.

Cory has a degree in Interdisciplinary Social Science from San Francisco State University. He lives in San Rafael with his wife and has one adult daughter. In his free time, he writes musicals and enjoys traveling, cultural exchange, and adventures in nature.

Bob Dean

CEO

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Bob Dean joined CNT in August 2018 as its Chief Executive Officer. 

Prior to CNT, Bob served as the Deputy Executive Director for Planning for the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP). During his 10 years with CMAP, he created and then oversaw the Local Technical Assistance program, which has offered planning assistance to local governments across the region through over 200 local planning projects. Before initiating the LTA program, Bob managed GO TO 2040, the award-winning comprehensive plan for the Chicago metropolitan area that was adopted in October 2010. After leaving CMAP in 2017, he consulted for Chicago's Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) and RW Ventures on local governance and economic development projects during 2018.

Prior to CMAP, Bob worked in municipal government for five years, serving as a transportation and land use planner for the City of Naperville, Illinois and a transportation planning liaison for the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference.

Bob holds a master's degree in planning from Cornell University and a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Delaware. He is originally from the Philadelphia region. He currently lives in Evanston, IL with his wife, two children, two cats, and a lizard.

Jaclyn Mandoske

Coastal Scientist and Planner

BCDC

Jaclyn Mandoske received her Master’s degree in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego where she worked on spatial and economic analysis of ecosystem services to inform sustainable development planning for small island governments. Before joining BCDC, Jaclyn worked at the City of San Diego in the Sustainability Division on implementation of the City’s Climate Acton Plan and at the Waitt Institute on sustainable ocean management where she authored a report on best practices for coastal development. Her expertise includes ecology, sustainability and coastal marine policy, science communications and graphic design. She is passionate about facilitating collaboration and the transfer of knowledge across people and sectors for effective change.

Catherine Reilly

Senior Development Director

Brookfield Properties

As a 25 year veteran in the planning and development field, Catherine has worked on a range of complex projects from conception through implementation and has extensive expertise with land use, real estate transactions, economic/community development, affordable housing policy, design review, and environmental review processes. Her experience includes regulatory entitlement, project implementation and construction, long-term land use planning, policy development, and on-going operations and mitigation. During her career she has also increased her responsibilities for direct management of staff and interaction with elected and appointed officials and public stakeholders.