Urban Innovation Symposium 2013

Thank you to everyone who presented at or attended the Symposium, it was a huge success! Click here for photos, PowerPoint presentations & additional information from the presenters (presentations will only be posted with presenter approval). 

About_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

_There are as many aspects to sustainability as there are faces among Chicago residents. On Friday, February 8th, 2013 the Urban Innovation Symposium will explore those aspect by bringing together a diverse group of pioneering professionals for a series of presentations on innovative approaches to making cities more sustainable. The third annual Urban Innovation Symposium is a two–part, day–long event organized by the Urban Planning and Policy Student Association at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).

The symposium’s daytime session, held at UIC, will focus on the topic of sustainability. Presenters from across the region will provide insights into cutting-edge approaches to sustainability in the realms of transportation, finance and social enterprise, food systems, and the environment.

At the evening event, a series of short presentations will be delivered at Catawampus Gallery in Wicker Park using the fast-moving, visually-oriented PechaKucha®  format. This event will offer a more informal atmosphere where attendees can take part in one-on-one discussions while enjoying refreshments, including complimentary beer and wine.

Scroll down for the day's schedule, RSVP, directions, and speaker bios & topics.

For more information, email the Symposium Coordinator.

A special thanks to our sponsors:
  
  


The RSVP list is now closed due to the high volume of interest in the Urban Innovation Symposium. If you did not RSVP, we hope you'll join us next year.

Schedule_____________________________________________________________

Daytime Event
9:00am to 2:30pm
UIC Campus: 
        Student Center East, Room 302 (750 S. Halsted)
Morning Session: (schedule confirmed)
9:00a Welcome
9:10a Keynote: Gabe Klein, Chicago Dept of Transp.
9:45a David Leopold, CDOT (Streetscapes)
10:10a Bob Newport, Environmental Protection Agency
BREAK
10:45a Jerry Mead-Lucero, PERRO (Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization)
11:10a Naomi Davis, Blacks in Green
11:35a Social Enterprise Panel
   Rowan Richards, The Stewards Market
   Romy Gingras, Gingras Global
12:25p - 1:00p Lunch Break (not provided)

Afternoon Session:
1:00p Planning Towards a Sustainable Food System Panel 
    Harry Rhodes, Growing Home
    Brad Roback, City of Chicago, Housing & Econ Dev
    Orrin Williams, Center for Urban Transformation
1:45p Incubator Farming in Chicago Panel 
   Martha Boyd, Angelic Organics Learning Center
   Kelly Larsen, Windy City Harvest 
   Patsy Benveniste, Chicago Botanic Garden
Evening Event: PechaKucha® Night
8:00pm to 11:00pm
Location: Catawampus Gallery
        1579 North Milwaukee Ave, 3rd  
Confirmed Presenters:
Steve Vance, Grid Chicago
Rebecca Geissler, Chicago Transit Authority
Mike Kowski, Village of Tinley Park
Abby Crisostomo, Metropolitan Planning Council
Rowan Richards, The Stewards Market
Chris Choi, Environmental Protection Agency


For those attending the evening PechaKecha event, please follow @uppsa where we will track attendance levels and may hit capacity (doors open at 8:00p)

Location & Directions__________________________________________________



Daytime Event Location: 
Student Center East, Room 302 (750 S. Halsted)
Directions 
The nearest visitor parking lots are show on the map


Evening Event Location: 
Catawampus Gallery
1579 North Milwaukee Ave, 3rd Floor
In the Flat Iron Arts Building

View 2013 Urban Innovation Symposium in a larger map
________________________________________________________________________________________________

Speaker Bios: Daytime Event

Patsy Benveniste
Vice President of Education & Community Programs, Chicago Botanic Gardens
Topic: Incubator Farming

Picture
Ms. Benveniste oversees the Regenstein School and the departments of community gardening and horticultural therapy, which collectively serve more than 100,000 people each year. As part of the Garden’s commitment to serve the education, training, and wellness needs of Cook County residents in the communities where they live, Ms. Benveniste develops strategic program resources for the Garden's extensive urban agriculture initiatives, which operate in multiple locations throughout the City of Chicago and other satellite locations. She also serves as Garden liaison on a variety of other community and national initiatives, including on the board of the American Public Garden Association (APGA).

