Annual Economic Development Symposium, presented by Bank

Reimagining Communities: Affecting change to influence investment

How changing zoning laws and re-thinking land use guidelines can be catalytic to foster quality affordable housing development. Improving opportunities to grow generational wealth for disenfranchised communities often means revising policies and laws which impede housing development in urban markets. Come hear this distinguished panel and Keynote discuss practical changes that can immediately spur development in our cities.

2022 Event Replay

Keynote Speaker

Sara Bronin, Professor at Cornell University and Founder of DesegregateCT

Sara Bronin is a Mexican-American architect, attorney, professor, and policymaker whose interdisciplinary work focuses on how law and policy can foster more equitable, sustainable, well-designed, and connected places. She is a Professor of the Cornell College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, an Associated Faculty Member of the Cornell Law School, and a Faculty Fellow of the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability.

Panelists

	Melissa Kaplan-Macey CT Regional Plan Association – Moderator
	Sara Bronin Professor at Cornell University and Founder of DesegregateCT
	Dr. Fred McKinney Co-Founder of BJM Solutions (an Economics Consulting firm) and former Carlton Highsmith Chair for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Quinnipiac University
	Arunan Arulampalan CEO Hartford Land Bank

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2021 Event Replay: Housing Matters: Breaking Down Barriers and Dismantling Disparities

VIDEO: "Good Neighbor: What Affordable Housing Means for Communities"

Keynote Presentations 

David J. Erickson
Senior Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of New York

David heads the community development and economic education teams. His areas of research include community development finance, affordable housing, economic development, and institutional changes that benefit low-income communities. David has been a leader in the collaboration between the Federal Reserve and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in bringing the health sector together with community development. To date, this collaboration has resulted in 52 conferences and numerous publications, including a cluster of articles in Health Affairs in November, 2011. Erickson’s book on the history of community development, The Housing Policy Revolution: Networks and Neighborhoods, was published in 2009 by the Urban Institute Press. He also co-edited Investing in What Works for America’s Communities: Essays on People, Place, and Purpose (2012); What Counts: Harnessing Data for America’s Communities (2014); What It’s Worth: Strengthening the Financial Futures of Families, Communities and the Nation (2015); and What Matters: Investing in Results to Build Strong, Vibrant Communities (2017). David has a Ph.D. in history from the University of California, Berkeley, and an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College.

Chief Economist, The Conference Board

Dana Peterson is the Chief Economist & Center Leader of Economy, Strategy & Finance at The Conference Board. Peterson joins The Conference Board from Citi, where for many years she served as a North America Economist and later as a Global Economist. Her wealth of experience extends to the public sector, having also worked at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C.
 
Dana’s wide-ranging economics portfolio includes analyzing global economic themes having direct financial market implications, including monetary policy; fiscal and trade policy; debt; taxation; ESG; and demographics. Her work also examined myriad US themes leveraging granular data. In addition, Dana conducted multi-asset research and wrote publications with other Citi research teams – both US and global – including strategists covering rates, equities, credit, foreign exchange, commodities, political analysis, and asset allocation.
 
Peterson's research has been featured by US and international news outlets, both in print and broadcast. Publications and networks include CNBC, FOX Business, Bloomberg, Thomson-Reuters, the Financial Times, and the Wall Street Journal. She is the rising 1st Vice Chair of the New York Association for Business Economics (NYABE), and a member of the Women’s Bond Club.
 
She received an undergraduate degree in Economics from Wesleyan University and a Master of Science degree in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.