Speakers
The Planning Committee is putting together an amazing agenda for you to learn, network, dine, and enjoy!
Illya is a professor in practice at New York City of Technology (CUNY) and founding principal of +lab architect pllc, whose mission is to build resilient capacity and advance goals for a sustainable, regenerative future while giving underserved communities greater voice and visibility.
Illya is a founding director of KIGRR – Kalinago Institute for Global Resilience and Regeneration on the island of Dominica. His office is advancing culturally significant community resilience hubs and regenerative cluster housing in several communities across the world. The US State department deployed Illya to missions in Kyrgyzstan, Moldova and the Republic of Turkey following the devastating earthquakes.
CEO Rob Gillam is a business leader with more than 30 years of experience investing capital across international markets for institutions, pension plans, and sovereign wealth funds. He is known for his strategic vision, global connectivity, and deep understanding of Alaska’s economy and history,
Economist Katie Berry joined McKinley Research Group in March 2017.
In addition to transportation and infrastructure, Katie is interested in issues that affect Alaska including public health, tourism, and natural resource use.
Donna C. Mears has served as a member of the Alaska House of Representatives since 2023. She represents District 21 which covers East Anchorage.
Donna is a civil and environmental engineer by profession.
Founded in the Pacific Northwest by Jon Gentry, AIA and Aimée O’Carroll, ARB, GO’C is an architecture practice grounded in rigorous thinking and the expressive potential of design. Our projects span residential, hospitality, commercial, and cultural work, each shaped by the site, and by the people who make, inhabit, and care for them. We cultivate a collaborative design approach dedicated to producing architecture that is purposeful, enduring, and deeply rooted in place.
Lance Walters, AIA
Lance is an architect and educator whose work connects design pedagogy, emerging technology, material craft, and place. He is a tenured Associate Professor at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, a licensed architect in Alaska and Hawai‘i, and Director of UH’s Global Track program, where he advances international and cross-cultural design education through partnerships in Shanghai.
An Iñupiat and member of Bering Straits Native Corporation who was raised in Alaska, Walters left the state to pursue an architectural education and, ultimately, an academic career.
Nolan Klouda, Policy Director
Nolan comes to the Municipality from the University of Alaska Center for Economic Development, which he has directed for 10 years. During that time, he founded the state’s only university-based startup accelerator and led the creation and execution of multiple statewide economic development strategic plans. He will help direct a team of Mayor’s Office staff in implementing key priorities of the administration.
