Dr. Hashas-Degertekin has been teaching and conducting research on urban environments with a focus on human experience, place character and equity for humane, sustainable and healthy places for diverse groups of age, race and income. She conducted research individually and at various research centers at NC State, GA Tech and KSU linking physical and emotional health, culture and behavior to built-environments, economic development and equity. She serves on NAACP’s “Centering Equity in the Sustainable Building Program Initiative Committee”, has been active on “Sustainable Development without Displacement Work Group” and is a member of the “Advancing Equity, Diversity and Racial Justice Collaborative” at the United Nation’s Regional Centers of Expertise (RCE) Greater Atlanta. As a member of Transformation Alliance (TFA) Atlanta -one of the regions funded by The Strong, Prosperous, And Resilient Communities (SPARCC) Challenge, she has conducted research and taught urban design studios in collaboration with TFA partners focusing on closed loop and generative economies utilizing local history and cultural elements of low income communities. Dr. Hashas-Degertekin earned her PhD degree at North Carolina State University in Community and Environmental Design Program. She has been a faculty and coordinator for Urban Studio at KSU’s Architecture Department. She was a Sustainability Faculty Fellow at KSU in 2018-2019, is a member Marietta Arts Council, and has been partnering with various local communities, governments and organizations for advocacy and awareness on equitable, ecological and creative place making.

Judith Taylor is a Partner at HR&A Advisors and an industry expert in planning and implementing equitable development. With over 15 years of experience in real estate, land use, and inclusive economic development, Judith specializes in leading economic analyses that help public and private clients identify and implement transformational, yet achievable, real estate development strategies. To ensure equitable outcomes for diverse and underrepresented populations, Judith’s work balances feasibility with delivering innovative community benefits. In San Jose, she is supporting the negotiation of community benefits at Google’s Diridon Station development, and in Los Angeles, she helped set the groundwork for inclusive transit-oriented development planned around the LA Metro’s under-construction Crenshaw/LAX Line. Most recently, Ms. Taylor co-led an assessment of the real estate industry’s adoption of equity and health imperatives for the Urban Land Institute’s Building Healthy Places Initiative. She is a graduate of Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and holds a Master’s in Public Policy and Urban Planning from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Marta Schantz is the senior vice president for the Urban Land Institute’s Greenprint Center for Building Performance at the, a worldwide alliance of real estate owners committed to improving the environmental performance of the industry – reducing carbon, and increasing building value. Recent focus areas range from City/Real Estate Partnerships for Climate Policy, to Embodied Carbon in Real Estate, to Class B/C Office Energy Efficiency. Before her time at ULI, Marta consulted to utilities and real estate at Waypoint Energy, performed federal energy consulting at Booz Allen Hamilton, and conducted energy project cost analyses at the US Department of Energy. Marta is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is a LEED Green Associate and a Fitwel Ambassador.

Kelly is the Director of Sustainability for Clarion Partners, a New York-based global real estate investment firm. She manages the ESG efforts for nearly 300 million square feet across over 1,200 office, retail, residential, hospitality, and industrial properties. She is responsible for driving Clarion Partners’ ESG initiatives including overall ESG strategy, building performance, resource conservation, resilience, stakeholder and tenant engagement, and investor reporting. Kelly is actively involved in the local green building community and is a member of the San Diego Green Building Council Speakers’ Bureau, ULI Greenprint Center for Building Performance, ULI Young Leaders Forum, and Greenbuild Program Working Group. She received her BA in Business Administration with a minor in Environmental Studies from the University of San Diego and holds the LEED AP O+M, WELL AP, EcoDistricts AP, and Fitwel Ambassador accreditations.

Mr. Ritchie joined Brandywine in 2014 as Vice President of Development. Prior to joining Brandywine, Mr. Ritchie was an independent entrepreneur acting as a principal to acquire and improve real estate assets, and as a fiduciary to develop and execute real estate and economic development solutions for clients including the Wharton Small Business Development Center and the Virgin Islands Port Authority. He led the Northeast Region for The Burks Companies, responsible for new business development, the transition of newly acquired business, and relationship management; and served as a principal of Lomax Real Estate Partners, where he worked to source and execute urban development projects across product type in Philadelphia and New Jersey. He was the founding CEO of the City of Newark, New Jersey’s economic development corporation under Mayor Cory Booker. Mr. Ritchie spent a number of years with Trammell Crow Company, where he was the national Higher Education practice leader and a regional development Vice President. In addition to his real estate experience, Mr. Ritchie worked to create a program to support minority entrepreneurs in Cape Town, South Africa and was a consultant for Deloitte and Touche. He earned his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and his BS from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He serves on the boards of NAIOP Greater Philadelphia, the University City District, and the Old City District, chairs the Old City Community Fund, and sits on the African American Museum of Philadelphia’s Re-Imagine Facility Committee.