Get to know your CivicCon speakers

Tom Murphy

Tom Murphy is an Urban Land Institute senior resident fellow and the ULI/Kingbell Family Chair for Urban Development. As a three-term mayor of Pittsburgh between 1994 and 2006, he initiated a public/private partnership strategy that leveraged Carnegie Mellon University’s academic presence to create regional economic development in technology fields and more than $4.5 billion in economic development in the city. Murphy led efforts to secure and oversee $1 billion in funding for the development of two professional sports facilities, and a new convention center that is the largest certified green building in the United States. He also developed strategic partnerships to transform more than 1,000 acres of blighted, abandoned industrial properties into new commercial, residential, retail, and public uses, and oversaw the development of more than 25 miles of new riverfront trails and parks.

Murphy’s extensive experience in urban revitalization—what drives investment, what ensures long-lasting commitment—has been a key addition to the senior resident fellows’ areas of expertise. 

Charles Marohn

Charles Marohn - known as "Chuck" to friends and colleagues - is a professional engineer (PE) licensed in the state of Minnesota and a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). He is the Founder and President of Strong Towns. Marohn has a Bachelor's  degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota's Institute of Technology and a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute.

Marohn is the lead author of Thoughts on Building Strong Towns — Volume 1 and Volume 2 — as well as A World Class Transportation System. He hosts the Strong Towns Podcast and is a primary writer for Strong Towns’ web content. He has presented Strong Towns concepts in hundreds of cities and towns across North America. Chuck grew up on a small farm in Central Minnesota. The oldest of three sons of two elementary school teachers, he joined the Minnesota National Guard on his 17th birthday during his junior year of high school and served for nine years. In addition to being passionate about building a stronger America, he loves playing music, is an obsessive reader and religiously follows his favorite team, the Minnesota Twins.

Chuck and his wife live with their two daughters and two Samoyeds in their hometown of Brainerd, Minnesota.

Andrew Davis

Andrew Davis ’ inspirational, unconventional, and sometimes controversial concepts are a product of his diverse life and business experiences. His childhood acting career provided the training ground that makes him a highly-engaging and entertaining speaker at trade shows, conferences, and corporate events around the world. Andrew’s past experiences as a television writer and producer have contributed to his theories on how to build a relationship with a valuable audience through the generation of great content powered by exceptional talent. He honed his marketing and product-development skills during the first dot-com boom, which shaped his business-oriented approach to driving real revenue and results. Finally, his co-founding of Tippingpoint Labs in 2001, led to the practical fusion of his varied experiences servicing brands that sell everything from consumer products to subscriptions.

Andrew got his start in the media business at a young age appearing in television commercials and voicing over radio spots for brands like Cadbury, Chevrolet, Six Flags, and McDonalds. By middle school, he’d started his first business—a magic and marionette show for kids—while he performed in operas and musicals with stars like Dame Joan Sutherland and Dukes of Hazard star, John Schneider.

After graduating from Boston University’s College of Communication with a degree in Television and Film (and a minor in philosophy), Andrew stepped behind the camera, and off the stage, to start producing call-in, public affairs programming at a local television station. From there he helped support the growth of the cable news network explosion by joining VideoLink, producing segments for NBC’s Today Show, CNN, Fox News, CNBC, the BBC, and many more. It’s there that he had the opportunity to pitch, write, and produce segments for television icon Charles Kuralt’s syndicated program, An American Moment.

Andrew chased his dream job to New York and landed as the production manager in the Muppet workshop for the Jim Henson company, helping contribute to the success of television shows (including Sesame Street and Bear in the Big Blue House) and films (including Muppets From Space and Elmo in Grouchland).

The technology boom in the late 1990s sparked his interest in new media and he rode the wave through startups that included The Stock Market Photo Agency, ThinkAgent Technologies, and Sallie Mae Solutions, filling roles that ranged from marketing to product development. In 2001, Andrew co-founded Tippingpoint Labs with business partner James Cosco. Jim’s television background and training as a journalist, combined with Andrew’s media, technology, and marketing expertise, led to the acquisition of clients including financial services, consumer packaged-goods, publishers, and technology brands.

For more than a decade, as Tippingpoint’s chief strategy officer, Andrew rallied his team to change the way content creators think, authentic talent is nurtured, and companies market their products.

