Tracye McDaniel, as president of TIP Strategies, Inc., brings a global perspective to local strategies. Throughout her thirty-year career, Tracye has advised and supported five governors in all facets of economic development. She has led marketing efforts in over 51 countries. Tracye is a trusted advisor to CEOs, nonprofits, public organizations, and private enterprises. Prior to joining TIP, Tracye was the founder and CEO of McDaniel Strategy Ecosystems. She has served as president and chief executive officer of the Texas Economic Development Corporation and TexasOne, an independently funded and operated 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to marketing the state globally for business attraction, retention, and foreign direct investment. Before that, Tracye was Founding CEO of Choose New Jersey, one of a few economic development organizations in the country wholly funded through private sources. While there, she shaped the state’s brand for economic development marketing as well as its business retention and recruitment strategies. Tracye was also one of the founding creators of Opportunity Houston at the Greater Houston Partnership where she served in the role of Executive Vice President and COO. Tracye is a widely recognized strategist with C-Suite level experience in all facets of the organizational development, corporate engagement, economic development, and the travel marketing industry. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Communications from the University of Texas at Austin.

Jeff Hebert is a national expert in the areas of resiliency, redevelopment, equitable and inclusionary growth, and economic development. A city planner by training, his forward-looking and holistic design approach helps urban communities better adapt to changing environments and economies. For nearly a decade, Jeff served Mayor Mitch Landrieu and the City of New Orleans in many capacities, including as the First Deputy Mayor & Chief Administrative Officer, Chief Resilience Officer, Executive Director of the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, and as the Mayor’s blight czar. In these roles he managed the day to day operations of City Hall, tackled the crippling blight issues plaguing New Orleans, refocused over $250M in place-based investments, and oversaw both the City’s development portfolio and the Office of Resilience and Sustainability. Some of Jeff’s most notable accomplishments include the City’s historic riverfront revitalization projects, the redevelopment of the former World Trade Center, the new terminal at Louis Armstrong New Orleans Airport, Lafitte Greenway linear park, the City’s Bike Share program, the City’s green infrastructure program, the City’s first climate action plan, the award-winning Resilient NOLA comprehensive resilience strategy, and the $141M National Disaster Resilience Competition award. Previously, Jeff served as the Director of Planning for Concordia, where he directed community revitalization projects in the Bay area and Texas as well as the $2 Billion Schools Master Plan in New Orleans. Following the devastation from Hurricane Katrina, Jeff was appointed the Director of Community Planning for the Louisiana Recovery Authority, where he directed the state’s long-term recovery strategy. Jeff began his career working with community development organizations in New York City and Philadelphia. Jeff joins HR&A from the Water Institute of the Gulf, where he served as Vice President. While at the Water Institute, Jeff led a transdisciplinary team to develop innovative adaptation solutions for the complex climate challenges confronting cities. In addition to his role as Partner at HR&A, Jeff is an adjunct faculty member at the Tulane University School of Architecture, where he teaches in the Graduate Sustainable Real Estate Development program, the incoming Vice Chairman of FUSE Corps in San Francisco, and a trustee of the Louisiana Children’s Museum in New Orleans. Jeff holds a bachelor’s degree from New York University, a master’s degree in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and is a graduate of the Achieving Excellence in Community Development program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, where he was a Ford Foundation Fellow.

Coming from a family of mechanical engineers, Gautam always knew he wanted to break the career mold that had been set for him. He initially studied architecture, an experience that he credits with making him a more well-rounded planner and landscape architect. So it comes as no surprise that Gautam actively seeks out diverse perspectives in his project work. He believes that varied viewpoints are essential to accurately identify the problem at hand; only when you truly know the problem can you begin to think of possible solutions. Gautam’s design philosophy is simple: be a student all the time–never stop learning. To him, each project is a fresh chance to be bold and make a difference in the lives of people.

Kimberly Driggins joins the Washington Housing Conservancy as Executive Director with an extensive background in urban planning and real estate development. In her most recent role as Director of Strategic Planning for the City of Detroit Government's Planning and Development Department, Driggins was responsible for citywide planning initiatives regarding vacant land strategy, cultural and heritage planning,neighborhood retail and equitable development. Prior to her time with the City of Detroit Government, Driggins served as Associate Director of Citywide Planning for the District of Columbia Government from 2008-2015. In this role, Driggins developed several innovative initiatives including Temporary Urbanism (activation of underutilized vacant space in emerging neighborhoods), Live Near Your Work (employer assisted housing program), and the Vibrant Retail Streets Toolkit. She was also part of the early thought leadership for the 11th Street Bridge Park and served on its equitable development taskforce.  Driggins currently serves as a board member for Project for Public Spaces and PennPraxis. She has a BA degree from Hampton University, an MPP from the University Of Chicago Harris School Of Public Policy and was awarded a prestigious Loeb Fellowship from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design in 2015.