Ms. Benveniste is a presenter at APGA conferences, has written about youth development, garden-based education and the value of plant rich landscapes, and was a presenter at the 2006 Bioneers conference. Before joining the Garden in 2000, Ms. Benveniste served as director of education at Lincoln Park Zoo (1995-2000). Prior to that, she was the director of corporate and foundation giving (1990-1995) at the Zoo.

Romy Gingras Kochan
President & Founder, Gingras Global
Topic: Social Enterprise

Picture
Romy founded Gingras Global, LLC in February of 2011. Dreams and visions of sustainability began fueling the effort back in 2006 when she started to view global outreach with the eyeglasses of business and financial planning. Romy quickly realized that there was a need for unity of efforts; unity both locally and globally to harness resources and talents. 

Romy has spent many years consulting large financial organizations on profitability and development along with the entrepreneurial start-ups. She has started many that were sold in the marketplace and exist today. She talks often of the failures that provided the “skin-your-knees” education you can only acquire by experiencing failure. Along the way Romy discovered that business can bring unity AND solutions to world issues.

David Leopold
CDOT Streetscapes
Topic: Cermak Ave Project

The Chicago Department of Transportation [CDOT] is at the forefront of developing and implementing great urban infrastructure, using the public right of way to create sustainable, vibrant, public space. As part of this commitment to sustainability, in 2012, CDOT unveiled the ‘greenest street in America,’ the first phase of a two-mile stretch of Blue Island Avenue and Cermak Road in the Pilsen neighborhood that is an unprecedented demonstration of how cutting-edge sustainable design and ‘complete streets’ principles can be implemented in the public right of way.

The Cermak/Blue Island Sustainable Streetscape has received quantifiable results by setting aggressive sustainability goals in eight performance areas such as stormwater management, material reuse, energy reduction, and placemaking. As Program Manager at the CDOT Streetscape and Sustainable Design Program, David Leopold oversees the implementation of these sustainable principles citywide and served as Project Manager for the Cermak/Blue Island project.   

Jerry Mead-Lucero 
Organizer, Pilsen Environmental Rights & Reform Organization (PERRO)
Topic: Environmental Struggles in Pilsen

Picture
Jerry has lived in Pilsen for 12 years.  His family has connections to the neighborhood that date back to at least the 1940’s and has many extended family members who live in the community.  Jerry is a former social studies teacher and has been a labor, immigrant rights, and environmental activist for over 20 years.  PERRO is an environmental justice organization that formed in 2004.  

Members of PERRO have worked to eliminate pollution from the Fisk and Crawford plants since 2002.  PERRO has combated several major polluters in the Pilsen community and has succeeded in reducing pollution from a number of sources.  PERRO recognizes the environmental issues are inextricably intertwined with issue of race, class and gender and connects its work against neighborhood polluters with other social justice concerns like affordable housing, immigrants rights and living wage jobs.  Jerry is also the host/producer of Labor Express Radio, a weekly labor news and current affairs radio program.    

Harry Rhodes 
Executive Director, Growing Home
Topic: Urban Agriculture

Picture
Mr. Rhodes has been with Growing Home since 2001. He initiated the first year of growing organic food and training people in 2002, and has overseen the growth of the organization, helping it become a leading social enterprise that operates an organic agriculture transitional job program.

Mr. Rhodes is one of the leading advocates for urban agriculture in Chicago. He is one of the founders of Advocates for Urban Agriculture (AUA) and is currently on AUA’s Steering Committee.

He has a Master’s Degree in Public Policy and Administration from the University of Wisconsin.

Brad Roback
Sustainable Economic Development Coordinator, City of Chicago Dept of Housing & Econ Dev (HED)
Topic: Food Systems

Brad is a member of the Sustainable Development team in the Bureau of Planning and Zoning.  In his role with the HED, Brad is primarily focused on food policy and incorporating food into local land use planning projects.