Today, he’s traveling the globe sharing his insight, experience, stories, and optimistic ideals through his wildly fascinating speaking engagements, guest lectures and workshops. Andrew’s first marketing book, Brandscaping: Unleashing the Power of Partnerships , is one of Amazon.com’s Top 100 Marketing Books. His latest book, Town INC, hit shelves in September of 2015.

Bob Graham

Bob Graham was raised on a cattle and dairy farm in the deep Everglades of what is now Miami-Dade County. Daniel Robert "Bob" Graham was literally born into Florida politics on Nov.  9, 1936, just a week after his father, Ernest "Cap" Graham, was elected to the Florida Senate as an anti-corruption reformist.

Bob Graham grew up driving tractors, loading manure and raising livestock on a coral-rock homestead located deep within what at the time was a hot, disease-ridden swamp. During heavy rains and hurricanes, the family's house would sometimes flood, forcing them upstairs to avoid the poisonous snakes and other animals that invaded the property. Graham was a standout student, winning the title of Dade County's "Best All-Around Boy" from the Miami Herald and serving as president of Miami High's student body. At the University of Florida, he was involved in many different clubs and organizations and served as chancellor of the student honor court and president of his fraternity. A political science major, he also won some of the school's most prestigious awards. He was inducted into the University of Florida Hall of Fame (the most prestigious honor at UF) and was a member of the exclusive Florida Blue Key.

After graduating from Harvard Law School, Graham returned to his native Miami Lakes and won a seat in the Florida House of Representatives as part of a group of young progressive Democrats sympathetic to civil rights, public education and the environment. The group was known as the Doghouse Democrats, because their liberal credentials often landed them in the doghouse with the conservative Democrats who controlled the state.

In 1978, Graham launched a bid to become Florida's governor. Still a little-known politician, Graham also faced the hard reality that no South Florida candidate had ever made it to the governor's mansion. Most pundits thought he was simply deluded for even trying. But Bob Graham ran an exhaustive, state-wide campaign that began his signature "workdays." Though the concept was simple and had been tried before, it had never been done as Graham did it.

He didn't just show up to give a speech and follow someone around their factory for an hour: Bob Graham trained for the job beforehand and then put in a full day doing it. He spent 100 days during the campaign working ordinary jobs, laboring at everything from changing bedpans and cleaning invalids in a nursing home to wielding blowtorches as a steel worker and going without sleep as a long-haul trucker. At one point, working as a bellhop, he even ended up carrying the luggage of the wife of his primary opponent, Democratic frontrunner Robert Shevin. Winning the election in 1978, Graham continued the workdays as governor and then as a U.S Senator. In all, he served 386 workdays laboring in a dizzying number of jobs, trades and professions that included sports photographer, immigration officer and radio DJ.

After serving two terms as governor, Graham joined the U.S. Senate in 1987, carving out a career known not only for his grasp of domestic issues like Everglades restoration, immigration and off-shore drilling, but as a leading expert on foreign policy and intelligence. He was a frequent guest on Sunday morning news programs like "Meet the Press" and in 2002 he appeared on the Sunday shows more than any other politician.

Profiling Graham in The Washington Post in 2003, reporter Michael Grunwald wrote: "Today, Graham is one of the most popular politicians in Florida history. He's known as a successful governor, an excellent consensus-builder, an unusually nice man for a politician. He's never lost an election. He's never been embroiled in a scandal. He's enjoyed support from environmentalists and sugar barons, Cubans and Jews, retirees and college students. Michael Dukakis, Bill Clinton and Al Gore all considered him as a running mate.

One of Graham's most important contributions came during his last term, when he was named chairman on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. He co-sponsored the bill to create the Director of National Intelligence position and co-chaired the Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities Before and After the Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001. Graham later authored 2004's "Intelligence Matters," revealing serious faults in the U.S. national security system.

After retiring from public life, Senator Graham served for a year as a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

In May of 2010, Senator Graham was appointed by President Obama to serve as Co-Chair of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. This followed his service as a Commissioner on the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission and as the Chairman of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism.

Senator Graham is also the author of several books including “America: The Owner’s Manual,” which teaches the skills of civic participation, and “Keys to the Kingdom,” a novel of suspense which draws upon his background in government and intelligence.

