City Conversations Program Committee

Michael Alexander

Director, City Conversations

Michael is an urbanist and public policy wonk who brought the idea for City Conversations from San Francisco, where he is co-Chair of the Advisory Council for San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association. SPUR is a non-profit, member-based organization promoting good government and good planning. SPUR hosts over 150 public events a year, including two to three lunchtime forums a week. In San Francisco, Michael worked on removing the waterfront Embarcadero Freeway, creating two new mixed-use neighbourhoods south of Market St., and rebuilding the southern approach highway to the Golden Gate Bridge as a landscaped parkway. He was a member of the federal advisory commission for two national parks.

Gordon Price

Director, The City Program at SFU

Gordon Price is Director of The City Program at SFU, and writes the urban blog PriceTags. He was a six-term Vancouver City Councillor. He seeks to foster “flexible, responsive discussions to help reduce anxiety about urban change and development."

Laurie Anderson

Executive Director, SFU Vancouver

Dr. Laurie Anderson is Executive Director of SFU Vancouver. He was Interim Superintendent of Schools for the Vancouver Board of Education, and an Adjunct Professor in the School of Community and Regional Planning at UBC.

Shaughnessy Sturdy

Shaughnessy Sturdy is SFU Vancouver's Assistant Registrar and a Master's student in the Urban Studies program

Andrew T. Jones

Andrew T. Jones is a graduate of the Master of Urban Studies program at SFU. He was a founder and chair of the Vancouver Campus Students' Committee, and an executive member of the Urban Studies Graduate Student Association.

Landon Hoyt

Landon Hoyt is a Masters of Urban Studies student at SFU. He is a research assistant with SFU Sustainability Network. He is the Alumni Student Representative for the Urban Studies Graduate Student Association.