Orrin Williams
Executive Dir., Center for Urban Transformation
Topic: Food Systems

Picture
Orrin Williams is the Executive Director of the Center for Urban Transformation and is the Regional Lead Field Organizer for Energy Impact Illinois. He is an accomplished writer and emerging photographer documenting what he calls the “aesthetic of oppression” in south and west side communities in Chicago. It is William’s belief that the aesthetic conditions in a community contribute to determining whether a community is healthy or unhealthy and therefore oppressed. Orrin has been an advocate for and supporter of urban agriculture for over 20 years and has worked on food access and food security issues and their relationship to ecologically sustainable development. Additionally, he is an avid advocate for the development of a sustainable green economy and the creation of green jobs. 

Martha Boyd
Director, Angelic Organics Learning Center    
Topic: Incubator Farming

Picture
Martha Boyd helps neighborhood partners build their local food system with sites and skills for growing good food in the city.  Martha is Program Director for Angelic Organics Learning Center's Urban Initiative in Chicago.  She co-chairs the steering committee of the Advocates of Urban Agriculture (AUA) and its Advocacy working group, and coordinates the Chicago Chicken Enthusiasts coalition of backyard chicken keepers.

Martha and partners Real Men Charities, Inc work on Eat to Live Englewood, a community environment, economic, and cultural development project helping neighbors of all ages learn to grow, cook, and eat healthy food and live healthier lives.  Eat to Live is developing a half-acre urban farm and a companion learning garden next to Yale Elementary School in southeast Englewood.

Naomi Davis
Founder, Blacks in Green
Topic: Where is your village?

Picture
Naomi Davis is one of Chicago’s most celebrated environmentalists and a nationally sought speaker and consultant. She is an urban theorist, attorney, activist, and proud granddaughter of Mississippi sharecroppers. Naomi serves as a bridge and catalyst among communities and their stakeholders in the design and development of green, self-sustaining, mixed- income, walkable-villages within black neighborhoods. She is author of The 8 Principles of Green-Village-BuildingTM -- a whole-system solution for the whole-system problems common to black communities everywhere – which she presents in lectures, workshops around the country, and has taught at the University of Chicago Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture. Together with its precursor Grannynomics,TM green-village-building offers a culture-specific prescription with universal value, addressing the terrible triplets of pollution, poverty, and plutocracy.

Gabe Klein
Commissioner, CDOT
Topic: Transportation

Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) Commissioner Gabe Klein joined Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration in May 2011. He views it as an opportunity to continue public service in the 5th largest urban economy in the world, to make Chicago an example nationally for innovation in transportation, public space, and sustainable design, and most importantly,  to positively impact quality of life for Chicago’s 2.6 million residents. Prior to Mayor Emanuel’s administration, Gabe was Director of The Washington D.C. Department of Transportation (DDOT). In this role, Gabe built a customer focused agency that is hailed as a leader nationally in technology, customer interface, and multi-modal innovation, as well as innovative finance. DDOT is setting the standard for everything from parking technology, to the Nations 1st, and largest Bike Share program. At the end of 2002, as Regional Vice President for Zipcar, Gabe took a new concept in the U.S, “carsharing,” and built a viable business in Washington D.C. and helped prove the carsharing model nationally. Gabe was the first to develop strong public-private partnerships with local governments, regional transportation agencies, as well as all major universities in a market, very instrumental in Zipcar’s growth.

Kelly Larsen
Windy City Harvest Manager
Chicago Botanic Garden
Topic: Incubator Farming

Picture
Kelly Larsen, manager of the Windy City Harvest program, started working with the program in 2008. Her role has expanded with the program as it grew from a single garden into a multi-facted education program that includes a certificate program in Sustainable Urban Agriculture as well as a transitional jobs training program and production farm. As manager, she is responsible for overseeing the seven Windy City Harvest agricultural sites throughout Cook County and managing 12 full-time staff members and as many as 40 seasonal workers. Prior to the Chicago Botanic Garden, Kelly worked for six years as the manager of the Herb & Vegetable and Rose Departments at Gethsemane Garden Center. She is on the steering committee for the Chicago Advocates for Urban Agriculture. Her degree in Environmental Studies is from Northeastern Illinois University.

Bob Newport
Stormwater Specialist, Environmental Protection Agency Region 5
Topic: Stormwater Management & Streetscaping

Bob Newport is a Stormwater Specialist who works in the Region 5 (Chicago) office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He works with States, local units of government, and watershed organizations on issues related to land use, development practices, and stormwater management. He works with States on development of water discharge permits. Bob leads and participates in activities in the Region related to Low Impact Development and Green Infrastructure. He is also part of the Region 5 Sustainable Water Infrastructure team.

