For more information on the program and panelists, please visit the symposium website.

Welcome & Keynote

  • Welcome: Tom Prendergast, EVP and New York Metro Chief Executive, AECOM
  • Keynote: Meera Joshi, Deputy Mayor for Operations for New York City

Panel 1: How to Design and Build for Constant Change

  • Robert Freudenberg, Moderator, Vice President, Energy & Environment, RPA
  • Pippa Brashear, Resilience Principal & Partner, SCAPE Landscape Architecture
  • Gwen Dawson, Senior Vice President of Design & Construction, BPCA
  • Joshua DeFlorio, Chief of Resilience & Sustainability, PANYNY
  • Benjamin Shepherd, Benchmarking Practice Director, Atelier Ten

Panel 2: From Vision to Action

  • Karen Appell, Moderator, Vice President & Climate Change Lead, New York Metro, AECOM
  • Laurian Farell, Deputy Commissioner for Coastal Resilience, NYC DEP
  • Douglas McPherson, Manager, ReAL Edgemere Community Land Trust
  • Cecil Scheib, Chief Sustainability Officer, New York University
  • Joy Sinderbrand, Senior Vice President for Capital Programs, NYCHA

Panel 3: The Challenges We Haven’t Met (Yet)

  • Grace Rauh, Moderator, Executive Director, 5BORO Institute
  • Victoria Cerullo, Director of Urban Engagement, The New York Climate Exchange
  • Anna Dyson, Director, Yale Center for Ecosystems + Architecture
  • Kate Johnson, Hear of US Federal Affairs, C40 Cities
  • Timon McPhearson, Director, Urban Systems Lab & Professor of Urban Ecology, The New School

Closing Remarks & Nature Based Tool

  • Maulin Mehta, New York Director, RPA
  • Robert Spencer, Global Lead, ESG Advisory, AECOM