Maeve Elise Brown
Executive Director and Founder, Housing and Economic Rights Advocates (HERA)

Maeve Elise Brown is Executive Director and founder of Housing and Economic Rights Advocates  (HERA), a unique, California statewide non-profit law office with a broad, economic justice and anti-discrimination mission. She applies her creative, outside-the-box thinking to her management and guidance of HERA’s operations and growth. A graduate of UCLA Law School, Ms. Brown’s experience as a public interest attorney includes litigation and administrative advocacy on behalf of tenants, homeowners and homeless residents, public benefits advocacy, community organizing, fair housing advocacy, community workshops, and trainings and technical assistance for professionals across a range of topics.

During these year, Ms. Brown has also organized and opened a community development credit union, and has designed and taught a course on mortgage lending and homeownership at UC Berkeley School of Law. For 5 years, she served on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Consumer Advisory Board (CAB) which she chaired in her final year. She has worked on local, state and federal policy initiatives and has driven critically important policy forward, including most recently, the Survivors’ Bill of Rights legislation for which she was the primary drafter. She has published various articles on affordable housing issues, authored a chapter in the American Bar Association’s Legal Guide to Affordable Housing Development (first edition and updates), is bilingual in Spanish and conversant in Japanese, Farsi, French, Italian, and German. 

Julie Gilgoff
Associate Professor of Law, Indiana University

Julie Gilgoff was a long-time resident of the Bay Area before relocating to pursue legal academia. She is currently an Associate Professor of Law, teaching property law and elder law at Indiana University. She previously worked at Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the SF Bay Area, helping commercial tenants resist eviction by renegotiating lease agreements in the aftermath of the pandemic. She also previously worked at the Sustainable Economies Law Center helping to create permanently affordable housing cooperatives and worker cooperatives. She writes about the topics of tenant ownership models and Community Land Trusts, in publications including Shelterforce and various law journals. She is currently writing about and advocating for the reform of our property tax system that systematically deprives low-income communities of color of homeownership opportunities. She has adjuncted in UC Santa Cruz’s legal department and at Berkeley Law, and is pleased to return to the Bay to speak at USF’s symposium. 

Joshua Howard
Executive Vice President, Local Government Affairs, California Lawyers Association

Joshua Howard leads CAA’s public affairs strategy, government advocacy, community relations, and political action programs in cities and counties throughout California. With a team of advocates, Howard ensures the rental housing industry is represented in the halls of government providing meaningful policy solutions to many of the housing issues facing our communities. 

In addition to leading numerous campaigns to promote housing policy in California cities, Howard has over 20 years experience with the regional and local housing markets, and has served on numerous local, regional, and statewide committees addressing housing, transportation, and government finance. 

Prior to joining CAA, he served as vice president of public policy and communications for the San Jose/Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce and as a senior aide to former San Jose Vice Mayor Patricia Dando where he advised the Vice Mayor on transportation, environmental, and fiscal policy issues. In 2006, the Silicon Valley Business Journal named him one of the Bay Area’s “40 People to Watch under Age 40.”  He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Santa Clara University and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of San Francisco.

Juan Carlos Ibarra
Associate Professor, University of San Francisco School of Law

Professor Ibarra was formerly a Visiting Professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law and a Senior Affiliated Scholar at UC Hastings’ Center for Racial and Economic Justice (CREJ).

In his law teaching, Professor Ibarra helps students develop advanced critical thinking and analytical skills using a student-centered approach. His courses emphasize the intersection between law and racial equity. Professor Ibarra’s current courses include Property Law and Wills and Trusts.

Professor Ibarra’s scholarship addresses structural issues of racial exclusion and inclusion in law and public policy. His most recent work-in-progress, “Racial Transcendence,” examines the ways in which racial equity and power is shaped through intergenerational wealth transfer, including the distribution of property after death using wills, trusts, and other testamentary instruments.

Professor Ibarra is also working on a project, “Centering Racial Equity in the Property Law Curriculum,” which examines the history of property law pedagogy in legal education through a racial lens and offers strategies for centering racial equity in the property law curriculum. The work is partially grant funded with an expected publication date in 2024-2025.

