who we are what we do advocacy center sga blog support sga support sga housing economy children & schools environment preservation social equity transportation open space health

GOOGLESGA

Read more about:

Who We Are
Coalition Members
Board and Steering Committee
Staff
Job Openings

Smart Growth America

Geoff Anderson is the President and CEO of Smart Growth America. Geoff came to his current position in January 2008 after 13 years at the US EPA where he headed the Agency's Smart Growth Program. During his tenure at EPA, he was instrumental in creating the Agency's Smart Growth program, he helped to found the Smart Growth Network, the New Partners for Smart Growth Conference, and the popular web site smartgrowth.org. In addition, he provided seed funding for and helped to catalyze the creation of the National Vacant Properties Campaign, The LEED for Neighborhood Development Certification program, and the Governors' Institute for Community Design.

He has co-authored numerous publications including: This Is Smart Growth, Getting to Smart Growth Volumes 1 and 2, Protecting Water Resources with Higher Density Development, The Transportation and Environmental Impacts of Infill vs. Greenfield Development and many others. His work also included direct technical assistance, helping with smart growth implementation in communities nationwide including Cheyenne, WY, Prince George's County, MD, and the flagship smart growth project Atlantic Station in Atlanta, Ga. Geoff received a Masters Degree from Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment with a concentration in Resource Economics and Policy.

Don Chen was the founder and executive director of Smart Growth America, having departed in February 2008 to take a position with the Ford Foundation. You will soon be able to find his bio and contact information at the Ford Foundation website.

David A. Goldberg is the Communications Director for Smart Growth America, where he works to help a coalition of national, state and local groups communicate their values and goals on behalf of better planning and development. He is the author of Choosing Our Community's Future: A citizen's guide to getting the most from development, and Rethinking the American Dream, (pdf) a popular handbook for journalists covering planning issues, as well as numerous articles for magazines, newspapers and journals. Most recently, Goldberg helped to write the book Growing Cooler: The Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change, published by the Urban Land Institute. He also has written guides to planning, development and communications for Realtors, housing and transportation advocates, public health officials, foundations and others.

As a journalist at The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Goldberg helped to create the Horizon section, a weekly report on the region's growth and development issues that ran for early nine years. He served on that newspaper's editorial board from 1999-2002. A graduate of Dartmouth College and Columbia University's journalism school, Goldberg was awarded a Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University in 2002-03, and has taught journalism at Emory University. He, his wife and four children remaining at home live in Decatur, GA, where he is a member of the Board of Zoning Appeals. David can be contacted via email at dgoldberg [at] smartgrowthamerica [dot] org

Kate Rube is the Policy Director for Smart Growth America, joining the staff in May 2007. She leads and coordinates SGA’s policy advocacy, working with the more than 40 state and regional groups on local, state, and regional smart growth issues, including regulatory takings initiatives. She also leads SGA's role in the Restoring Prosperity Initiative, a joint project with the Brookings Institution and other national and state organizations that focuses on rejuvenating older industrial cities.

Kate previously worked as the Assistant National Field Director for U.S. PIRG, the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups. In that role, she worked with 12 state PIRGs to coordinate grassroots campaigns on a range of federal environmental issues, including global warming, clean energy, and preservation campaigns. Before joining U.S. PIRG’s field team, Kate worked for three years as the State PIRG’s higher education advocate, lobbying on federal student loan policy and student aid funding issues to represent student interests in national higher education policy. A magna cum laude graduate of the University of Virginia, Kate also authored several reports on student loan policy, and has been quoted as a higher education expert in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other outlets. While working for SGA, Kate will also begin pursuing a Master's in Community Planning part-time at the University of Maryland-College Park this Fall. Kate can be contacted via email at krube [at] smartgrowthamerica [dot] org

Stephanie Potts joined the staff in March 2005 as the Smart Growth Fellow and is now a Program Associate at SGA.  Stephanie completed her B.A. in Environmental Studies and Anthropology with a minor in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania in May of 2004 and went on to complete her graduate degree at Penn in Environmental Policy in December of 2004.  Her previous work experience includes internships at the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission and the Brandywine Conservancy.  Her duties at SGA include research, writing, product distribution, federal advocacy, and coalition member support. Stephanie works on several initiatives relating to climate change and transportation for SGA, including the National Complete Streets Coalition and the Transportation Equity Network. She also works with SGA's coalition members to advance smart growth issues in federal legislation. Stephanie grew up in Frederick, Maryland and enjoys the natural and cultural assets the DC region has to offer. Stephanie can be contacted via email at spotts [at] smartgrowthamerica [dot] org

