Jon Commers has more than 25 years of experience as a consultant, developer, teacher, and civic leader. He’s currently a principal at Visible City and Donjek Reinvestment Strategies. Both firms provide data-driven insights to public and private sector clients across Minnesota and the nation. Jon also was a developer for the Leijona, a 33-unit apartment building that redeveloped the former St. Louis County jail in Duluth, Minnesota. Prior to joining Visible City, Jon worked in municipal finance and other policy fields. He has served on several bodies responsible for community development and planning, including two terms on both the Metropolitan Council and the Saint Paul Planning Commission. Jon is a co-founder of Strong Towns, a nonprofit advocacy organization focused on land use and other housing issues.

Jenny Larson is the executive director at Three Rivers Community Action, a nonprofit human services agency in southeastern Minnesota. Jenny works with communities large and small to provide housing, transportation, early childhood education, family and senior support services, and economic opportunities for individuals and families. Prior to starting her role as executive director in 2017, Jenny spent 15 years as the community development director at Three Rivers. In that role, she developed projects across the housing continuum, including new construction and preservation of rental townhomes, apartments, single family homes, supportive housing, and community land trust homes. At Three Rivers, Jenny has overseen the planning, funding, and development of over 850 units of affordable housing. Prior to joining Three Rivers, Jenny was the chief operating officer at Greater Minnesota Housing Fund.

Jeff Levine, AICP, is an Associate Professor of the Practice of Economic Development and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Jeff worked as a municipal planning director in Massachusetts and Maine for over 15 years before joining MIT's faculty. His research focuses on the intersection between capital and land use in housing and economic development, and on the future of small cities. Jeff follows statewide zoning reform legislation, with a focus on the New England states. He also consults with government agencies, nonprofits and developers on ways to produce more housing while supporting other planning goals. Jeff is the President of the Northern New England Chapter of the American Planning Association and the Chair of the GrowSmart Maine Board of Directors.

Mike Maguire is an elected official, occasional professor, and media and public relations professional. He first served on the city council of Eagan, Minnesota, in 2003 and won his first mayoral race in 2006, serving as the city’s mayor ever since. Eagan, an inner ring suburb of the Twin Cities, has grown from about 65,000 residents to about 69,000 residents during that time. Mike is highly involved with the Regional Council of Mayors, the Association of Metropolitan Municipalities, and the League of Minnesota Cities. Within these organizations, he’s been involved in many conversations and some official roles related to housing policy and community development. In 2018, Mike was appointed to Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton’s Task Force on Housing.

Mary Kyle McCurdy is an attorney specializing in Oregon’s land use planning program. She has been affiliated with 1000 Friends of Oregon for over 35 years, where she currently serves as the organization’s senior attorney, legislative lead, and manager of programs. 1000 Friends of Oregon is a nonpartisan, nonprofit group that focuses on land use issues. The organization was founded in 1974 in the wake of the state’s landmark land use planning law. More recently, in a campaign led by Mary Kyle, the organization played a key role in Oregon's passage of the first statewide policy to allow middle housing on all residential lots zoned for single dwellings.

Johnny Opara is the founder, president, and CEO of JO Companies, a St. Paul-based urban infill real estate development company. Spending over 15 years in corporate America in sales, Johnny founded the firm in 2009, inspired by his father’s experience with affordable housing. Johnny saw firsthand how the lack of high-quality housing that’s affordable affects individuals, families, and communities that need it most. JO Companies specializes in high-quality affordable and workforce multifamily housing. Its first project, The Hollows in St. Paul, opened in 2022 and was nominated for several awards. In 2023, Johnny was recognized among 200 Black Leaders in the Business Community in the Twin Cities in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. He currently serves on the board of directors for Minnesota Housing Partnership, the board of directors for the St. Paul Area Chamber, and the advisory board for the Rice & Larpenteur Alliance.

Katherine Payne is the managing director of operations and senior planner at Fair Share Housing Center. Based in New Jersey and formed nearly 50 years ago, this organization works to safeguard access to affordable housing, advance equitable disaster relief and recovery systems, and close the racial wealth gap. In her role, Katherine has a front-row view on how New Jersey’s unique approach to land use impacts the entitlement process for individual developments. She has worked on an evaluation of New Jersey’s fair share regime’s impact, proposals for how housing production goals should be set, and the organization’s work on disaster relief and climate resiliency.

Jenny Schuetz is an economist and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit that conducts in-depth, nonpartisan research to improve policy and governance. Her research explores housing policy, land use regulation, and neighborhood change. Her book, Fixer Upper: How to Repair America’s Broken Housing Systems, explains the roots and impact of housing policy at every level of government, and describes approaches to resolve some of the problems these policies have caused. Recently, Schuetz has convened leaders from seven states to discuss design and implementation challenges for statewide housing reforms. Schuetz formerly served as a principal economist with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve.

David Wellington is President and co-owner at Wellington Management, Inc. David moved home to Minnesota in 2014 to join the company as Director of Acquisitions & Development and orchestrated challenging project work including affordable housing and multi-phased development. In his current role, he oversees acquisitions, development, financing, leasing and property management and brings strengths in transit-oriented development, large master planning initiatives, project underwriting and community engagement. Before joining the company in 2014, David served as an analyst with CBRE on the institutional office property sales brokerage team in Seattle. Prior to 2010, he worked as a policy analyst for a St. Paul project management firm specializing in government program implementation related to transit and renewable energy generation. David is a member of both the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) and Urban Land Institute (ULI).