JONATHAN MILLER

Jonathan Miller has been described as a “zoning geek.” (I do not deny this as I find I am easily distracted by UDC, ZRB and BZA signs posted on properties around the city and only recently stopped looking at LRB agendas for fun.) Having lived in Inman Park since 1988, it was a natural progression after a small renovation of our first house and participating on the committee to write Inman Park’s Historic District regulations that came to fruition with their enactment in 2002. Next came a two-year term as Vice-President for Historic Preservation for the Inman Park Neighborhood Association (IPNA) that was supposed to be a way to meet the neighbors and stop working so hard. What was supposed to be a once a month meeting turned into numerous hours as “everyone” decided to renovate their house under the newly-enacted Historic District regulations. And I loved it! Not only did I meet my neighbors, I learned how the UDC works and helped IPNA refine its processes for helping neighbors understand and navigate our City’s regulations. After a six-month rest period, I was appointed to represent IPNA on the Board of Neighborhood Planning Unit N (NPU-N). After several years on the Board I was elected its Chair and served in that capacity for many years until stepping down at the end of last year. (I have only just recently stopped wondering when my next neighborhood meeting was scheduled and why my email is no longer blowing up.) In addition, I served on the Board of the Historic 4th Ward Park Conservancy and continue to represent NPU-N on the Board of the Olmsted Linear Park Alliance. To enable my “habit” of trying to help my neighbors understand Atlanta’s processes, I have a day job as an attorney specializing in patent litigation, a second career to replace the first, that of environmental chemist. In my “spare time” I drive my teenage children (Claire and Adam) to their soccer matches and social engagements and try to find some time in between to see my wife of almost 31 years, Karen Kelly.

MTAMANIKA YOUNGBLOOD

Mtamanika Youngblood is a nationally recognized community development practitioner and a strong proponent of equitable development and sustainability as the model for addressing both the human and physical development needs of revitalizing communities.
Ms. Youngblood is currently the President of Sweet Auburn Works, a nonprofit organization supported by a broad range of stakeholders committed to the revitalization of the Sweet Auburn commercial corridor and modeled after the successful national Main Street program.

Ms. Youngblood is also the Chair of the Board and a past President of the Historic District Development Corporation (HDDC) Atlanta’s leading non-profit, community-based developer of historic homes in the central city. HDDC’s neighborhood revitalization efforts are based on historic preservation, economic diversity and the non-displacement of existing residents. Its goal is to reestablish the mixed-income residential and commercial community that once thrived around “Sweet Auburn” Avenue and the childhood home of Martin Luther King, Jr.

She has served as the President & CEO of Sustainable Neighborhood Development Strategies, Inc (SNDSI), a nonprofit development corporation initiated by the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Atlanta Civic Site. She is the founder and immediate past President and CEO of The Center for Working Families, Inc., a nonprofit organization also sponsored by the Casey Foundation to advance its family and neighborhood strengthening work. She was previously the first Senior Vice President for Community Impact at United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta.

Ms. Youngblood has been widely acknowledged for her work. Awards and recognition have come from The National Trust for Historic Preservation, The Atlanta Urban Design Commission, Central Atlanta Progress, the Georgia Association of the American Institute of Architects, the Atlanta Business Chronicle, the State of Georgia Affordable Housing Division, the National Neighborhood Coalition and the National Community Land Trust Network. In addition to Sweet Auburn Works and HDDC’s board, she currently serves as Chair of the Board for the Partnership for Southern Equity. Ms. Youngblood most recently completed a nine year term as a member of the Board and Chair of the Programs Committee for the Atlanta BeltLine Partnership, and served as a member of the Technical Review Panel for the Housing and Transportation Affordability Index for HUD’s Office for Sustainable Housing and Communities. She is a Trustee Emeritus of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and has served on various Boards, including United Way, the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Center for Working Families, and the City of Atlanta Public Art Advisory Committee.

Ms. Youngblood earned a BA from New York University and an MBA from Atlanta University. She was a Fellow to the Kennedy School of Government Executive Program at Harvard University, an Inner City Fellow for the Urban Land Institute and a James A. Johnson Community Fellow of the Fannie Mae Foundation.

Mtamanika Youngblood lives in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward neighborhood in a restored 125 year-old historic home.

PAUL SIMO

Paul Simo brings extensive experience in assessment, planning and design for projects that concern historic buildings, properties and resources. Over the past 17 years, as a design consultant for The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation (state “Main Street” program), planning firms and now in his own business, Simo Community Design, he has facilitated renovations and prepared graphic identities for hundreds of historic buildings and individual businesses across Georgia. He has helped cities with public community meetings in cultural resource planning, wayfinding programs and design charettes, as well as producing multiple award-winning historic design guidelines.

Paul is a national and international speaker on subjects regarding Main Street design philosophy, preservation practice, historic auto corridors and heritage tourism. He is well versed in historic tax credit programs and assists clients with required applications and certifications leading to significant monetary benefits for preservation activities. In 2006, he was named one of the state’s “40 Under 40” by Georgia Trend magazine for his community leadership.

Mr. Simo served many years on the board of the Georgia Downtown Association, past secretary for the Association for Preservation Technology (APTSRC) Southeastern Regional Chapter and served on the Board of Advisors for the Atlanta Chapter of the Documentation & Conservation of Buildings of the Modern Movements (DOCOMOMO_GA). He volunteers heavily in his local community, on neighborhood fund raising and planning, Sub-Area Planning Representative in the Southeast quadrant of the Atlanta BeltLine and has served since 2008 as Chair of the Grant Park Neighborhood Association’s Homes & History Committee. This group assists local homeowners and commercial property owners to navigate the Atlanta historic design review processes, appearing regularly at AUDC meetings and educating residents on proper care of their historic homes.

ROBERT E. REED

Robert Reed is a current commissioner on Atlanta’s Urban Design Commission. The Commission nominates and regulates buildings and districts in the city of Atlanta which are designated as Historic Buildings or Sites, Landmark Buildings or Sites, Conservation Districts, Historic Districts, or Landmark Districts. Mr. Reed joined Southface in 2008 as Sustainable Communities Design Director to support and promote the EarthCraft Communities program for which he was a key stakeholder in the development of the program criteria. Since graduating from Georgia Tech in 1989 with a Bachelor of Science from the College of Architecture, Robert has been at the forefront of community planning in the Southeast region. He co-led the community interaction and architectural guidelines process for the award winning Chattahoochee Hill Country Land Use Plan. The Atlanta Regional Commission and the American Society of Landscape Architects recognized the plan as a Development of Excellence for its public participatory process and visionary planning. The Atlanta Regional Commission has recognized Robert three additional times with Development of Excellence Awards as the principal designer of Sutherland Place and Lampkin Street Cottages and as a design team member for Eastlake Commons which also received the World Habitat Award in 2001.

Robert is a four-time winner of the Atlanta Urban Design Commission Award for Contextual Infill for homes and communities designed in the historic neighborhoods of Inman Park, Candler Park and Old Fourth Ward. Robert’s designs have been included in some of the region’s most sustainable communities, including Glenwood Park, Tributary, Cuscowilla and Jonesboro’s new Historic District.

Additionally, Robert is lead facilitator for Southface in its participation in Atlanta’s Green Building Task Force which is developing a building code to meet Mayor Franklin’s commitment to Zero Carbon emissions from new buildings by 2030. He is an original steering committee member of Southface’s Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable.

Robert is a third generation Atlanta native and downtown resident as well as an avid outdoorsman. Depending on the season you can find him boating, camping, cycling, and hiking throughout Georgia with Marci Reed his wife of 19 years.