Plenary Speakers | 80th Annual Conference & Meeting

Keynote Presentations

Vivek Shandas, PhD - Monday, October 7 9-10 am

Heat, Health, and Housing: Opportunities for advancing equitable outcomes on a rapidly warming planet

Vivek Shandas is Professor of Geography at Portland State University, and provides guidance to federal, state, and local public agencies for managing the built environment for public health and social justice. He examines the assumptions that guide decisions about managing cities and engages in community-based participatory research as a means for identifying socially equitable solutions in the era of climate destabilization. Professor Shandas has over 100 publications, five books, and served as co-author of the National Climate Assessment, and a recent National Academies publication on the role of federal policies in creating inequitable health outcomes. During his spare time, he revels in the mountains and waters of the Pacific Northwest, and pines for wood-fired pizza and picnic tables.

Mike Green - Monday, October 7, 1:15 - 2:15 pm

Centering and Prioritizing America's Most Vulnerable Populations (MVP): How we can disrupt an inherited cycle of community trauma and transform our nation in one generation

Mike Green is a visionary mission-driven Cultural Economist and innovation strategist with more than a dozen years developing culturally adept inclusive economic ecosystem strategies and educational programming for institutional and organizational leaders, policymakers and economic stakeholders across the United States. As co-founder of Common Ground Conversations on Race (CGC), Mike developed a trademarked Conversations Journey® process that introduces paradigm-shifting new knowledge and understanding of racialized power dynamics in society today through an informed and empathetic lens of historical context. Mike’s experience includes two decades in media as a communications specialist, multi-award-winning editor, journalist, columnist, and digital media Innovation Expert trainer for the Dow Jones Local Media Group. Mike is a New York Times Leadership Academy Fellow and member of the 2008 Class at the Neiman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.

Beth Sandor - Tuesday, October 8:30 - 9:30 am

Moving from Charity to a Public Health Approach to End Homelessness

Beth is a Chief Program Officer at Community Solutions, where she directs Built for Zero and the organization's systems change work to help communities end homelessness throughout the U.S and around the world. The organization's national Built for Zero campaign is a rigorous follow-on to the 100,000 Homes Campaign designed to help a network of more than 80 communities do whatever it takes to end chronic and veteran homelessness. Beth brings more than 20 years of experience working in the field of supportive housing and community development in both the United States and the United Kingdom. From 2010-2014, she led quality improvement for the 100,000 Homes Campaign, for which her work was highlighted in both The New York Times and The Harvard Business Review. Beth holds a B.A from Boston College.