Friday, March 14

Housing Land Advocates 2025 Annual Conference

Join us at the Housing Land Advocates 2025 Annual Conference to connect, learn, and advocate for affordable housing solutions!

By Housing Land Advocates

Date and time

Friday, March 14 · 8am - 4pm PDT

Location

Smith Memorial Student Union

1825 Southwest Broadway Portland, OR 97201 United States

Refund Policy

Refunds up to 1 day before event

Eventbrite's fee is nonrefundable.

Agenda

8:45 AM - 9:00 AM

Opening Remarks

Jennifer Bragar, Housing Land Advocates

9:00 AM - 9:30 AM

Morning Keynote - Housing, Land, Everything: A Tribal Perspective

J.D. Tovey III, CTUIR

John David Tovey III ("J.D.") AICP, Executive Director, is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Pendleton, Oregon, and a proud Cayuse and Joseph Band Ne...

9:35 AM - 10:50 AM

The Changing Climate of State Land Use Planning

Moderator: Angel Falconer

Sean Edging, Dept. of Land Conservation and Development

Laura Weigel, City of Milwaukie

Rachael Baker, City of Bend

Since 2017, the Oregon Legislature has adopted numerous legislative initiatives related to housing, urbanization, and transportation. These policies grapple with the statewide shortage of housing and...

11:00 AM - 12:15 PM

Building Resiliency: Construction and Development Responds to Climate Change

Moderator: Ben Schonberger

Becky Steckler, ECONorthwest

Rita Haberman, Oregon Dept of Environmental Quality

Eric Foley, Earth Advantage

Panelists will address the concrete ways that housing builders and owners have changed habits to increase resilience and respond to climate effects. One panelist will discuss a recent Portland study ...

12:15 PM - 1:00 PM

Lunch

1:00 PM - 1:15 PM

Presentation of the Ed Sullivan Affordable Housing Advocate Award

Allen Hines, Community Vision

Ben Gurewitz, Disability Rights Oregon

Matt Serres, OR Council on Developmental Disabilitie

Allen, Ben, and Matt's work continues to advance system and policy changes that increase housing choice for people with disabilities. One joint area of focus has been advising the Oregon Department ...

1:15 PM - 2:20 PM

Insurance Challenges and Navigating Local Impacts from Climate Effects

Moderator: Suhail Khan

Glenn Rennemann, Sedgwick

Michelle DePass, Climate Change Analyst

Heidi Tapasa, EVP USA Insurance Services

This panel will explore the evolving landscape of insurance and local climate change impacts. One panelist will discuss the effects of climate change on local communities and city policy responses. E...

2:30 PM - 3:00 PM

Afternoon Keynote - Funding After Fire: Helping Communities Rebuild

Mary Heberling-Creighton, Housing And Community Services

In light of the recent tragedy in southern California, hear what the State of Oregon did to drive recovery in response to the 2020 wildfires. Additionally, learn about the current plan OHCS has in pl...

3:10 PM - 4:25 PM

School Is In: How Planning and Education Advocates Can Team Up for Resiliency

Trell Anderson & Natalie Thompson, NWHA

Marcus LeGrand, Central Oregon Community College

Matt Edlen, Edlen and Company

Krista Palmer, Sunstone Housing Collaborative

Schools can be the backbone of community resiliency, or they can increase gentrification and disparate outcomes for families. Traditionally, local schools and their advocates have not been included i...

4:25 PM - 4:30 PM

Closing Remarks

Jennifer Bragar, Housing Land Advocates

About this event

Event lasts 8 hours

Housing Land Advocates returns to Portland State University for our 2025 Annual Conference! Join us for a wide-ranging discussion on how Oregon will meet its ambitious housing goals in a rapidly changing environment. We are so honored to welcome this year's keynote John D. Tovey III, Executive Director of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and a planner who focuses on sustainability and local responsiveness.

Panels will cover critical topics such as resilient building practices, land use responses to climate disasters, how to lower insurance costs for affordable developments, Community Development Block Grant for Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR), and how we plan for climate migration. Lunch will be provided. AICP and CLE credits are available. The conference will also be livestreamed, and tickets can be found here.

Organized by

Housing Land Advocates