Barbara Kautz ’04
Partner, Goldfarb & Lipman LLP
Barbara E. Kautz practices with Goldfarb & Lipman LLP in the areas of land use, with an emphasis on housing-related legislation, including the Housing Accountability Act, SB 35, inclusionary zoning and implementation, density bonuses, and other recent changes to housing law; CEQA/NEPA compliance; and affordable housing. Ms. Kautz has over 40 years of land use experience. Prior to joining Goldfarb & Lipman LLP, she was the Community Development Director and Assistant City Manager for the City of San Mateo, California. She speaks frequently at conferences and before public agencies regarding housing issues and is a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners, member of the Board of Counselors at USF School of Law, and past editor of the Land Use chapter in the Municipal Law Handbook. She formerly served on the Boards of Directors for the League of California Cities and the California Chapter of the American Planning Association. Ms. Kautz received her law degree summa cum laude from the University of San Francisco, holds a Master of City Planning from the University of California, Berkeley, and is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Stanford University.

Alice Kaswan
Professor, University of San Francisco School of Law

Professor Alice Kaswan has taught Property and Environmental Law at USF since 1999.  She is an expert on environmental justice and climate change policy, including the connection between affordable housing and emerging climate strategies.

Kaswan received her JD, cum laude, from Harvard Law School and a B.S. degree, with highest honors, from U.C. Berkeley.  Kaswan is an elected member of the American Law Institute, a member scholar for the Center for Progressive Reform, and a past Chair of the Association of American Law Schools’ Environmental Law Section.

Jane Natoli
San Francisco Organizing Director, YIMBY Action

Jane Natoli is the San Francisco Organizing Director at YIMBY Action. She came to YIMBY Action after serving on the board since 2018 and as a volunteer lead since 2016. Before joining YIMBY Action, she worked professionally in anti-money laundering compliance for companies such as Lithic, Stripe, and Wells Fargo. Jane serves on the board of directors for Equality California and is an Airport Commissioner for SFO. She was born and raised in Virginia, went to college at Iowa State, and called Minnesota home for a decade before moving to San Francisco.

Shane Phillips
Housing Initiative Project Manager
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies

Shane Phillips is a housing policy researcher and consultant. He manages the Housing Initiative at the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies, focusing on research, policy analysis, and education, and he co-hosts the UCLA Housing Voice Podcast, a biweekly show that translates emerging research for a non-academic audience. He’s the author of The Affordable City, published in 2020, which advocates for prioritizing Supply, Stability, and Subsidies and offers more than 50 strategies for improving and maintaining affordability. Shane earned his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Washington and masters degrees in public administration and urban planning from USC.

Richard Pio Roda
Principal and Chair of the Government and Regulatory Affairs Practice Group         Meyers Nave

Richard D. Pio Roda is a skilled and experienced strategic advisor and transactional attorney specializing in the areas of municipal and special district law, general outside corporate counsel, technology transactions, land use, real estate, education law and contracts and procurement for government agencies and corporate, non-profit, and healthcare entities throughout California. He is the Chair of the Municipal and Special District Law Practice Group at Meyers Nave.

Richard is the City Attorney for the City of San Leandro, Interim Assistant City Attorney for the City of Newark and serves as General Counsel to special districts and public agencies throughout California. In addition to providing transactional legal services, Richard advises chief executives, city councils, boards of directors, commissioners, councilmembers and staff on the variety of issues they encounter on a day-to-day basis. He also routinely advises on risk mitigation strategies and litigation management.

Prior to joining Meyers Nave, Richard was a Deputy General Counsel for the San Francisco Unified School District. He advised the District’s Facilities, Business, and Operations Departments in school construction, real estate, public contracting, technology transactions, and transportation.

