KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Mitchell is a principal with McAdams, a land planning and design company.
He is responsible for providing advisory services in urban planning, parks and public space planning.
He is an award-winning planner with more than 35 years of experience and is internationally recognized for his leadership
and contributions to contemporary planning issues.
He is a prolific public speaker and he specializes in comprehensive planning, placemaking and implementation strategies.
Prior to joining McAdams, Mitchell served as the commissioner for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation; Chief Planning Officer in Raleigh, NC and served as president of the American Planning Association. He is currently president of the American Institute of Certified Planners.

Amanda has been with 8 80 Cities since the beginning in 2007. She was a key architect of the 8 80 concept, and has held several positions within the organization. She has been a key driving force in the development and growth of 8 80 Cities and has worked on numerous projects related to parks, public spaces, and sustainable transportation in North America, Europe, Mexico, and Australia.
Amanda holds a Master’s of Science in Planning from the University of Toronto, and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Biology from Queen’s University. She is also currently Co-Chair of the Children, Play, and Nature Committee for World Urban Parks. She loves being a momma to three small kids, is an eternal optimist, and is passionate about transforming cities into great places for all people.

Simon Kuestenmacher is a Director and Co-founder of The Demographics Group. He presents on demographic and global trends that are shaping Australia today and into the future and his observations are enjoyed by corporate, government and industry audiences alike. Simon is a columnist for The New Daily newspaper and a regular contributor to The Australian newspaper; and he is a media commentator on demographic and data matters. In his spare time Simon has authored three books on maps and runs what is by now the world’s largest Twitter account dedicated to maps and data. His social media posts reach over 25 million people every month. Simon ranks as one of the world’s top 10 influencers in data.

Angela Brooks is the Director of the Illinois office of the Corporation for Supportive Housing. She currently serves on the Chicago Board of Zoning Appeals, the Illinois Affordable Housing Advisory Commission, and is co-chair of the national Housing Supply Accelerator helping communities meet the housing needs of residents. Brooks is a native of Seattle and a graduate of Jackson State University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies, and the University of New Orleans, where she received a Master of Urban and Regional Planning. An active member of APA since graduate school, Brooks has held numerous leadership positions in the Housing and Community Development Division, Planning and the Black Community Division, Diversity Task Force, Washington Chapter, and co-chair of the Housing Policy Guide. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and The Links, Incorporated.

Leonora has joined DEAL to lead our engagement with cities, municipalities and other place-based administrations that are interested in putting Doughnut Economics into practice in their own context. 
Leonora is an urban planner, researcher and participation practitioner. She has over a decade of experience facilitating engagement with communities, cities and regions globally through her work as an urban planning consultant for UN-Habitat, a city leadership associate for University College London, and a community engagement consultant for built environment projects in the UK.

Toney is Associate Director, Western Sydney Planning Partnership and Director of Habitacity, a purpose-led planning, strategy, and futures consultancy. She is also an Associate (Regenerative Cities, Urban Planning & Design) at global foresight consultancy,  Centre for Engaged Foresight.  An urban planner and futurist with over 20 years experience, she works at the intersection of strategic planning, foresight and sustainability. She has worked in Australia and internationally in rural and regional planning and is currently developing a regenerative cities futures game and undertaking resilience planning in Sydney’s peri-urban areas . Toney is an advocate of futures thinking, regenerative urban planning, and exploring new tools and techniques to help plan for health and wellbeing, reconnect us with nature, and contribute to a low carbon and socially-just future.

As the Lead Community Engagement Officer for CH4 Global, Tiahni is part of a dynamic team that research and foster sustainable seaweed aquaculture, with a goal of zero methane agriculture. As a Torres Strait Islander woman descended from the Kaurareg Nations of Thursday Island, and Wildlife Conservation Biologist, Tiahni works diligently on a variety of external projects to nurture country, find solutions to our climate crisis and advocate for First Nations justice and land rights. Tiahni also lectures at UniSA, embedding First Nations knowledges into STEM careers; is an Uluru Statement from the Heart Youth Leader and is the state coordinator for Seed - a First Nations-only-run climate youth activism group. In 2019, Tiahni was trained by Al Gore as a Climate Reality Leader, and has spoken to thousands of people at events all over the country about the severity of our climate crisis, impacts of climate change on First Nations communities and allyship, opportunities to decolonise science and nurture country using traditional land management practices, and our individual ability to affect change. Tiahni was recently awarded The University of Adelaide's Distinguished Alumni - Tirkapena Indigenous Award, Dr Kaye Price AM Award for demonstrated excellence in and ambassadorship for STEM, and SA Environment Young Achiever Award.

Ingrid Cumming is a Whadjuk Balardong Noongar woman from Fremantle, Western Australia and recognised young leader within the First Nations community. Ingrid is the founder and principal consultant of Kart Koort Wiern consultancy, representing First Nations Business globally for over ten years, alumni of Murdoch University and Melbourne Business School. Ingrid was part of the establishment of the Indigenous Women in Business network and has served as a Commissioner for Conservation for the WA state government. Ingrid has worked with a variety of sectors and organisations, creating, facilitating and evaluating programs and strategies to address their issues and strengths. Ingrid has won and been a finalist in a range of awards like NAIDOC Perth, Telstra Women in Business, Curtin Vice-Chancellor Awards, ‘Champion for Change’ by EPHEA (Equity Practitioners in Higher Education Australasia), WA Heritage Awards and Belmont Small Business Awards. Ingrid has presented at various forums and conferences around the world in relation to engagement, equity and diversity matters including as a delegate at the UN Women Leaders Conference in Israel in 2013, TedXPerth in 2014 been on various TV programs, including the Drum in 2021.Ingrid is a strong ally of LGBTIQ, First Nations, Youth and diverse groups, stakeholders and organisations.