Donald Shoup

Donald Shoup is Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Urban Planning at UCLA. His research has focused on how parking policies affect cities, the economy, and the environment. His research on employer-paid parking led to the passage of California’s parking cash-out law, and to changes in the Internal Revenue Code to encourage parking cash out. I n his book, The High Cost of Free Parking , Shoup recommends that cities should charge fair market prices for on-street parking, use the meter revenue to finance public services in the metered neighborhoods, and remove off-street parking requirements.

Shoup is a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners, an Honorary Professor at the Beijing Transportation Research Center, and the Editor of ACCESS. In 2015, the American Planning Association gave Shoup its highest honor, the National Excellence Award for a Planning Pioneer.

Ed McMahon

Ed McMahon is the Urban Land Institute/Charles Fraser Senior Resident Fellow for Sustainable Development. As the Senior Resident Fellow for Sustainable Development, McMahon’s responsibilities include leading ULI’s efforts to conduct research and educational activities related to green and sustainable development practices.

McMahon, a nationally renowned authority on sustainable development, land conservation and urban design, was formerly the Vice President and Director of land use programs at The Conservation Fund. McMahon is an attorney, community planner, lecturer, author and expert on the topics of sustainable development, land conservation, urban design and historic preservation.

Other recent books include Land Conservation Finance and Better Models for Commercial Development. He has organized successful efforts to acquire and protect urban parkland, wilderness areas and other conservation properties, and he has made numerous presentations on the topics of tourism, conservation, land use planning and historic preservation. McMahon is also the Cofounder and former President of Scenic America, a national non-profit organization devoted to protecting America’s scenic landscapes.

McMahon has an M.A. in Urban Studies from the University of Alabama and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law School, where he taught law and public policy from 1976-1985.

Emily Talen

Emily Talen is Professor of Urbanism at the University of Chicago. Prior appointments were at Arizona State University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has a Phd in urban geography from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research is devoted to urban design and urbanism, specially the relationship between the built environment and social equity. Her books include: New Urbanism and American Planning, Design for Diversity, Urban Design Reclaimed, and City Rules. She also has several edited volumes – the most recent one is Retrofitting Sprawl: Addressing 70 Years of Failed Urban Form. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship (2014-15), and is a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners. Her next book is called Neighborhood.

Jay Walljasper

Jay Walljasper is the author of The Great Neighborhood Book (2007), All That We Share: A Field Guide to the Commons (2011), How to Design Our World for Happiness (2013) and America’s Walking Renaissance (2016).

He was the editor of Utne Reader for 15 years, and served as travel editor at Better Homes & Gardens, contributing editor of National Geographic Traveler and executive editor at Netherlands-based Odemagazine. Currently Jay is Urban-Writer-in-Residence at Augsburg College in Minneapolis and Senior Fellow at Project for Public Spaces as well editor of the online Commons Magazine and curator of an e-magazine and website for the Blue Mountain Center arts community.

He has published articles appearing in National Geographic Traveler, Christian Science Monitor, San Francisco Chronicle, The New Statesman (London), Chicago Tribune, The Nation, Huffington Post, AARP, Midwest Living, McKnight Foundation, Toronto Star, Planning, Mother Jones, Philadelphia Inquirer, Notre Dame Magazine, YES! Magazine and Rock & Rap Confidential.

Jay has written stories and documentation for Kresge Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC), CEOs for Cities, Mayor's Institute for City Design, Trust for Public Land, People for Bikes, the Democracy Collaborative, Alta Planning + Design, the St. Paul Riverfront Corporation and many others.

He was Director of Strategic Communications at Project for Public Spaces and has been involved in developing publicity, messaging and publishing efforts People For Bikes, America Walks, Blue Mountain Center Arts Community, Rail~volution and other organizations. Jay also offers editing services and coaches individuals and organizations on communications and storytelling, including the National Geographic Society, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, community revitalization guru Dan Burden and PlaceHolder, a design consultancy.