Steve Davis joined the staff as the Communications Fellow in July of 2006 and serves now as Communications Associate. Before coming to Smart Growth America, Steve was an award-winning photojournalist at the Arkansas Democrat Gazette / Benton County Daily Record in Northwest Arkansas. Steve put down the camera in 2006 to follow his passion for growth and development-related issues after awakening to that world while studying journalism at the Grady College of Journalism at the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga. A native of Atlanta, Georgia, he joins fellow Atlantan David Goldberg in the communications department, managing the websites, blogging, and writing speeches, newsletters, and other resources for SGA. Steve enjoys photographing good (and bad) urbanism in his D.C. neighborhood of Mount Pleasant and does his part by riding his bike to work every day. Steve can be contacted via email at sdavis [at] smartgrowthamerica [dot] org

Lisa Jacobson is the Fellow for the National Complete Streets Coalition. Her dedication to sound transportation policy is second only to sustainable living, especially strong support of local business. Transportation issues moved to Lisa's front burner after attending the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and volunteering for several years with the Coalition for Smarter Growth — an SGA member organization. Lisa's experience in coalition-building, research, and writing comes from her previous employment at Land Trust Alliance, Island Press, the European Union, and several political campaigns. Hailing from the suburbs of Boston, Lisa spent her days working hard on her local farm and her nights obsessing about the Red Sox. When she isn't touting the great benefits of complete streets, Lisa is often found practicing yoga, cooking vegetarian delights, or planning her next international getaway. Lisa can be contacted via email at lisa [at] completestreets [dot] org

National Vacant Properties Campaign

Jennifer Leonard is National Vacant Properties Campaign Director at Smart Growth America. In her four years as the project manager for a community development corporation in Baltimore, she became an expert at building private and public partnerships for using the property reclamation tools and revitalizing her East Baltimore neighborhood. She also managed the corporation’s grant and loan efforts, raising several million dollars for the CDC’s programs. With her leadership the Baltimore Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation designated a new historic district within this neighborhood; after decades of disinvestment, the private market is starting to return. Jennifer has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Arizona and a Master of City and Regional Planning degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Jennifer can be contacted via email at jleonard [at] smartgrowthamerica [dot] org

Smart Growth Leadership Institute

Gov. Parris N. Glendening is President of the Smart Growth Leadership Institute. Prior to his current role as President of Smart Growth Leadership Institute, Mr. Glendening spent eight years as Governor of the state of Maryland, where he made the environment, especially smart growth education and inclusiveness, the heart of his legislative, administrative and personal agenda. He led the creation of a groundbreaking smart growth initiative that focused on using the entire $23 billion state budget as an incentive for smart growth.

In addition, Governor Glendening had the honor of being elected chairman of the National Governor's Association by his colleagues, where he made quality of life issues his top agenda item. He also served as President of the Council of State Governments. Before becoming Governor, Parris N. Glendening was a local elected official for more than 20 years. He began public service in 1973 as a city councilman in Hyattsville and was later elected to the Prince George's County Council in 1974. He was elected to statewide office after serving three terms as county executive of Prince George's County, a jurisdiction of 800,000 outside of Washington, D.C. Requests to contact the Governor for speaking engagements and other matters can be sent care of Leslie Heird via lheird [at] comcast [dot] net

Tamar Shapiro is the Executive Director of the Smart Growth Leadership Institute, and the Director of the Governors' Institute on Community Design. Before joining SGLI in 2005, Tamar Shapiro worked as an attorney at Klein Hornig, LLP, a law firm specialized in affordable housing development, where she represented public housing authorities as well as developers in complex, mixed-finance development deals.

Previously, she worked as an attorney at Hogan and Hartson in Washington, D.C., served as law clerk to the Honorable Mary A. McLaughlin, and was a Robert Bosch Foundation Fellow in Berlin, where she worked at the Berlin Administration on Urban Planning and Environment as well as the German Institute for Urban Affairs. Tamar has a B.A. from Harvard College, an M.Phil from Cambridge University, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Tamar can be contacted via email at tshapiro [at] sgli [dot] org

Benjamin dela Pena serves as the Smart Growth Leadership Institute's Associate Director for Implementation. Prior to joining SGLI, he coordinated several large town and urban planning projects for a Boston-based urban planning and design firm.

He was trained in physical planning and aspects of urban design, and also has a background in leadership training, having managed large-scale leadership formation programs for a major conglomerate based in Asia. Benjie has a M.A. in Urban Planning from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and a B.A. in Communication (Journalism) from the Institute of Mass Communication at the University of the Philippines. Benjamin can be contacted via email at bdelapena [at] sgli [dot] org.

Shelly Hazle is the state coordinator for the Smart Growth Leadership Institute. Before joining SGLI in 2007, Shelly conducted public and government relations for a university hospital system. Previously, she represented some of the nation's leading corporations at a Washington D.C.-based global public affairs firm. Shelly began her career at the National Transportation Safety Board where she served as a spokesperson on major transportation accidents. Shelly has a B.A. from Vanderbilt University and is currently finishing a masters in public administration. Shelly can be contacted via email at shazle [at] smartgrowthamerica [dot] org



Need a high-res version of a bio photo? Email Steve Davis at sdavis [at] smartgrowthamerica [dot] org