Jim Kennedy - Redevelopment Director, Contra Costa County
Mr. Kennedy has been with Contra Costa County in various capacities for over 30 years. Appointed as Redevelopment Director in 1987, his organization is responsible for redevelopment, housing, economic development, infrastructure finance, and Community Development Block Grants.  Mr. Kennedy oversees a staff of 18, with a current year budget of over $100 million. He is currently President of the California Redevelopment Association, a member of the Board of the ABAG Finance Authority, the Contra Costa County Workforce Development Board, and the Kennedy-King Memorial Scholarship Fund Board of Directors.

Jonathan Stern - Assistant Deputy Director, Waterfront Development Projects, Port of San Francisco
Mr. Stern directs the development group at the Port of San Francisco, negotiating public/private real estate development agreements on San Francisco's piers and adjacent waterfront development. Since 2007, he has been responsible for formulating and implementing public-private partnership development projects along the San Francisco Waterfront. Currently Mr. Stern is leading the efforts to complete the Exploratorium transaction at Piers 15 and 17 as well as leading exclusive negotiations at the 16-acre parking Lot A for ATT Park and the Port’s 2/3-acre site at Washington and The Embarcadero.

Larry Souza - Real Estate and Financial Economist/Broker/Advisor, Johnson Souza Group
Mr. Souza has 21 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry.  Prior to establishing the Johnson Souza Group, Inc. and affiliating with Solari Investments, LLC, Mr. Souza worked for Charles Schwab Investment Management (CSIM) as Managing Director - Index Services; Chief Economist – Managing Director with Global Real Analytics (GRA); and Investment Advisor for Quantum Financial Network (QFN).  Mr. Souza is an Investment Advisor with Solari Investments, LLC and commercial real estate broker, providing economic and investment consulting services to retail and institutional real estate investors.  

Linda Mandolini - Executive Director, Eden Housing
Linda Mandolini has served Eden Housing as a Project Developer, as Director of Real Estate Development, and since 2001, as Executive Director.  Eden is one of California’s oldest non-profit development companies and has developed 5,688 units throughout Northern California. Linda oversees affordable housing production, resident support services, and property management components of the organization, their combined annual operating budget of over $48 million, and a staff of over 200 employees. Linda serves on the Board of Directors of the California Housing Consortium and The Housing Trust of Santa Clara County. 

Michael Barker - CEO and Managing Director, Barker Pacific Group
Since founding Barker Pacific Group in 1983, Michael Barker has directed the development and acquisition of over $1.5 billion in commercial projects. His active focus is the acquisition, development, and management of residential and commercial projects. Before starting Barker Pacific Group 26 years ago, Michael was an officer at Hines Interests, where he headed up development of over 4 million square feet of office space in Tulsa, Houston and San Antonio.

Michael Johnson - President & CEO, UrbanCore, LLC
Michael E. Johnson is the President & CEO and co-founder of UrbanCore, LLC, a Bay Area real estate development company.  Michael has over thirty years of experience in urban real estate development. Over this period, he has grown the company to be one of the largest African American businesses in the Bay Area.  This has included the recent completion or current undertaking of over $800 Million in project development activity, including over 3,000 housing units and several mixed-use projects.  Michael has served as the Managing Member of recent high profile infill redevelopment projects such as the Fillmore Heritage Center, and the $32 Million Richmond Easter Hill HOPE VI project in Richmond, CA. 

Ray Carlisle - Founder, Carlisle Companies
Ray Carlisle founded Oakland CA based Carlisle Companies in 1972, growing today to a consortium of entities providing real estate services to public and private sector clients through 15 local offices in 11 states.  Mr. Carlisle is Chair and Co-Founder of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers, Investment Division (NID), Chair of the Bridge Housing Corporation Projects Committee, Chair Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce, advisor to Oakland Mayor Ronald Dellums on urban and regional economic development policies and contributor to several minority scholarship, education, training and transitional housing programs.

Susan Smartt - Managing Director, MacFarlane Partners
Susan Smartt has over 30 years of real estate development experience. She is currently Managing Director of MacFarlane Partners, leading the firm’s development activities throughout California. Before joining MacFarlane Partners, she spent 10 years as the Senior Vice President of Forest City Residential West, where she was responsible for overseeing the firm’s development activities in the Bay Area. She has been named one of the 100 Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business by the San Francisco Business Times for three years.

Vince Gibbs - CEO, Intequity CM
Vince has pursued his entrepreneurial interest and run a successful real estate inspection company for 9 years and has recently started Intequity Construction Management, Incorporated. Vince currently serves as a member of the City of Oakland Planning Commission and is the president of the Train Station Partnership to restore the West Oakland 16th Street Train Station, which was destroyed in the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. Vince is an alumnus of the 2008 Bay Area Ross Program for Real Estate.