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| Arun Jain, AICP Committee Co-Chair
With over 25 years of experience as an urban designer in practice and academia, Arun holds two masters degrees from the University of Pennsylvania’s Urban Design Program. He taught for over 10 years at the University of California Berkeley and remains an invited critic by universities around the world. Arun is also an internationally invited speaker and mentor on urban design and development issues. Professionally and philosophically, he seeks better balances between environmental and economic sustainability. Joseph Zehnder, AICP Committee Co-Chair Joe Zehnder is a planner and community development professional with over 20 years experience in large and small communities and in the public and private sectors. Currently he is a Principal Planner for the Portland Bureau of Planning where he manages planning for area and neighborhoods, central city and economic development. Prior to moving to Portland, Joe was a principal with the architecture and planning firm SmithGroup JJR in Chicago and a senior policy director at the Urban Land Institute, a real estate industry research institute. For seven years, Joe was a planner and Deputy Commissioner with the Chicago Department of Planning & Development where he managed the long range planning staff and projects including park, river and lakefront plans; neighborhood and retail development strategies; major zoning negotiations; economic research and GIS. Prior to this role in the nation’s third largest city, he was planning director for Montpelier, Vermont, the nation’s smallest state capital and a community development planner in Baltimore, Maryland, a marvelously funky middle sized post-industrial city. Mr. Zehnder has degrees in urban planning and economics. Rob Bennett Rob Bennett is manager of OSD's Technical & Financial Services and Research & Policy groups, leading conservation program and policy development in the areas of energy conservation & renewables, green building, global warming reduction, and local food security. Rob established the City's Green Building program, G/Rated in 2000 and is currently developing an applied research & policy initiative to make the financial, political and ecological case for sustainable development and measurably advance sustainability goals in Portland.
Rob has been active in community development and environmental planning for 10 years, including five with Portland's Office of Sustainable Development. Prior to coming to the City, he worked with a variety of public agencies and not-for-profit organizations including the City of Portland Bicycle Program; Tri-Met; the Center for Rural Massachusetts; and Massachusetts Rural Development Council. Rob is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts- Amherst School of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning and University of Richmond. He sits on the board of the US Green Building Council's Cascadia Chapter. Drew Blevins Drew Blevins is the Director of Marketing for the regional public transportation agency, TriMet, in Portland, Oregon. His responsibilities include directing TriMet’s marketing strategies for customer acquisition and retention. He leads the development, positioning and management of TriMet’s identity strategy by creating focus on those attributes that ensure alignment of the agency’s vision and culture with public perceptions. Drew has broad-based marketing management experience, including senior level positions in the retail, services, manufacturing and tourism industries. He is a graduate of the University of Washington, with a degree in Business Administration. Al Burns
Lavinia Gordon Lavinia Gordon is a Project Manager for the Transportation Options Division for the City of Portland, Oregon. She manages projects to reduce car travel and encourage transportation alternatives such as biking, walking, and transit. Lavinia has worked in the area of transportation demand management for the Portland Department of Transportation for 14 years. Prior to joining PDOT she worked as an environmental advocate and practiced law for six years. Lavinia has a BA from Smith College and a law degree from Northwestern School of Law School in Portland, Oregon. Robin Grimwade, JP, FAIH, FPLA. MAIPA, MAICD Robin Grimwade is currently Divisional Manager Planning and Development with Portland Parks and Recreation. Prior to relocating to the USA in January 2003 Robin held several senior and chief executive officer positions with various Australian public sector organizations responsible for parks, leisure and environmental management. In these capacities and as Managing Director of his own highly successful consulting company he has played a key leadership role by consistently working at the forefront of these industries pioneering and fostering new approaches in areas such as park and recreation administration, open space planning and design, cultural interpretation, natural and cultural resource management, stakeholder management, visitor management, asset management, business development and improvement and strategic alliances between the public and private sectors.
Many of Robin’s initiatives in these areas have become examples of national and /or international best practice. One of the most notable being the transformation of Sydney’s Premier Centennial Parklands into an international model for urban sustainability and a center of research and innovation in balancing resource conservation and asset protection goals with recreation demand and the changing needs and expectations of communities. Robert W. Hastings, AIA After 20 in architectural practice in Portland, Oregon & Seattle, Washington, Bob, Project Architect, joined TriMet, the Portland metropolitan region’s transit agency in 2000 to as their in-house architect. Bob's professional focus has been in Transit & Urban Design, Civic Architecture, Commercial, Mixed-use Housing, Institutional projects, and High-Tech Manufacturing. At TriMet Bob is the overall Coordinator for all Architectural, Urban Design, and Station Design elements and agency Signage and Customer Communications. Additionally, he is the design and construction coordinator with TriMet’s Art Program development and implementation.
Registered Architect- Oregon, 1986 to present Bachelor of Architecture, University of Oregon, 1979 Master of Architecture, University of Pennsylvania, 1983 Past President, AIA/Portland Chapter 1993-4 Past President, AIA/Oregon Chapter, 1998-9 Current Chair of the Oregon’s biennial Design Conference Ethan Seltzer Professor Ethan Seltzer is the Director of the School of Urban Studies and Planning at Portland State University. He was the founding director of the Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies. Ethan has held positions as the Land Use Supervisor for Metro, assistant to Portland City Commissioner Mike Lindberg, and Assistant Coordinator for the Southeast Uplift Neighborhood Program. He received a Master of Regional Planning degree in 1979 and a doctorate in City and Regional Planning in 1983 from the University of Pennsylvania. Current scholarly interests include regional planning and regional development. Ethan is the past President of the City of Portland Planning Commission, and Vice President for the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art. Timothy W. Smith, AIA, AICP Tim Smith is Director of Urban Design and Planning for SERA Architects Inc. and Team Oregon LLC. He has practiced architecture, planning and urban design for over 20 years and has received numerous awards for his work in smart growth and sustainable community planning. Tim has planned neighborhoods, villages and new towns, led community involvement initiatives and authored vision plans for cities and regions. He is currently a member of the Portland Planning Commission, the American Institute of Architects Urban Design Committee and the Mayor’s Central City Round Table. Donald J. Stastny Donald J. Stastny, a founder and CEO of Portland’s StastnyBrun Architects, Inc. has been a practicing architect, urban designer and design process manager for thirty years rebuilding communities, physically and culturally. Using design as a comprehensive and strategic tool, he works toward elevating the public’s understanding and expectations of architecture locally, nationally, and internationally. Don has been honored with Fellowship in the American Institute of Architects, the American Institute of Certified Planners, and the Institute of Urban Design. Additionally, he is a member of the Canadian Institute of Planners. Don received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Oregon State University, and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Washington. He received Masters degrees in both Architecture and City Planning at the University of Pennsylvania. Malu Wilkinson Malu Wilkinson is a Senior Regional Planner at Metro, the regional government serving the tri-county Portland urban area. She is currently responsible for developing elements of a regional plan to protect fish and wildlife habitat through education, incentives and habitat friendly-development standards. Previous responsibilities include working with a committee representing diverse interests to develop a strategy to utilize land use and other tools to increase affordable housing in the region. Malu received a Master’s degree in Community and Regional Planning at the University of Oregon. |
