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Chris Elisara, Ph.D. | Committee ChairFounder, Center for Environmental Leadership
Co-Founder, WEA Creation Care Task Force & Urban Shalom Society Dr. Chris Elisara is an educational pioneer in Christian higher education, an entrepreneur, an award-winning filmmaker, and an urbanist. After growing up in New Zealand Dr. Elisara moved to the United States where in 1996 he founded a Christian undergraduate environmental study abroad program with campuses in Belize and New Zealand. In 2010 he founded the Center for Environmental Leadership before being invited in 2012 to found the World Evangelical Alliance’s Creation Care Task Force. In 2020 Dr. Elisara founded the Studio for Placemaking at Duke Divinity School’s Ormond Center. In his WEA role Dr. Elisara works with UN-Habitat, the World Economic Forum, and other international agencies. Dr. Elisara served on the board of the Congress for the New Urbanism from 2013-2016 and has produced several award-winning films on urban topics with First+Main Films and is the co-founder of the Better Cities Film Festival. |
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Andrew Moore AIA, LEED AP, CDT | SecretaryPrincipal & Director of the Urban Architecture Studio, Glavé & Holmes Architecture
Andrew Moore has practiced architecture for over twenty-five years in Richmond, Virginia, exploring a wide variety of building types. Since 2009, Andrew has directed the Urban Architecture Studio at Glavé & Holmes Architecture, focusing on designing buildings, in both the private and public sectors, which enhance community life and the neighborhoods in which they are located. Andrew is active in various community and professional organizations at both local and national levels, including the Virginia Capitol Square Preservation Council, Urban Land Institute and the Congress of the New Urbanism, as well as serving as an Elder at Third Church in Richmond. When not working or spending time with his wife and three daughters, Andrew enjoys sketching as a way to slow down and see the world around him. |
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Sara Joy Proppe, M.CRPFounder & Director, Proximity Project
Co-host, The Embedded Church Podcast Sara Joy Proppe is the founder of Proximity Project, an initiative centered on equipping churches to be thoughtful stewards of their properties. Through Proximity Project she provides consulting services and resources that spark creative ways for churches to embody their mission with their property for the flourishing of the local neighborhood, whether it be through small-scale placemaking installations or real estate development projects. Her professional experience includes city planning, placemaking, and several years of private real estate development, managing over $100 million of market-rate development, affordable housing, and historic rehabilitation projects in the Midwest. She writes and speaks nationally on the intersections of urbanism, theology, and design for dignity and is editor and co-author of Redemptive Placemaking: A Toolkit for Discerning Your Church’s Mission in the Built Environment. She is co-host of The Embedded Church Podcast. When not discussing cities and churches, she enjoys cultivating her community garden, biking around St. Paul, and cooking delicious meals for friends. |
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Jay Hoekstra, AICP, CNU-A
Planner, Hoekstra Town Planning
Jay Hoekstra has been an urban planner in the public sector since 1979. He has a Certificate from the Form Based Code Institute, is a Certified Charrette Planner, and has used GIS extensively. His degrees are Master of Urban Planning, and a Bachelors in Philosophy. He has studied theology, biblical history and urban design. Work products include land use plans, zoning ordinances, bicycle and pedestrian plans, housing and demographic studies, and a large scale, consensus based regional plan. He has served his church as elder, Sunday school teacher, worship committee member, volunteer, and choir member. He is a board member of the Michigan Chapter of CNU and has made hundreds of presentations on new urbanism. He enjoys repairing and making things, reading biographies and big history, bicycling, golfing, and some writing. He has written articles for Planning and Zoning News and Terrain Magazine, book reviews and news articles. |
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Nathan NorrisPrincipal, Strong Churches LLC
Principal, CityBuilding Partnership LLC Nathan provides communities, developers and churches planning services, strategic guidance on how to leverage their assets, customized workshops and site tours. He does this for churches through Strong Churches LLC and for communities and developers though the CityBuilding Partnership LLC. He is author of numerous planning articles including "Redesigning Church for the 21st Century" which documents the planning process of Century Church. He is also a contributor to several books including the Charter of the New Urbanism, the SmartCode Manual, and Reflections on Seaside. Nathan is also a co-founder of the Urban Guild, and the recipient of numerous awards including the Barranco Award, the Driehaus Award for form-based codes, and multiple Charter Awards as well as International Downtown Association awards. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia and his law degree from the University of Alabama. |
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Lee Hardy, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, Calvin University
Lee Hardy is a professor emeritus of philosophy at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A citizen activist and longtime teacher of a course on urbanism for undergraduates, Lee has written and lectured on urban design, the English Garden City movement, and the cultural history of American cities. He has won grants to study the urban bike infrastructure of Amsterdam and Copenhagen, and the contributions of communities of faith to the provision of affordable housing in the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands. He was a manager of Restoration Row LLC that that led the urban property acquisition efforts for the construction Steepleview Apartments, two four-story buildings offering a total of 65 affordable apartment units. He now sits on the Board of Directors of the Inner City Christian Federation, a faith-based non-profit housing organization in Grand Rapids. His most recent book is The Embrace of Buildings: A Second Look at Walkable City Neighborhoods. |
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Jeremy Sommer, AIA, CNU-A, LEED AP
Founding Principal, Sommer Design Studios
Mr. Sommer started Sommer Design Studios in January of 2009, after receiving his Master of Science in Classical Design from The Georgia Institute of Technology in association with the Institute of Classical Architecture and Classical America, to focus on traditional architecture and urbanism. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Miami, School of Architecture. In 2014, Mr. Sommer started as Town Architect for East Beach in Virginia, where he coordinates the Design Review process. He also is Town Architect for the Cavalier project, working extensively to choose home designs that would maintain the character for the surrounding grounds of the beautiful 1927 hotel. He has worked on a variety of projects in other new urbanist communities, such as Norton Commons, Alys Beach, Carlton Landing, Watercolor, and Watersound. In addition, Mr. Sommer also participated in many master planning projects ranging from an 8-acre infill project in Senoia, GA, the Red River Ranch in Utah, to a 1,600-acre Mountain Golf Community. Mr. Sommer was formerly on the board of the Southeast Chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art, and held the position of Education Committee Chair. Since college, He has been actively involved in the Congress of New Urbanism, and in 2006, he was a founding member of the Atlanta Chapter. He also held the chair for Activities, and helped coordinate the tours for CNU 18 Atlanta. He was selected by his peers to become a member of the New Urban Guild in 2011. He is also an active member of the National Town Builders Association. Mr. Sommer lives in Newport News, Virginia, and his design studio is located on Warwick Boulevard in Historic Hilton Village where he serves on the Architectural review board. He is an active member of his church where he serves as Eucharistic Minister, and with his wife homeschools his three children. |
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Neal HeidtCommunications Consultant
Creative Director, Gorilla Urbanism |
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Lindsay LaurieCommunications Intern
Undergraduate Student, Calvin University |