Bob has a Bachelor's degree from Roosevelt University in Public Administration, a Bachelor's degree from Northwestern University in Economics, and a Master's degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago in Urban Planning and Policy. (Yes he is a MUPP!)

Rowan Richards
Founder & Director, The Stewards Market
Topic: Social Enterprise

Picture
Founded in 2006, The Stewards Market (TSM) is dedicated to providing financial and entrepreneurial educational programs to at-risk teens and young adults in the Chicago-land area. Two programs, Financial Foundations™ and ARTrepreneur™, are funded by Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and subsidized by our two social enterprise projects. King Lizzy Apparel and Sustainable Operations and Advocacy Partners (SOAP). King Lizzy is a private label street-wear company employing local artists to create unique graphic t-shirts and hand painted sneakers. SOAP is a hotel sustainability project, recycling liquid amenities from Chicago hotels and donating the consolidated, unused products to families in need. To date TSM has worked with over 600 students in four different schools, created ten local jobs and donated thousands of consolidated bottles. TSM is located in Humboldt Park.

Speaker Bios: Evening PechaKucha Event

Chris Choi
Community Planner, EPA Region 5
Topic: Infrastructure

Picture
Chris Choi is a Community Planner with U.S. EPA's Region 5 Office in Chicago and works on land revitalization, sustainable development, and green building issues. His recent experiences include managing projects under the HUD-DOT-EPA Partnership for Sustainable Communities, working on community development finance issues, and managing Region 5's "Removing Market Barriers to Green Development" project. He also serves on the leadership team for EPA's National Green Building Workgroup. Prior to his current position at EPA, Chris worked on strategic planning and business process & operations design for financial services and manufacturing companies. He holds a Masters in Urban Planning from University of Illinois at Chicago, an MBA from Indiana University, and a BA in Economics from Columbia University.

Rebecca Geissler
Chicago Transit Authority
Topic: Transportation

Picture
Rebecca graduated from the Urban Planning program at UIC where she served as Vice President of the Urban Planning and Policy Student Association. During school, she worked for the Urban Transportation Center and the Center for Neighborhood Technology. She recently began working as a Scheduling Analyst for the Chicago Transit Authority, where she plans to continue to work closely with the strategic planning department with any new developments.

Rowan Richards
See Above

Abby Crisostomo
Associate, Metropolitan Planning Council
Topic: Milwaukee Ave Green Development Corridor

Picture
Abby is an associate at the Metropolitan Planning Council, where she focuses primarily on environmental planning with an emphasis on water resources policy, planning and management. Her work includes leading a project to provide technical assistance on water conservation to the Northwest Water Planning Alliance in Chicago’s far northwest suburbs, and facilitating collaborative, community-based stormwater management in the City of Blue Island. She is a 2012 graduate of the MUPP program and was named urban planning and policy student of the year. In addition to her work at MPC, Abby sits on the board of Women in Planning + Development, a local professional development group.

Michael Kowski
Senior Urban Planner, Village of Tinley Park
Topic: Urban Design

Picture
Michael Kowski is an architect and urban designer specializing in the nexus between sustainability and suburban redevelopment.  He holds graduate degrees from the University of Illinois at Chicago and Harvard University, and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).  Michael currently works as a senior urban planner for the Village of Tinley Park. 

Steve Vance
Streetsblog Chicago (formerly Grid Chicago)
Topic: Transportation

Picture
Steven Vance is a transportation planner who graduated as a MUPP in 2010. He writes for Streetsblog Chicago, and endlessly promotes utility cycling in Chicago.



Visit http://peoriastreet.info/ for more information on Steve's proposal for Peoria Street.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Photos from the 2012 Symposium
________________________________________________________________________________________________

2013 Symposium Planning Committee

Kelly Siegel, Symposium Coordinator

Committee Members
Anna Bachman
Patricia Bon
Steve Broadwell
Lindsay Broughel
Romina Castillo
Samantha Kearney
Ashley Sarver
Ryan Schmitt
Jen Wichmann
Jane Wilberding