A former senior city official and current global thought leader in economic revitalization and climate policy, Jeff Hébert is the CEO of HR&A Advisors, overseeing the company’s strategic direction and operations across its six offices. Jeff has spent his career developing strategies that adapt and respond to changing economies and environments. Over the past twenty years, he has advised corporations, governments, non-profits, and philanthropies on issues of public policy, economic development, and climate resilience. Since joining the firm in 2019, Jeff has served on the firm’s Management Committee and since 2020 as HR&A’s President, where he was critical to the historic growth of the company’s business and number of employees. He has also been a leader in the firm’s economic development and climate resilience practices with recent projects in New York City, Newark, Los Angeles, Houston, Miami, New Orleans, Dallas, Tulsa, and Washington, DC. Jeff has supported the development of the firm’s largest business lines, including Broadband and Digital Equity, Inclusive Cities and Equitable Governance, and Housing Affordability. He also led the company’s ADEI initiative, which led to HR&A being named a 2023 New York Urban League Champion for Recruitment, Retention, and Belonging. Before joining HR&A, Jeff served Mayor Mitch Landrieu and the City of New Orleans in many capacities including as the First Deputy Mayor & Chief Administrative Officer, Chief Resilience Officer, and as Executive Director of the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority in the years following Hurricane Katrina. He has been an adjunct faculty member at the Tulane University School of Architecture, is Chairman of FUSE Corps, and serves on the Policy Advisory Board of The Reinvestment Fund, the Advisory Board of the ULI Randall Lewis Center for Sustainability in Real Estate, and the Boards of the Urban Design Forum, New Hope Housing, Climate Mayors, and the Greater New Orleans Foundation. Jeff was selected for the Future Leaders program (PIPA) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France in 2018 where he studied the country’s climate change policy. He was also honored in 2016 by GOOD magazine as one of 100 extraordinary individuals tackling global issues in creative ways. Jeff holds a bachelor’s degree from New York University, a master’s degree in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and is a graduate of the Achieving Excellence program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
Kizzy Charles-Guzman is the Chief Executive Officer of the Center for Environmental Health. Her team protects people from toxic chemicals by working with communities, consumers, workers, government, and the private sector to demand and support business practices that are safe for public health and the environment. Kizzy has dedicated over 18 years of her career to deliver policy work at the intersection of environmental sustainability, public health, and racial equity on behalf of New Yorkers. Previously, Kizzy has advised three New York City Mayors in her career; successfully securing over $4 billion dollars in investments to uplift historically underserved and marginalized neighborhoods. She received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Quality Award and a Champion of Change Award from the U.S. White House under President Obama, in recognition of her policy achievements, her contributions to society, her focus on justice, and her dedication to her community. She is a graduate of Carleton College and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.
Rachel Isacoff is a Director at The Rockefeller Foundation where she leads the Foundation’s domestic climate solutions work and specializes in bridging economic opportunity and climate equity in the U.S. Outside of RF, she is a council member of the Climigration Network and is a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Pratt Institute’s Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment. Previously, she collaborated with private, nonprofit, and public partners across sectors to develop tools and equity initiatives that support communities on the frontlines of climate change. Most notably she worked on climate adaptation and 100 Resilient Cities strategies at HR&A Advisors, key climate justice and equitable relocation projects at the White House Council on Environmental Quality under President Obama’s administration, and energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions at HUD.
Laura Spanjian is the former Sustainability Officer for the City of Houston under Mayor Annise Parker where she coordinated initiatives to improve air, land, and water quality and that supported and expanded more livable and vibrant neighborhoods. Spanjian is an experienced director of public policy and communications, with a specialty in sustainability, and a demonstrated history of working in the public sector and the tech industry. She is currently the Global Director of the Public Policy team at Airbnb.
Kelly Shultz is part of the environment team at Bloomberg Philanthropies, where she leads the team’s global and domestic city and subnational efforts. In this work she collaborates with mayors and local partners to set ambitious climate targets, share learnings and transition to a sustainable, equitable and healthy future. Before joining Bloomberg Philanthropies, she worked as a Senior Policy Analyst at the NYC Mayor’s Office of Operations, where she helped execute NYC’s Greater Greener Building’s Plan and NYC Build it Back after Hurricane Sandy. Kelly also previously worked as an engineer for Steven Winter Associates, a research and consulting firm with expertise in improving the performance and cost effectiveness of buildings. Kelly holds a Bachelor of Science degree and Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Stanford University. A native of California, Kelly currently lives in Long Island City with her husband and two daughters.
Katherine Gajewski is the former Sustainability Director of Philadelphia under Mayor Michael Nutter during which she worked to implement the ambitious city-wide Greenworks Philadelphia plan and directed a five-county energy-efficiency program. Gajewski served two four-year terms with the City of Philadelphia, 6 as Sustainability Director. In 2016, she co-founded City Scale, a national initiative that aims to identify gaps in urban sustainability opportunities.
Matt Petersen is the former Chief Sustainability Officer for the City of Los Angeles, the first in the city’s history. In this role, he developed and implemented the City’s first Sustainable City pLAn which is a data-driven pLAn that lays out the long and short term sustainability outcomes for the City of Los Angeles. Under the Mayor’s leadership, Matt was able to bring together Mayors from other cities to combat climate change by playing a major role with organizations such as C40 and the Mayors National Climate Action Agenda.
