From long-term visions like GoBoston2030 and the Emerald Network to making buses sexy and treating neighborhood blocks like coloring books to improve street safety, each of our featured 10-in-1 speakers are actively working to transform the streets, making Metro Boston a better place to live, work, and play.

2015 FEATURED SPEAKERS

 Alice Brown, Project Manager, GoBoston 2030:

 GoBoston 2030: Framing new transportation conversations

 As Project Manager for Go Boston 2030, Alice Brown is actively working to develop a multi-modal Action Plan through an extensive public engagement process. Her goal is to provide people with real transportation choices so that everyone feels they have many ways to safely get around the city. Alice has master’s degrees in urban planning and education from the Graduate School of Design and Pace University, respectively. Prior to discovering her passion for transportation planning, she taught math in the Bronx, NY and in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 

 Kris Carter, Co-Chair, Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics: 

 Passive data, active science: An experimental approach to improving the operation of our  streets

Kris Carter is a non-practicing engineer, optimistic urban planner, and self-taught filmmaker. Currently, Kris is focused on forging collaborations to bring new experimentations to the streetscape, collaborating with Boston Public Schools to re-think the education experience, and producing short films that humanize City services. Prior to his engagement with the City of Boston, Kris spent six-years managing youth development non-profits in Boston, a year-long stint as a PE teacher, and dabbled as a wildland firefighter on the west coast. 

Mark Chase, Urban Transportation Consultant, Tufts University:

Neighborways: creating low stress street networks for kids & kids at heart

Mark Chase has twenty years of transportation systems innovation in the public, private and non-profit sectors.  Mark’s employment experience includes helping to launch the car-sharing service Zipcar, running two non-profit transportation advocacy organizations and undertaking regional transportation planning initiatives for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, Boston’s regional planning agency. Currently Mark teaches transportation planning courses at Tufts University and consults on parking management strategies, car-sharing and street design.   

 Emily Curran, Executive Director, Old South Meeting House  

Jackie Douglas, Executive Director, LivableStreets Alliance:

Making Buses Sexy

Jackie Douglas has served as Executive Director of LivableStreets since 2012. She recently served on the Green Ribbon Commission Transportation Working Group and Boston Mayor Walsh Transition Team Transportation & Infrastructure Working Group and is currently serving on the Boston Urban Mobility Plan Advisory Group and Boston Climate Action Steering Committee. In 2011, Jackie was awarded National Advocate of the Year by the Alliance for Biking & Walking.

 Scott Hamwey, Manager of Long-range Planning, MassDOT: 

 Incorporating today's emerging trends into a 2040 strategic vision for the MBTA

Scott Hamwey's team has responsibility for overseeing the planning phases of major MassDOT capital investments with a particular focus on expansion projects for the MBTA (most recently the Silver Line Gateway bus rapid transit extension to East Boston and Chelsea); directing statewide long-term plans for all transportation modes; and coordinating with the Secretary of Transportation on policy development.  Before joining MassDOT in 2009 Scott worked as both a private consultant and for the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization.  He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts and a Master in Public Policy from Harvard University. 

Tommy Hayes, Transportation Policy Manager, Lyft:

Safe Streets for All: How Lyft can help cities advance the goals of Vision Zero 

Tommy Hayes works with transit agencies, researchers and environmental groups to measure Lyft’s impacts and advance ridesharing as a sustainable mode of transportation. By reducing empty seats in vehicles, complementing transit as a last-mile solution, and providing an appealing alternative to owning a car, Lyft presents significant opportunities to cut traffic congestion and improve the health of our cities.

Matt Lawlor, WalkUP Roslindale: 

Forging a New Path: Roslindale Gateway to the Arboretum

Matt Lawlor is an attorney in the Boston office of Robinson & Cole, LLP. He is a member of the firm's Real Estate and Development Group, focusing his practice on representing public agencies, lenders, developers, and commercial landlords and tenants in matters involving mixed-use and transit-oriented development and infill, financing, and leasing, and land use law. Matt is the president of the Board of Directors of Walk Boston, Inc., and a co-founder of WalkUP Roslindale.

Russ Lopez, Senior Research Associate, Dukakis Center for Urban and Metropolitan Policy @Northeastern University:

How to stop a highway and accomplish other impossible feats of strength

With an extensive background in community organizing, public service, and academia, Russ Lopez is one of the foremost historians of the built environment.  His research efforts also include the health, economic, and social impacts of urban sprawl, income inequality, and racial segregation. The author of Boston’s South End: The Clash of Ideas in a Historic Neighborhood, Russ is also a member of the Board of LivableStreets Alliance.

Connor McKay, Data Scientist, City of Boston, Citywide Analytics Team: 

Passive data, active science: An experimental approach to improving the operation of our streets

Connor McKay works as a Data Scientist to transform raw civic data into actionable insights and visualizations for the City of Boston's Citywide Analytics Team. Connor collaborates closely with Boston's Transportation Department (BTD) and Public Works. He is also the lead on Boston's data sharing relationship with the navigation application, Waze. His research interests and areas of practice encompass traffic studies, intervention analyses, machine learning, and text mining.

Ari Ofsevit, Program and Communications Coordinator, Charles River Transportation Management Association 

 Rethinking the 1-90 Allston Interchange: A vision for what’s possible

Vivian Ortiz, Project Coordinator for Mattapan, Let's Get Healthy, Boston! Initiative:

Invisible to Whom? 

Vivian Ortiz serves on the leadership team for Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition (MFFC).  MFFC is a grassroots organization that draws on the wonderful ethnic and cultural diversity of the Mattapan community to promote a healthy living environment, with a focus on access to healthy foods and physical fitness for all ages. Since April, Vivian has been coordinating the 15 Healthy Community Champions as part of the Let's Get Healthy, Boston! project. Vivian is an alum of the National Urban Fellows program with an MPA from The City University of New York's Baruch College. 

Stacy Thompson, Deputy Director, LivableStreets Alliance

Stacy Thompson is the Deputy Director of LivableStreets Alliance, overseeing LivableStreets’ membership program, events and communications. Previously, Stacy served as the Director of Events & Sponsorship at Ceres, where she developed the strategic focus, content, and communications strategy for Ceres' major events. She also worked for the Office for Peace and Justice at the Archdiocese of Chicago where she collaborated with community partners to organize educational forums and supported a broad array of social justice initiatives.