Kim Walesh

Deputy City Manager, City of San José

As Deputy City Manager, Kim has responsibility for the broad and important area of Community and Economic Development, providing leadership and strategic coordination for city offices shaping the future of San José—including planning, housing, transportation, cultural affairs, and real estate.  She’s responsible for the future of Downtown, a key city enterprise priority, and to ensure a prosperous, opportunity-rich, creative San José.  Kim believes deeply in San José as an ambitious, important, and unique big city and enjoys telling her city’s story.

Prior to joining the City of San José in 2003, Kim was an international development consultant with SRI International and co-founder and managing director of the small business Collaborative Economics.

Throughout her career, Kim has helped leaders to collaborate across disciplines in order to enhance economic opportunity, strengthen sense of community, and foster environments that make people happier, healthier, and more creative.  Kim has a strong track record of turning ideas into action, working with diverse interests.  She’s inspired to create the next generation of great cities that work for people and for business.

Kim is co-author of the books Grassroots Leaders for a New Economy: How Civic Entrepreneurs Build Prosperous Communities and Civic Revolutionaries: Igniting the Passion for Change in American Communities.  She has written more than 50 other reports and publications, including key documents about the Silicon Valley region.  She is a founding board member of SPUR San José, the Prospect Silicon Valley innovation center, and the ZERO1 Art and Technology network.

Kim holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and humanities from Valparaiso University and a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Harvard University, where she was a Kennedy Fellow.

Michael Fedchyshyn

Senior Vice President, Transit Oriented Communities Program, Infrastructure Ontario

Michael currently leads Infrastructure Ontario’s (IO) Transit Oriented Communities (TOC) Program with the mandate to optimize delivery of developments integrated with new station infrastructure across the Province’s historic subway expansion program. In this role, Michael oversees a cross-functional and cross-organizational team to determine the ideal TOC commercial approaches, how to integrate them into P3 transit projects, how to implement policy solutions to remove barriers to TOC, and how to structure TOC transactions to maximize economic benefit to the Province.  

Before leading the TOC program, Michael held senior positions with IO’s Transaction Finance and Commercial Projects groups where he advised on and structured commercial transactions on a range of high profile projects including: roll-out of legalized Cannabis retail, Toronto’s Amazon HQ2 bid, the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan, Provincial Affordable Housing and Lands Program, and a number of TOC projects. 

Prior to joining IO in 2015, Michael worked in private equity, renewable energy development, waste-to-energy development, project finance, and management consulting. Michael holds a doctorate in Neuroscience from the University of Toronto.

Kate Joncas

Director of Urban Strategy and Devolpment, MIG

Kate is currently the Director of Urban Strategy and Development for MIG. She leads strategic efforts for complex urban projects in downtowns, neighborhoods and urbanizing places. As Seattle Deputy Mayor from 2014 - 2017 she directed 32 departments, led waterfront redevelopment and Convention Center expansion, and developed a nationally recognized government performance initiative. Before that she was the CEO of the Downtown Seattle Association where for 20 years, she led one of the most successful revitalization projects in the country, resulting in a vibrant Downtown with great retail, transportation and jobs, thousands of residents and a growing, diverse economy.