Jeff Speck

Jeff Speck is a city planner and urban designer who, through writing, lectures, and built work, advocates internationally for more walkable cities. As Director of Design at the National Endowment for the Arts from 2003 through 2007, he oversaw the Mayors' Institute on City Design and created the Governors' Institute on Community Design, a federal program that helps state governors fight suburban sprawl. Prior to joining the Endowment, Mr. Speck spent 10 years as Director of Town Planning at Duany Plater-Zyberk and Co., a leading practitioner of the New Urbanism, where he led or managed more than 40 of the firm's projects. He is the co-author of Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream as well as The Smart Growth Manual. His recent book, Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time – which the Christian Science Monitor called “timely and important, a delightful, insightful, irreverent work” – was the best-selling planning/design title of 2013 - 2015.

Joseph Minicozzi

Joseph Minicozzi, AICP is the principal of Urban3, LLC, a consulting company of downtown Asheville real estate developer Public Interest Projects. Prior to creating Urban3, he served as the Executive Director for the Asheville Downtown Association.

Before moving to Asheville, he was the primary administrator of the Form Based Code for downtown West Palm Beach, Florida. Joe's cross-training in city planning in the public and private sectors, as well as private sector real estate finance, has allowed him to develop award-winning analytic tools that have garnered national attention in Planetizen, The Wall Street Journal, Planning, New Urban News, Realtor, Atlantic Cities and the Center for Clean Air Policy's Growing Wealthier report. Joe is a sought-after lecturer on city planning issues. His work has been featured at the Congress for New Urbanism, the American Planning Association, the International Association of Assessing Officers, and New Partners for SmartGrowth conferences as a paradigm shift for thinking about development patterns.

Joe is a founding member of the Asheville Design Center, a non-profit community design center dedicated to creating livable communities across all of Western North Carolina. He received his Bachelor of Architecture from University of Miami and Masters in Architecture and Urban Design from Harvard University.

Ryan Gravel

Ryan Gravel, AICP, LEED AP, is an urban planner, designer, and author working on site design, infrastructure, concept development, and public policy as the founding principal at Sixpitch . His master’s thesis in 1999 was the original vision for the Atlanta Beltline , a 22-mile transit greenway that with 15 years of progress, is changing both the physical form of his city and the decisions people make about living there. Now a $4 billion public-private investment in the early stages of implementation, the project’s health and economic benefits are already evident through record-breaking use of its first section of mainline trail and $3.1 billion of private sector redevelopment since 2005.

Ryan has received numerous awards and press related to his work on the Atlanta Beltline and tells his story internationally, but an essential aspect of his work is yet to come.

Alongside project work at Sixpitch and research on similar “catalyst infrastructure” projects around the world, he makes a compelling case about what this movement means and why it matters. In his book, “Where We Want to Live,” (St. Martin’s Press, 2016), Ryan investigates the cultural side of infrastructure, describing how its intimate relationship with our way of life can illuminate a brighter path forward for cities.

Ryan’s story has made ink in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Monocle, CityLab, CNN International, USA Today, and Esquire Magazine. He has been listed among the 100 Most Influential Georgians by Georgia Trend Magazine, 2014; the GOOD 100 by GOOD Magazine, 2013; “Visionary Bureaucrat” by Streetsblog, 2012; and “Top 25 Newsmakers” of 2011 by Engineering News-Record. He received an “Emerging Voices” citation from the AIA-Atlanta, 2011; Jenny D. Thurston Memorial Award from the Atlanta Urban Design Commission, 2007; and was called one of “45 Atlantans We Love” by Atlanta Magazine, 2006; one of “40-under-40″ from the Atlanta Business Chronicle, 2006; and on of the “Best & Brightest” by Esquire Magazine, 2006. Other honors include a Special Award of Recognition from AIA-Atlanta, 2005; and Golden Shoe Award for pedestrian-friendly research from PEDS, 2003.

Ryan serves on boards for the Partnership for Southern Equity and the MillionMile Greenway. He serves on the Urban Land Institute Atlanta’s Liveable Community Council and the Lifecycle Building Center ’s Advisory Board.

Michaele Pride

Michaele Pride is a professor of architecture at the University of New Mexico. As an architect and urban designer, she emphasizes principles of consensus, collaboration and public engagement in her teaching, research and professional consulting. Pride’s current work focuses on the intersection between design and public health — seeking ways to create healthy, sustainable and equitable communities.