Advisory Board

Sam Tabuchi is the Director of Public Private Partnerships for the Toyo University Graduate School of Business in Tokyo, Japan. Professor Tabuchi has over three decades of expertise in the field and conducts evaluations of PPP efforts to improve local government worldwide.

Kristin Johnson is a Civil and Environmental Engineer from Lehigh University. Following Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy, she worked for the Army Corps of Engineers in design, construction and emergency operations. She is an experienced project manager, planner and engineer with a demonstrated history in the civil engineering industry. Kristin is skilled in construction management, water resource management, hydrology, environmental engineering, and grant management. Kristin has also served in the non-profit sector managing residential rebuilding in Baton Rouge and has engineered systems in Indonesia and Honduras improving access to clean water.

Ziad Hayek has held senior leadership positions in investment banking, multilateral development banks, and public private partnership administration worldwide. A citizen of the U.S., U.K. and native of Lebanon, Ziad speaks 7 languages and is known for his leadership in organizations around the world.

Calandra Cruickshank is the founder and CEO of StateBook International. Passionate about data, Calandra is a leading technology innovator in economic market analytics and advises PropTech, FinTech, ClimateTech, and GovTech firms on how normalized public and private data can be leveraged to develop more holistic place-based strategies that promote equality, improve quality of life, and foster sustainable development. Calandra also serves as a part-time lecturer at the MIT Center for Real Estate, focused on how data science informs innovation in the built environment. Calandra chairs the CoreNet NYC PropTech Committee, driving the adoption of groundbreaking technologies in the real estate sector. She previously served on the Board of the International Economic Development Council and chaired Women in PropTech’s New York chapter. Together with ISRC, Calandra developed the Economic Resilience Scorecard™, which provides a baseline economic resilience score to communities and a step-by-step framework to improve community resilience.

Laura Olson designs solutions to disaster risk reduction and recovery dilemmas for organizations including UNDP’s Regional Crisis Prevention and Recovery (RCPR) team, and the United Nations University and Munich Re Foundation. Domestically, she designs community-based recovery strategies and processes for FEMA and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. She works with practitioner networks using vulnerability, risk, and social resilience models to develop community-based approaches to disaster management. Laura Olson holds a Ph.D. in Public Administration from George Washington University.

US and Mexico highly experience (30 years) Infrastructure Senior Project Manager Chartered Civil Engineer and PPP consultant expert experienced Transportation professional with a demonstrated history of working in the government transportation industry. Skilled in construction contract management, dispute resolution, transportation asset management, transportation funding, and strategic planning. Participation as a consultant with the largest comprehensive road rehabilitation pavement project (PIRE) for the City of Tijuana, this project will enhance the local infrastructure and urban image, improve mobility and air quality PECG (Professional Engineers California Government) Committee Chair: Science Fair, Political Action, President of PECG San Diego Section. MEX/USA, San Diego County Engineering Council Board member. Binational Committee Liaison & Infrastructure-Economic Development Committee chairman of Civil Engineers Society of Tijuana. Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI), Mexico representative for FEMCIC.

Rodolfo has a Master degree in Marketing from CETYS University in Mexico, he graduated from The Economic Development Institute of the University Of Oklahoma and from the ESADE (Barcelona, Spain ) Small business development program as well as the Lean Launchpad Educators Program at Columbia University. He is the Author of “Emprende en Mexico” Methodology and Book that adapts Lean Startup for the Mexican an Latin Countries. 28 Years Actively Participating in International Marketing and Economic Development activities. Involved in projects where over $1.5 Billion dollars have been invested in Mexico. His last projects have been related to resilience and economic reactivation in communities that have suffered economic downturns. He is founder of the CETYS University/University of Oklahoma Economic Development Institute (EDI) and has served as assistant Dean.

Founder and CEO of Smika Strategy LLC. Entrepreneurial leader focused on startup growth within the digital marketing, gig economy, staffing, and non-profit sectors. Prior to starting a consulting business in New Orleans, spent 20+ years leading sales, operations, and product teams for technology firms and nonprofit organizations. Core areas of expertise are launching new markets, businesses, and initiatives for new and established companies, building client partnerships, scaling teams, and delivering multimillion-dollar bottom line growth.

Bill Bersing is an accomplished Senior Executive with more than 25 years of success across the energy, engineering, construction, security, IT, and government sectors. Dr. Bersing has held leadership positions at companies including the Institute for Program Solutions PC (IPS), Louis Berger, and Jacobs Engineering. As President of IPS since 2011, he oversees Construction Management and Engineering throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East (EAME) to the U.S. DoD, Department of State and several large corporations. Projects have included writing and assisting negotiations for a $750M (PPP) contract between the U.S. government and Dubai Port World.

Kiran is a mechanical engineer with an MBA and 20 years of experience in infrastructure finance, PPP and policy. His focus for several years has been dedicated to impact investments. Kiran wider industry experience across different infrastructure projects is paramount to addressing implementation challenges. Kiran is currently working at the intersection of PPP and Impact Investing.

Anne Usher

Senior Sustainable Resilience Advisor

Anne Usher is a climate resilience and sustainability specialist who has gained expertise through roles for the U.S. government, The Pew Charitable Trust, and as a consultant for private companies. Anne has a master of natural resources degree, with a climate focus, from Virginia Tech’s Center for Leadership in Global Sustainability and is a certified coastal practitioner, through the Coastal Zone Foundation. A former journalist with deep international experience, she was named of SustainabilityX Magazine’s Global 50 Women in Sustainability in 2023.

Advisory Board

Sam Tabuchi

Kristin Johnson

Ziad Hayek

Calandra Cruickshank

Dr. Laura Olson

Oscar A. Cortes

Rodolfo Andrade

Kim Smith

Natascha Schmitt

Dr. William (Bill) Bersing, DM, PE, CCM

Kiran Mali

Anne Usher

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