Creating Home: A Summit Exploring Policies, Practices, and Solutions

Join us May 8th for a continuation of our FutureisNow speaker series. "Creating Home: A Summit Exploring Policies, Practices, and Promising Solutions" is a gathering where national thought leaders, policymakers, community leaders, and advocates converge to dissect existing housing policies and brainstorm innovative solutions to increase sustainable housing options in Northwest Arkansas.

Speakers and Sessions Include:

• New Directions in Housing: Bruce Katz, co-author of The Metropolitan Revolution and The New Localism: How Cities Can Thrive in the Age of Populism
• Missing Middle Housing: Evolving from Concept to Impactful Solutions in Public and Private Sectors: Daniel Parolek, architect, planner, and creator of the concept of Missing Middle Housing and author of Missing Middle Housing: Thinking Big and Building Small to respond to the Housing Crisis
• The Future of Living in Northwest Arkansas: Local architect and housing expert Alli Thurmond Quinlan, architect and housing expert

The event is free, but space is limited. Register now!

Doors open at 8:30am for breakfast and networking . The program begins promptly at 9am.

Groundwork, Workforce Housing for Northwest Arkansas, is proud to present the FutureIsNow speaker series featuring renowned national and local experts on housing issues. Speakers will share innovative solutions and best practices in building walkable, livable and vibrant communities.

Bruce Katz is the Founding Director of the Nowak Metro Finance Lab at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Previously he served as inaugural Centennial Scholar at Brookings Institution and as vice president and director of Brooking’s Metropolitan Policy Program for 20 years. He is a Visiting Professor in Practice at London School of Economics, and previously served as chief of staff to the secretary of Housing and Urban Development and staff director of the Senate Subcommittee on Housing and Urban Affairs.

Katz co-led the Obama administration’s housing and urban transition team. He is coauthor of The Metropolitan Revolution and The New Localism: How Cities Can Thrive in the Age of Populism, editor or coeditor of several books on urban and metropolitan issues, and a frequent media commentator.

Alli Thurmond Quinlan is an architect, landscape architect, and infill development advocate. She founded and runs Flintlock Ltd Co (a multi-disciplinary design practice), Flintlock Development (an urban infill real estate development company), and Valkyrie Design Cooperative (a shared services co-op that supports and promotes women in the design profession) in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She also served on the Fayetteville Planning Commission and Construction Board of Appeals and serves as a senior faculty member and Board Member for the Incremental Development Alliance.

Alli believes in building environmentally, socially, and economically vibrant places that protect productive landscapes from sprawl. Her work solo and with the University of Arkansas Community Design Center has been honored with national and international awards from the Congress for New Urbanism, the American Society of Landscape Architects, the American Institute of Architects, Architizer, and the American Planning Association. Allison’s practice focuses on creating beauty in lovable, walkable places.

Daniel Parolek is an urban designer, architect, author, and founding principal of Opticos Design, a nationally sought-after B Corporation focused on equitable urban placemaking, innovative housing design and policy, and zoning reform for walkable urbanism. Daniel was voted to the list of Top 100 Urbanists: Past and Present and his work has been featured in many high-profile publications including The New York Times, San Next City, and Fast Company,  Daniel created the concept of Missing Middle Housing, launched missingmiddlehousing.com, and wrote the book “Missing Middle Housing: Thinking Big and Building Small to Respond to Today’s Housing Crisis,” which have created an international movement.  
 
As a thought leader in zoning reform efforts, Daniel co-authored the book Form-Based Codes: A Guide for Planners, Urban Designers, Municipalities, and Developers,  co-founded the non-profit think tank, the Form-Based Code Institute, and he and the Opticos team have implemented award-winning Form-Based Coding at a neighborhood to regional scale across the country.  
 
His innovative work is diverse across public and private sector clients and includes Culdesac Tempe, which will be the largest car-free community in the country when completed, the country’s first Missing Middle Neighborhood in the Omaha, NE metro, which is redefining Class A multifamily. 
 
Daniel has a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Notre Dame and a Master of Urban Design from the University of California at Berkeley. Daniel is inspired by international travel and good food. The seeds of his passion for walkable urban places started while he was growing up in the small town of Columbus, Nebraska.