People

Joe Neri is CEO of IFF, a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) based in the Midwest. IFF is a former grantee of the Living Cities’ Green Economy Working Group as well as a current borrower of Living Cities’ Catalyst Fund debt capital. …

Paul S. Grogan serves as President and CEO of the Boston Foundation. Paul joined the Foundation from Harvard University where he was Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs.

With an extensive background in finance, administration and operations, David has worked for a variety of nonprofit organizations and associations in New England and New York.

As a former Coordinator for Collective Impact, Ratna provided support to The Integration Initiative, helping to capture and share knowledge with both the organization and the field.

Nora Liu is the project manager for Racial Equity Here, a joint project of the Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) and Living Cities, to support local governments leading the way to create a future for racial equity and economic growth fo…

Patty Hayes has over 25 years of experience in public health, policy development and advocacy. She currently serves as the appointed Director of Public Health – Seattle & King County

ohn Moon is District Manager, Community Development, at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco in 2012 and directs the strategic activities of the field team. He has extensive community development experience in the public and private sectors inc…

Tim is the Founder and Chairman of Next Street.  Next Street is a certified B Corporation with offices in Boston, New York City, and Chicago. 

Jessica is the Associate Director for the Urban Policy Advisory Group. She recently served as the director of policy development and implementation for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, where she led research an…

Reshma Saujani is the founder of Girls Who Code, a national nonprofit organization working to close the gender gap in technology.

Ron Littlefield, a former mayor of Chattanooga, Tenn., is a senior fellow with the Governing Institute and its lead analyst on the City Accelerator initiative.

Gabriel is primarily responsible for updating website content, writing the Transport Matters blog, and assisting with publications at ITDP.

Natalie formerly worked closely with The Integration Initiative team and the members serving on the Integration Initiative committee and lenders group providing programmatic support. Before joining Living Cities, Natalie was a Project Manager with K…

Amanda Daflos serves as the Director of the Innovation Team (i-team) in the Mayor's Office of Budget and Innovation in the City of Los Angeles.

Mariia is Founder and Principal at MZ Strategies, LLC. Mariia served as Deputy Director for HUD's Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities from 2010-2012.

Scarlet is a senior communications associate at the Vera Institute of Justice, where she handles media inquiries to the institute, drafts press releases, edits op-eds and other material, and oversees Vera's social media presence.

John Arensmeyer is Founder & CEO of Small Business Majority. For more information on Small Business Majority and our work with the small business community, please visit the organization’s website: [http://www.smallbusinessmajority.org/](http://www.…

Hafizah joined Living Cities in July 2016 after three and a half years supporting the Director of D5 Coalition, a 5-year initiative to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in philanthropy.

Cassandra Benjamin is a Principal for CSB Consulting. She was an interim director for The Integration Initiative at Living Cities. At CSB Consulting, Cassandra has designed and managed initiatives for a range of philanthropic organizations including…

Julie Nelson is Senior Vice-President at the Center for Social Inclusion (CSI) and the Director of the Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE). Julie is also a Senior Fellow with the Haas Institute for and Fair and Inclusive Society (HIFIS) at…