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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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Chauncey Walker
chauncey.walker@gatech.edu
Summary Sentence: Join the Ivan Allen College for a conversation on urban research with the dean and special guests.
Full Summary: No summary paragraph submitted.
Meet the Dean: Conversations With Your City
PanelistsJoin Ivan Allen College Dean Kaye Husbands Fealing for a conversation with your city. This event will highlight the new Urban Research Center and feature a panel discussion that will focus on how research can contribute to advancing solutions prevalent at Georgia Tech and abroad.
Register at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ivan-allen-college-presents-meet-the-dean-conversations-with-your-city-tickets-443298697337.
Brian An is an assistant professor in the School of Public Policy at Georgia Tech. His research examines urban and housing policy, public finance, energy and environmental policy, and social equity, focusing on the role of institutions in policy and management effectiveness. He is a recipient of multiple awards, including the Best Paper in Urban and Local Politics from the American Political Science Association and the Donald C. Stone Best Paper in Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations from the American Society for Public Administration. An’s research has appeared in national and local media, including the Pew Charitable Trusts, CBS 46, AJC, and he has been providing data analytics expertise to the Atlanta City Government on property tax assessment. Before joining Georgia Tech, he was an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee. An holds a doctorate in public policy and management from the University of Southern California.
David Edwards is the former chief executive officer at Purpose Built Communities, a non-profit consulting firm that partners with local leaders to revitalize highly distressed urban neighborhoods.
Prior to joining Purpose Built Communities, Edwards served on IBM's Global Smarter Cities team, which is responsible for helping cities around the world address their most critical and complex strategic and operating challenges. Prior to joining IBM, Edwards served as the senior policy advisor to Mayor Shirley Franklin in the City of Atlanta. In that role, Edwards was responsible for designing and implementing the Mayor’s reform program aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of City of Atlanta services.
Edwards spent the previous eight years of his career as a management consultant, most recently with the Boston Consulting Group in Atlanta. He specialized in business and marketing strategy and worked primarily for clients in the telecommunications and media sector.
Prior to his work as a management consultant, Edwards served as the assistant provost for academic affairs at Columbia University in New York City, where he directed the strategic planning efforts of the university. He began his career in the Office of Management and Budget in the Executive Office of the President in Washington D.C., where he served as the lead White House analyst for telecommunications policy. Edwards’ experience also includes serving as a policy analyst at the Export-Import Bank of the United States, a legislative assistant in the House of Commons in London, England, and as an intern in the office of U.S. Senator Lowell Weicker.
Edwards earned Bachelor's degrees in Economics and History at Franklin & Marshall College. He holds a Masters's Degree in Public Policy from Duke University. Edwards is a native of Connecticut but has lived in Atlanta with his wife, Ayesha Khanna, since 1994. They have a daughter, Alannah, and reside in Inman Park.
Devaki Kesh is currently pursuing her Master's degree in Urban Design at Georgia Tech. She will be graduating in December 2022. She has a background in architecture and is a LEED Green Associate. She believes in three opportunities through urban design—Social Inclusivity, Climate Positivity, and Water Sensitivity. She loves working in multidisciplinary environments and has work/internship experience in architecture, landscape architecture, city planning, graphic design, and journalism which has helped her collaborate well across disciplines and tie up different scales of a project. She has a mix-media approach to creating urban design drawings and renderings by fusing her hand-drawing skills with digital techniques.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Joel Alvarado has spent his career dedicated to social and economic justice, equity, movement work, and transformational leadership. He currently is vice president of strategy and engagement with Partnership for Southern Equity (PSE), a social justice organization committed to dismantling structural racism and achieving racial equity in the American South.
Alvarado earned a B.A. in History at Morehouse College and an M.P.A. in Public Policy at Clark Atlanta University. He is a doctoral student at the University of Alabama pursuing an Ed.D. in Higher Education Administration.
Professionally, Alvarado spent his career in the government sector lobbying for private, public, and nonprofit interests. Prior to PSE, he was Executive Vice President of External Affairs at Ohio River South, a top regional government relations firm. As a public sector expert, Alvarado gained his government experience in DeKalb County, under two different administrations, serving as Senior Advisor to the CEO, Legislator Director, Executive Director for Community and International Affairs, and Director for Keep DeKalb Beautiful.
Alvarado possesses an extensive background in postsecondary education having worked at a public two-year institution and a private historically black college and university (HBCU). With the former, at Georgia Piedmont Technical College he served as Director of Community Outreach and Engagement, Adjunct Instructor, and Interim Director of Marketing and Communications. At Clark Atlanta University, he was Assistant Director of the Southern Center for Studies in Public Policy, an African American policy think tank.
