Now in its 19th year, our annual symposium brings the pro-housing community together to learn about, discuss, and explore innovative ideas to solving California’s most pressing housing issues.
This year’s Symposium will focus on the critical theme of resiliency. Our panel of housing experts will explore what it means for a city’s housing to be resilient, how we can build more resilient cities, and why housing resiliency is important.
We’re excited to host a panel that will feature:
Moderator: Adhiti Bandlamudi, KQED Housing Reporter
New Cities: Gabe Metcalf, Head of Planning, California Forever
Existing Cities: Alicia John-Baptiste, Chief of Infrastructure, Climate and Mobility, City and County of San Francisco
Rebuilding Cities: Azeen Khanmalek, Executive Director, Abundant Housing LA
Meet Our Symposium Panelists:
Moderator: Adhiti Bandlamudi, KQED Housing Reporter
Adhiti Bandlamudi reports for KQED's Housing desk. She focuses on how housing gets built across the Bay Area and has won awards for her coverage on urban sprawl, cities adapting to climate change, and California Forever — an unconventional initiative that aims to build a city from scratch in Solano County. She is based in San Francisco.
New Cities: Gabe Metcalf, Head of Planning, California Forever
Gabriel Metcalf is a city planner who has dedicated his career to helping cities become more livable, sustainable, and inclusive. For several years, he served as the President and CEO of SPUR, an urban policy think tank for the San Francisco Bay Area. Most recently, he was the CEO of the Committee for Sydney, a research and advocacy organization that provides vision, strategy, and advocacy for Australia’s largest city.
Existing Cities: Alicia John-Baptiste, Chief of Infrastructure, Climate and Mobility, City and County of San Francisco
A seasoned leader and public policy professional, Alicia John-Baptiste has over 25 years of experience reimagining systems to create better outcomes for people. She currently serves as Chief of Infrastructure, Climate, and Mobility for the City and County of San Francisco. Alicia honed her optimistic vision and practical approach to systems change while President and CEO of SPUR, a renowned urban policy organization focused on building a Bay Area where all people can thrive.
Rebuilding Cities: Azeen Khanmalek, Executive Director, Abundant Housing LA
Azeen Khannalek is the Executive Director of Abundant Housing LA, a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for more housing at all levels of affordability throughout LA County. Prior to his time at AHLA, Azeen was the Director of Affordable Housing Production across two Mayoral Administration in the Los Angeles Mayor's office, most recently serving under Mayor Karen Bass.
