This month’s ELP was focused on the topic of Project Leadership. The guests included
“I’m trying to build the city I want to grow old in.”
“You can do a lot by just showing up. Very few actually do, and every person multiplies good ideas.”
Jason Roberts is a community organizer, IT consultant, and musician living in the Oak Cliff region of South Dallas with his wife and two small children. Jason formed the non-profit organization, Oak Cliff Transit Authority in 2006 to revive the Dallas streetcar system; and in 2010 won a $23 Million dollar TIGER stimulus grant from the FTA to help reintroduce a modern rail system to Dallas. In 2008, Jason co-founded Bike Friendly Oak Cliff, a bicycle advocacy organization, whose model has been replicated throughout North Texas, and organized the ten day Cyclesomatic festival earning a City of Dallas proclamation. In April, Jason organized the “Better Block” project, taking a blighted block with vacant properties in South Dallas and converted it into a temporary walk able district with pop-up businesses, bike lanes, cafe seating, and kids’ art studios. The project was showcased at TEDx in Washington DC, and featured on GOOD magazine’s blog. Jason is co-founder of Art Conspiracy, past president of the Historic Texas Theatre Renovation, and member of the Congress for New Urbanism. He is passionate about community building, place making, and taking time out to perform in the indie pop band, the Happy Bullets.
“If you care about things, you are a political person.”
Betsy Del Monte, AIA, LEED AP, is Director of Sustainability and a principal in the architecture group at Beck, and has been focusing on issues of sustainability in commercially successful projects for many years. She is also an adjunct faculty member at the Lyle School of Engineering at SMU where she teaches a graduate program in sustainability.
Betsy was 2007 President of AIA Dallas and 2006 chair of the North Texas Green Building Council and has been named a Senior Fellow by the Design Futures Council. She frequently speaks at regional and national conferences on the subjects of green construction and sustainable building design.
Betsy received her Bachelor of Science degree in architecture from the University of Virginia, and a Master of Architecture degree from Rice University. Her experience includes work at architecture firms in Atlanta and Houston, as well as nine years with Philip Johnson and John Burgee in New York.
“In the workplace there are a lot of dynamics you have to deal with, but you can’t forget your goal.”
“Architects are visionaries, they see things that others don’t see. They know what the future needs to be.”
Clyde Porter, FAIA, IIDA, NCARB, NOMA is the Associate Vice Chancellor of Facilities Management and Planning/District Architect for the Dallas County Community College District, an organization that administrates and supports the traditional approach to design and construction contracting for the seven campuses, one institute and two administrative facilities of the community college system, serving over 100,000 students and faculty annually. During his tenure, he has completed over $700 million of district-wide new construction renovation and expansion projects, i.e. student centers, classrooms, administrative and infrastructure improvements. Presently, he is directing the DCCCD eight-year, long-range master plan $500 million program. Prior to that he served as the chief architect for the Dallas Area Rapid Transit $2.9 billion transportation project, where he completed 10 transit center designs and set the regional architectural vernacular for the DART rail and bus transit center program. In addition to being on the leading edge of introducing rapid transit to the Dallas region, he directed facilities design for the office products and business services division of the Xerox Corporation, southwest region.
Previously he served 11 years as facilities architect for the world-wide headquarters of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, Dallas, Texas, where he was awarded an excellence award for improving the quality and cost-effectiveness of construction projects. Prior to this he served as a city planner for the City of Corpus Christi, Texas. Prior to the City of Corpus Christi, he served as a Captain in the US Army Corps of Engineers (combat), earning the US Army bronze star, US Army air medal, and the US Army commendation medal for heroism, and others. His tours of duty included Ft. Belvoir, Virginia; Fort Hood, Texas; Vietnam; and Oklahoma State University as assistant professor of military science, where he received a certificate of achievement for improved procedures that greatly enhanced ROTC operational efficiency. Clyde Porter has a B.S. in Industrial Arts Education and a Master of Architecture degree from Prairie View A & M University. He is a registered professional architect and registered professional interior designer in the State of Texas. He also holds a National Council of Architectural Registration Board certification. Throughout his career he has managed more than $ 5 billion in design and construction.
Clyde Porter is also active in the community. He is a regular guest lecturer at several area high schools, Dallas Independent School District middle schools and Prairie View A & M University School of Architecture, where he enhances student knowledge on architecture and engineering as a career choice. He also serves on the Dallas City Central TIF Board and is a Board member for the National ACE Mentor program. Mr. Porter is also active in several professional organizations and serves on the board of directors for the Dallas Architectural Foundation, former chairman of the Dallas AIA Minority Resource Committee and a member of the National Organization of Minority Architects. In 2002, Mr. Porter was awarded the Dallas chapter of American Institute of Architects citation of honor award and in 1999 awarded the outstanding man of minority business development by the Minority Business News for Dallas and Fort Worth
In 2003, he was also the first architect in the history of Texas to be honored by Governor Perry with the highest award Texas can bestow, a commissioned admiral in the Texas Navy, for his outstanding contribution to the State. This was preceded by honors from both the Texas House of Representatives and Texas Senate by resolution for his outstanding contribution in architecture as a premier public architect. He is also a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. One of the highest honors the AIA can bestow upon a member. Again, he was honored by the State of Texas in 2007 by resolution for this achievement. In addition Mr. Porter, FAIA has been awarded the 2009 Whitney M. Young Jr. Award by the National AIA Board of Directors.
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