Allison Brooks | Chair, Resilient By Design Executive Board

Allison is Executive Director of Bay Area Regional Collaborative (BARC), helping to coordinate regional planning efforts of the Bay Area’s four regional agencies with a primary focus on aligning climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts. The agencies include the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), and the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC). Prior to joining BARC, Allison led the national organization Reconnecting America, where she helped develop data-driven and interdisciplinary solutions to better integrate transportation and land use to meet broader climate, social equity and economic goals in metro areas across the United States, and across federal agencies. Allison has a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego and a Masters in Sustainable International Development from the Heller Graduate School of Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. 

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John Rahaim | Planning Director, City and County of San Francisco
John was appointed Planning Director for the City and County of San Francisco in January 2008.   In that role he is responsible for overseeing long range planning, environmental reviews, and development entitlements for most physical development in the City. Prior to his appointment in San Francisco, he was Director of Long Range Planning for the City of Seattle, and was the Founding Executive Director of City Design, Seattle’s office of Urban Design. John received a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Michigan, and a Master of Architecture from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. During his tenure, the Planning Department has completed detailed plans for approximately 20% of the city, where most of the city’s growth will occur.

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Richard Kennedy | Senior Principal, RLA, James Corner Field Operations

Richard is a Senior Principal at James Corner Field Operations, and Director of the firm’s new San Francisco office. With over 15 years of professional experience, Richard is currently leading the design of the Presidio Tunnel Tops Project in San Francisco, a new 14-acre park that connects the Presidio to San Francisco’s Bayfront; Pier 70, now underway with the first phase in the 28-acre mixed-use development and waterfront park in San Francisco; Oyster Point Waterfront, an 80-acre waterfront district in South San Francisco; the San Pedro Promenade and Public Market, a 30-acre waterfront park and marketplace in the Port of Los Angeles; and, the new Oakland A’s Ballpark and Master Plan in Oakland.

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Richard Mullane | Principal, HASSELL
Richard is an urban designer and planner with extensive experience in multidisciplinary master planning projects in Australia, Asia, the UK and the USA. He was responsible for HASSELL’s recent successful Resilient By Design team in collaboration with global and San Francisco Bay Area consultants. He is a strong advocate for collaborative and site-responsive design.

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Marcel Wilson, ASLA, PLA | Founder/Director, Bionic

Marcel is the Founder and design director of Bionic; a landscape architecture and urban design practice founded on the mandate to “enable life” in an increasingly complicated and changing world.  After a decade of acting on this mandate the firm is engaged in a range of significant large scale projects including new waterfronts, campuses, the reinvention of urban centers, and the reorganization of cities in response to climate change and sea level rise. Wilson received his master’s degree in Landscape Architecture with distinction from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Under his leadership Bionic works at all scales and levels of complexity in the built environment. Their recent commissions include projects for influential global companies including Google, LinkedIn, and Zeiss. The firm also works with public agencies,  vulnerable communities in need, and nonprofit organizations.