WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 14, 2016) – The National League of Cities (NLC) and the Urban Land Institute (ULI) today announced that mayors from four cities — Anchorage, Alaska; Grand Rapids, Michigan; San José, California and Washington, D.C. — have been selected as the 2017 class of Daniel Rose Fellows by the Rose Center for Public Leadership in Land Use. Mayors Ethan Berkowitz, Rosalynn Bliss, Sam Liccardo and Muriel Bowser will lead teams from their respective cities who will receive technical assistance on a local land use challenge from NLC, ULI and their peers from the other fellowship cities. The four city teams will convene this week for a retreat at NLC’s City Summit in Pittsburgh.

“The 2017 Rose Fellows are dedicated to solving land use challenges in their cities,” said NLC CEO and Executive Director Clarence E. Anthony. “Through collaboration, sharing best practices and innovative thinking, these projects will serve as models for how cities can learn from each other to make urban spaces a healthy, sustainable and vibrant part of our communities.”

“The Rose Center Fellowship program has a consistent track record of mayoral teams effectively working together to help solve the land use challenges of our nation’s leading metropolitan areas,” said ULI Global Chief Executive Officer Patrick L. Phillips. “Cities are the heart of our country’s economy, serving as hubs for human capital and innovation. We are excited to partner with NLC and the new class of Rose fellows to highlight creative approaches and solutions that other communities can replicate to become more healthy, prosperous, and sustainable.”

The Rose Center’s mission is to encourage and support excellence in land use decision making by providing public officials with access to information, best practices, peer networks and other resources to foster creative, efficient, practical and sustainable land use policies. Established at ULI in 2008 with a $5 million gift by ULI Foundation Governor Daniel Rose, the Rose family and ULI in 2014 formed a strategic partnership with NLC to bring that organization’s robust expertise in local government leadership to bear on the Rose Center’s programs.

Now in its eighth year, the Rose Fellowship begins with the selection of four city mayors, each of whom chooses three additional fellows (city department leaders or public agency directors with land use decision-making authority) and a project manager to serve as their city’s fellowship team. The program of work includes working retreats at the NLC City Summit at the beginning and end of the program year and ULI Spring Meeting at its mid-point, a study tour of another U.S. or foreign city, and study visits to each of the four fellowship cities.

The 2016 Rose Fellowship teams are as follows:

• Anchorage: Mayor Ethan Berkowitz; Hal Hart, director, Planning Department, Office of Economic and Community Development Department of Community Development, Municipality of Anchorage; Mara Kimmel, first lady of Anchorage and city resilience team lead; and Christopher Schutte, director, Office of Economic and Community Development, Municipality of Anchorage. The project manager is Katie Dougherty, executive assistant, Office of Economic and Community Development.
• Grand Rapids: Mayor Rosalynn Bliss; Kristopher Larson, president & CEO, Downtown Grand Rapids, Inc.; Josh Naramore, Mobile GR and Parking manager, City of Grand Rapids; and Kara Wood, managing director, Economic Development Services, City of Grand Rapids. The project manager is Tim Kelly, vice president of planning and development, Downtown Grand Rapids, Inc.
• San José: Mayor Sam Liccardo; Rosalynn Hughey, assistant director, Department of Planning, Building and Code Enforcement, City of San José; Nanci Klein, assistant director, Office of Economic Development and director of city real estate, City of San José; and John Ristow, deputy director for transportation planning and project delivery, Department of Transportation, City of San José. The project manager is Kimberly Vacca, long range planner, Planning Division, Department of Planning, Building and Code Enforcement, City of San José.
• Washington, D.C.: Mayor Muriel Bowser; Polly Donaldson, director, Department of Housing and Community Development, District of Columbia; Brian Kenner, Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, District of Columbia and Eric Shaw, director, Office of Planning, District of Columbia. The project manager is Andrew Trueblood, chief of staff, Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development.

To assist the fellowship city teams, the Rose Center has assembled eight urban development and design leaders from around the nation who will serve as their faculty advisers over the course of the fellowship year.

• Anchorage’s advisers will be Carlton Brown, principal of Direct Invest Development in New York City and Frank Fuller, a partner of Urban Field Studio in San Francisco.
• Grand Rapid’s advisers will be Antonio Fiol-Silva, founding principal of SITIO architecture + urbanism in Philadelphia and Calvin Gladney, managing partner of Mosaic Urban in Washington.
• San Jose’s advisers will be Nolan Lienhart, principal and director of planning and urban design for ZGF Architects in Portland, Ore. and Marilee Utter, president of Citiventure Associates in Denver.
• Washington, D.C.’s advisers will be Kate Collignon, managing partner of HR&A Advisors in New York City and Ignacio Bunster-Ossa, landscape architecture practice leader and vice president at AECOM (Americas) in Philadelphia.

“These four cities are working at the cutting edge of the biggest development issues facing cities,” said Rose Center Executive Director Jess Zimbabwe. “In addition to the valuable insights gained by the fellows during this year, ULI and NLC members will benefit from the practical know-how that emerges when these city leaders get together to share their ideas and expertise.”

Since its inception, the Rose Fellowship has worked with 28 cities across the U.S.: Austin, Texas; Birmingham, Alabama; Boston; Charlotte, N.C.; Denver; Detroit; Hartford, Connecticut; Honolulu; Houston; Indianapolis; Kansas City, Missouri; Long Beach, California; Louisville, Kentucky; Minneapolis; Memphis, Tennessee; Nashville, Tennessee; Oakland, California; Omaha, Nebraska; Philadelphia; Phoenix; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Portland, Oregon; Providence, R.I.; Rochester, N.Y.; Sacramento, California; Seattle; Tacoma, Washington; and Tampa, Florida.

The fellowship teams have successfully lead changes in their cities after receiving technical assistance and strategic advice on topics such as revitalizing old industrial corridors to attract new businesses and jobs; leveraging visitor and entertainment venues for downtown development; and developing new community engagement models in transitioning neighborhoods.

About the Urban Land Institute
The Urban Land Institute is a nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the institute has nearly 40,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines. For more information, please visit uli.org  or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

About the National League of Cities
The National League of Cities (NLC) is dedicated to helping city leaders build better communities. NLC is a resource and advocate for 19,000 cities, towns and villages.