Alvaro Sanchez 
Vice President of Policy, The Greenlining Project

Alvaro S. Sanchez (he/him/his) is an urban planner with extensive experience crafting, implementing, and evaluating strategies that leverage private, public, and philanthropic investments to deliver benefits to priority communities. Alvaro is The Greenlining Institute’s Vice President of Policy. He leads a team that develops policies that create a future where communities of color can build wealth, live in healthy places filled with economic opportunity, and are ready to meet the challenges posed by climate change. Under his leadership, The Greenlining Institute has shaped over $5.5 billion in California Climate Investments targeted at priority communities, established the Transformative Climate Communities and Regional Climate Collaboratives state programs via legislation, and launched the Towards Equitable Electric Mobility Community of Practice and Greenlining the Block, initiatives that support the leadership and expertise of communities of color to prepare for and maximize federal, state, and local infrastructure investments to drive effective climate action that meets community needs.

Prior to joining Greenlining, Alvaro led Green For All’s stormwater infrastructure strategy. As a member of the State and Local Initiatives team, he led the organization’s strategies for connecting impacted communities to economic opportunity related to national stormwater infrastructure investments. Alvaro has over a decade of experience working on economic development and land use issues throughout California and nationally. In 2011 he received a Master of Planning degree from the University of Southern California, where he focused on affordable housing and economic development. He is on the board of the Urban Sustainability Directors Network, the advisory board of the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, LISC’s Emerging Leaders Council, and the advisory committee of The University of California Alianza Mexico’s “Latinos and Mexico: Culture and Identify” program. He was named one of Grist’s 50 Fixers in 2019. Alvaro, who believes you can never be too wonky, lives in North Oakland, grew up in Los Angeles, and was born in Mexico City.

Joshua Switzky
Acting Director, Citywide Planning Division of the San Francisco Planning Department

Joshua Switzky is the Acting Director of the Citywide Planning division of the San Francisco Planning Department, where he has worked for over 22 years. He has been instrumental in development and adoption of most of the major comprehensive plans adopted in the 21st century in San Francisco and that have shaped a substantial portion of the City. Notably, Joshua has been a leader of efforts over the past two decades to guide the evolution of San Francisco’s skyline, downtown neighborhoods, and adjacent districts.  The Citywide Division’s current work is highlighted by implementation of the recently adopted equity-focused Housing Element through rezoning the western half of the City to permit more multi-family housing. He holds a Master of City Planning degree with a Certificate in Urban Design from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a bachelor’s degree in business and environmental management from UC Berkeley. 

Samuel P. Tepperman-Gelfant
Managing Attorney, Public Associates

Since joining Public Advocates in 2007, Sam Tepperman-Gelfant has worked with grassroots groups to build community power and fight for economic and racial justice in housing, transportation, and climate issues throughout California. He is currently Managing Attorney on our Metropolitan Equity Team.

Sam’s work includes enforcement of state and federal housing and environmental laws and participation in numerous coalitions, including the 6 Wins Network, HousingNow!, and ClimatePlan.  His cases and campaigns have supported power-building in low-income communities of color throughout the state, and resulted in concrete policy change including: a visionary redevelopment plan for the massive Concord Naval Weapons Station that includes 25% affordable housing and preserves 70% of the site as open space; the end to a 39-year ban on multifamily housing construction in the City of Alameda; a partnership between groups in East Palo Alto and Facebook to bring $20 million of corporate funding for affordable housing and job training into the local community; plans for a dense mixed-income development on a prime publicly-owned site on E 12th Street in Oakland, after the city was compelled to comply with the Surplus Land Act; and a social equity-focused Sustainable Communities Strategy proposal for the Bay Area – the Equity, Environment, and Jobs Scenario – that also proved to be the best for the environment, demonstrating that leading with equity and listening to community voices delivers better outcomes for everyone.

Sam’s legislative advocacy has included AB 686 (Santiago) requiring local and state agencies to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing, AB 1482 (Chiu) to provide statewide protections for tenants, and improvements in the Housing Element and Regional Housing Needs Allocation systems.  He has also contributed to breakthrough litigation such as Urban Habitat v. City of Pleasanton, Peninsula Interfaith Action v. City of Menlo Park, and Williams v. City of Antioch, and is currently representing plaintiffs in Anderson v. City of San Jose, to enforce the state Surplus Land Act.