Cassia Herron is a proud Kentuckian and as a community development professional and public policy activist has over 20 years of experience working on projects at the intersections of community and economic development, food and the built environment that transform local food systems and the energy economy. She has organized farmers markets in West Louisville with Community Farm Alliance and later served as Board Chair. When she worked in the Economic Development Department for Louisville Metro Government, Cassia was instrumental in establishing the Farm-to-Table initiative. As the President of Louisville Association for Community Economics, she led the organizing efforts to incorporate the Louisville Community Grocery - a community-owned grocery store in one of Louisville's downtown neighborhoods. As Board Chair of Kentuckians for The Commonwealth, she has been engaged in energy reform - including advisor to President Biden’s Justice 40 Initiative - voter engagement, racial justice issues and was critical to its organizational change initiative to center people of color in KFTC’s leadership. Cassia works as a planning and strategy advisor and freelance writer with expertise in organizing and community engagement, fundraising, strategic planning and policy development. Most recently, Cassia served as the Director of Government & Public Affairs with TBAIN & CO and is a consultant and member-owner of Columinate - a cooperative of cooperative development consultants. Cassia is a graduate of the University of Louisville and has a Masters of Urban Planning from the University of Michigan.

Marilyn S. Harris is the Director of the Office of Housing and Community Development at Louisville Metro. She has previously served as the Director of Develop Louisville, and the Director of the Office of Housing. Marilyn is National Development Council Certified, and a Housing Development Finance Professional.

She holds a Bachelors of Science in Sociology, and a Masters of Social Administration from Bellarmine College.

Ben Eilerman, is the Director of Real Estate Development for Over-the-Rhine Community Housing where he leads affordable housing development projects from initial concept, through funding, construction and occupancy, furthering the mission of the organization to “develop and manage resident-centered affordable housing to build inclusive community and benefit low-income residents”.

Ben also brings professional experience as a LEED certified, licensed architect, having practiced in the Cincinnati region for over 10 years.

As GBBN’s Director of Sustainability and Resilience, Tiffany provides strategic leadership for sustainable design across the firm’s portfolio of projects and spearheads initiatives related to resilience and well-being, including the GBBN Sustainability Action Network. Her work includes sustainable design on projects from international supertall mixed-use to existing building renovations in 20+ countries. Tiffany is focused on creating low-carbon, healthy spaces at GBBN and advancing a circular economy regionally.

She practiced architecture, worked as a sustainability consultant, and developed education for the green building industry, for over 15 years in New York City before returning to the Midwest. She also earned an M. Arch Sustainable Environmental Design from the Architectural Association in London, complimenting her B. Arch from the University of Kentucky. Tiffany serves on several non-profit boards and committees including the Greenbuild Summit Advisory Board, Fitwel Advisory Council, Louisville Sustainability Council, and Cincinnati 2030 District Health Strategy Committee.