City of White plains aerial view
Annual LULC Conference 2025

Conference Speakers 2025

Arthur C. Nelson, Ph.D., professor emeritus at the University of Arizona

Arthur C. Nelson, Ph.D., FAcSS, FAICP

Emeritus Professor of Urban Planning and Real Estate Development, and Geography, University of Arizona

Arthur C. Nelson, Ph.D. is professor emeritus at the University of Arizona where he founded the nation’s largest and top rated online Master of Real Estate Development program, and presidential professor emeritus at the University of Utah where he founded the Metropolitan Research Center. Nelson is the author of more than 20 books and more than 400 other published works. He has been the PI/ Co-PI of more than $50 million in research. Nelson is a fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners and a fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. He has a doctorate in urban studies from Portland State University.

Shelley Poticha, Managing Director for Regional Impact, NRDC

Shelly Poticha

Managing Director for Regional Impact, NRDC

Shelley Poticha is a thought leader, strategist, and changemaker working to ensure that all people can realize their right to the pursuit of happiness. She partners with local, national, and global leaders to take ambitious actions to fight and adapt to climate change, while building communities where all people can lead healthy, thriving lives.

Her 40-year career has led to posts inside and outside of government and spanned multiple sectors, including urban planning, equitable community development, transportation, housing, and infrastructure.

At the Natural Resources Defense Council, she has taken on numerous roles, including standing up the environmental movement’s first People and Communities Program, leading development of the organization’s most recent domestic climate strategy, and partnering with mayors, governors, and community advocates in over 50 cities and 20 states to design and implement locally appropriate solutions at the intersection of economic development and climate justice.

She currently serves as NRDC’s Managing Director of Regional Impact, guiding strategy and campaigns for state and local work across approximately 250 subject matter experts, policy advocates, litigators, and communications specialists. She led the organization’s 2025 Post-Election State and Local Strategy Refresh based on a deep analysis of election results and shifts in public priorities. This effort included interviews with thought leaders and elected officials, message testing and polling, data analysis, and a landscape assessment of stakeholders and players. Results will drive NRDC’s playbook for the next five to ten years.

Previously, Shelley served as a Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and launched the federal interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities for the Obama Administration. She also led Reconnecting America, a think-and-do tank that stood up the Center for Transit-Oriented Development and Transportation4America. Shelley served for 6 years as the Executive Director for the Congress for the New Urbanism and is an original signatory to the Charter of the New Urbanism. Before moving to the non-profit space, she was an urban planning consultant for 16 years, working with Calthorpe Associates and EDAW.

Shelley holds a Master of City and Regional Planning from UC Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies and Community Organizing from UC Santa Cruz. She has been named one of the 100 most influential urbanists and has received awards from the American Planning Association, CNU, and UC Berkeley.

Panelists

  • Wade Beltramo (PDF), General Counsel, New York Conference of Mayors
  • Thomas G. Bourgeois (PDF), Director of Distributed Energy Resource (DER) Policies, Land Use Law Center and Director, U.S. DOE’s New York / New Jersey Combined Heat and Power Technical Assistance Partnership, Haub School of Law, Pace University
  • Carol N. Brown (PDF), Esq., Professor of Law, The University of Richmond School of Law
  • Patrick Cleary (PDF), AICP, CEP, PP, LEED AP, CNU, Principal, Cleary Consulting
  • Donald L. Elliott (PDF), FAICP, Senior Consultant, Clarion Associates, LLC
  • Peter Feroe (PDF), AICP, Vice President - Planning and Land Development, AKRF, Inc.
  • Jim Freihaut, Ph.D. (PDF), Director, US DOE’s Mid-Atlantic and NY-NJ Onsite Energy TAP, Penn State University
  • Britini Guthy (PDF), J.D. Candidate & Research Assistant for Office of the Provost, Touro University Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center
  • Steven G. Leventhal (PDF), Esq., Partner, Leventhal, Mullaney & Blinkoff, LLP
  • Maximillian R. Mahalek (PDF), Esq., Associate, Cuddy & Feder LLP
  • Rhea N. Mallett (PDF), Esq., Partner, McCarthy Fingar LLP
  • Gina Martini (PDF), AICP, ENV SP, Senior Project Manager, VHB
  • Dwight Merriam (PDF), FAICP, Attorney at Law
  • Adalene Minelli (PDF), Policy Coordinator, Wildlife Inclusive Local Development (WILD) Lab and Senior Fellow, Department of Environmental Studies, New York University
  • Valerie Monastra (PDF), AICP, Principal Planner, Nelson, Pope & Voorhis, LLC
  • Bill Oberkehr (PDF), Senior Project Manager, Clean Energy Siting, NYSERDA
  • Victoria L. Polidoro (PDF), Esq., Partner, Rodenhausen Chale & Polidoro LLP
  • Abigail Rudow (PDF), AICP, Senior Environmental Planner, VHB
  • Patricia E. Salkin (PDF), JD, PhD, Senior Vice President, Academic Affairs and Provost, Graduate and Professional Divisions, Touro University
  • Linda B. Whitehead (PDF), Esq., Partner, McCullough, Goldberger & Staudt, LLP
  • John G. Williams (PDF), Esq., Chief Policy Officer, NYSERDA
  • Michael Allan Wolf (PDF), Esq., Professor of Law and Richard E. Nelson Eminent Scholar Chair in Local Government, University of Florida Levin College of Law
  • Michael D. Zarin (PDF), Esq., Partner, Zarin & Steinmetz