Plug-In to the Los Angeles Business Council Summit

October 2, 2013

With TreePeople’s mission to inspire and engage people in making Los Angeles sustainable and healthy, we can’t ignore the role that our transportation system plays with its massive consumption of energy, and generation of CO2 and air pollution. Our streets, roads and highways are the primary mechanism whereby we pollute and throw away over $400 million worth of fresh, clean rainwater each year. And changing our transportation system provides a huge opportunity to help solve our long-term water issues.

TreePeople is working with multiple agencies, including METRO, to mitigate these problems by adapting their facilities so they capture, clean, conserve and use rainwater. The issues are even more inter-related; the opportunities to innovate and solve problems have never been riper; and the upcoming Los Angeles Business Council’s Mayoral Housing, Transportation & Jobs Summit is one of the best places to learn about the issue and plug in.

On behalf of the Los Angeles Business Council, TreePeople is pleased to invite you to join us for the 2013 Summit—taking place at UCLA’s Korn Convocation Hall on Friday, October 18 from 7:30am to 2:00pm.

This event is known as the most effective and productive forum that has helped spur transit-oriented development and sustainable workforce housing for Los Angeles for more than a decade. In addition to a panel on building healthy and sustainable communities along transit corridors, other panels will focus on identifying financial tools and regulatory reform for successful urban development and investing in industries driving jobs for the future.

The list of speakers is impressive. Joining this year’s summit is the former US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros, LA City Attorney Michael Feuer, LA City Council Member Mike Bonin, CEO of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Tom Priselac, West Region Executive Director of JPMorgan Chase Global Philanthropy, Kari Dohn Decker, Founder of Sungevity, Danny Kennedy, President of Meta Housing Corporation, John Huskey, Dean and John E. Anderson Chain in Management Judy Olian, VP Government Affairs of Ralphs Grocery Company, Kendra Doyel, VP of Parsons Corporation, Margareth Harper, California State President of Bank of America, Janet Lamkin, VP, Housing and Neighborhoods of California Community Foundation, Ann Sewill, Director of Transportation for America, James Coreless, and many more business and civic leaders.

For more information and to register, please visit labusinesscouncil.org.

By Andy Lipkis

Andy Lipkis is a practical visionary who has dedicated his life to healing the environment while improving the lives of individuals and communities. He founded TreePeople in Los Angeles in 1973 at age 18 and continues to serve as its President. Andy has spearheaded an approach using trees and forest-inspired technologies to make cities sustainable while mitigating floods, drought, pollution, and climate change. Called “Functioning Community Forests,” it is being demonstrated in L.A. as a model for cities everywhere.