Conversationalists.

Bruce Katz

Bruce Katz is the Co-Founder (with Jeremy Nowak) of New Localism Advisors. The mission of the firm is to help cities design, finance and deliver transformative initiatives that promote inclusive and sustainable growth.

Katz regularly advises global, national, state, regional and municipal leaders on public reforms and private innovations that advance the well-being of metropolitan areas and their countries.

Katz is the co-author of The New Localism: How Cities Can Thrive in the Age of Populism (Brookings Institution Press, 2018) and The Metropolitan Revolution: How Cities and Metros are Fixing Our Broken Politics and Fragile Economy (Brookings Institution Press, 2013).  Both books focus on the rise of cities and city networks as the world’s leading problem solvers.

Katz was the inaugural Centennial Scholar at the Brookings Institution from January 2016 to March 2018, where he focused on the challenges and opportunities of global urbanization.  Prior to assuming this role, Bruce J. Katz was a vice president at the Brookings Institution and founding Director of the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program.

Before joining Brookings, Katz served as chief of staff to U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros and was the senior counsel and then staff director for the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Housing and Urban Affairs. After the 2008 presidential election, Bruce co-led the housing and urban transition team for the Obama administration and served as a senior advisor to new Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Secretary Shaun Donovan, for the first 100 days of the Administration.

Katz is a visiting Professor at the London School of Economics. He gives dozens of lectures and presentations annually before public, corporate, civic and university audiences across the world.  In 2006, he received the prestigious Heinz Award in Public Policy for his contributions to understanding the “function and values of cities and metropolitan areas and profoundly influencing their economic vitality, livability and sustainability.” Katz is a graduate of Brown University and Yale Law School.

James Johnson-Piett

James Johnson-Piett, with almost 20 years of experience in various facets of economic and community development, is responsible for the overall management of operations and strategic vision for Urbane, a social impact agency with offices in NYC and Philadelphia. His work focuses on strengthening small businesses and community anchor institutions operating in historically disinvested communities through an integrated approach that includes research, consulting, and place-based investing. James has worked in 50+ communities across North America and the Caribbean, with over 1,000 small businesses, representing over 1.1 million SF of commercial and community facility space. James has helped raise over $60 million for small business and community development initiatives in low-income areas with the goal of promoting community wealth generation.

James spearheads Urbane’s place-based investment platform, which includes Caton Flats, the $135M mixed-use development project featuring the redevelopment of the historic Flatbush Caton Market and 256 units of affordable housing in Brooklyn; and represents Philadelphia and Brooklyn, respectively, as part of the Boston Impact Initiative’s 11 city national fund-building cohort, which is a national network of fund managers working to develop blended capital, place-based investment vehicles explicitly focused on racial and economic justice. In addition, James catalyzed the creation of a neighborhood-based market intelligence practice – piloted in low- and moderate-income communities in Brooklyn - focused on Alternative Credit and Credit Proxies, Neighborhood Financial Health Impact Metrics, Micro-Entrepreneurship, and Criminal Justice Fines/Fees research and insights.

Currently, James serves as a board director of The Merchants Fund in Philadelphia and Community Solutions, Inc. in NYC. James is also an advisory board member for All Together Now PA. James was named an Aspen Ideas Festival Scholar in 2019, 40 under 40 Rising Star by Hunter College Food Policy Center in 2017 and one of the 100 Most Influential People in Brooklyn Culture by Brooklyn Magazine in Spring 2016. James is an alumnus of Swarthmore College and MIT’s Center for Real Estate, Professional Development Institute.