Michigan Suburns Alliance    Michigan Suburbs Alliance

About Us

Staff

Meet Our Interns

Get the rundown on them and the good work they're doing in southeast Michgian communities, below. If you've got the itch to get involved yourself, check out more Suburbs Alliance internship opportunities here.

 

 

Conan Smith

Executive Director, Michigan Suburbs Alliance


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Conan, our noble leader, has served as Executive Director at the Michigan Suburbs Alliance since August 2004. His passion for cities - matched only by his insatiable desire to create straw replicas of the seven wonders of the world - stems from a life supporting innovative policies for urban development and regional collaboration strategies. (We're serious about the straw; plans are already in the works for a backyard Stonehenge.)

Prior to joining Suburbs Alliance, Conan worked with the Michigan Environmental Council. As their Land Programs Director, he helped build cohesive support in the environmental community for Smart Growth policies among the state's environmental organizations and their constituents. His past work has been integral in creating conservation subdivision design standards for local governments, instituting an asset management program within the Michigan Department of Transportation, advancing regional governance opportunities and securing more than $55 million in increased funding for mass transit in the state. Conan also serves as a Washtenaw County Commissioner representing the City of Ann Arbor, a position he's held since 2004. In his time at the Suburbs Alliance, he has transformed the organization. Perhaps his most impressive accomplishment is the Lego building he recently architected - all by himself, might I add. However, his white board drawings have given new life to our office space, and undoubtedly take a close second.

Conan was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan where he lives today with his new wife, Rebekah Warren. He is heavily involved in community activities: the Sierra Club, the NAACP, the ACLU and the Public Interest Research Group in Michigan. Conan attended the Residential College at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, where he earned a B.A. in Creative Writing and Literature. With his combination of professional, personal and educational qualifications, Conan is the ideal leader of the Suburbs Alliance and a role model for its employees. It is his habit of picking up the lunch tab, however, that has secured his popularity with the staff.

 

 

Melanie Piana, PMP

Associate Director

Melanie - known as Mel by friends and coworkers - came to the Suburbs Alliance in March 2004. In addition to overseeing all Suburbs Alliance activities, she leads the Redevelopment Ready Communities (RRC) program. Mel is a Project Management Professional, certified by the internationally recognized Project Management Institute. She recently put another notch in her belt with her completion of the Master of Urban Planning program at Wayne State University. Mel earned her bachelor's in German and Communications from Albion College. Before crossing over to the nonprofit world, Mel worked at Ross Roy/BBDO Detroit and Organic, Inc., two advertising and marketing agencies that service DaimlerChrysler. She lives in Ferndale where she volunteers for the Downtown Development Authority and is an appointed member of the Board of Zoning Appeals.

Mel dabbles every summer in sprint triathlons, even though she dislikes running, and for the last five years, she and her husband have participated in the Zoo-De-Mac, a 52 mile bike ride through northern lower Michigan.  Mel intends to build a dream home applying modern design and green build principles, but she's waiting to win the lottery before she begins.  In the meantime, she will continue to visit as many foreign places as possible.

 

 

Brittany Galisdorfer

Program Coordinator


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Brittany joined the Michigan Suburbs Alliance as a Program Coordinator in May 2005 after working as an intern the previous summer. Known by reputation as the "math wiz," Brittany is the brains behind our financial operations. She graduated from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor with a bachelor's degree in Mathematics and a minor in Spanish. While in college, Brittany dedicated herself to The Detroit Project, a student organization that works to create change through service learning in Detroit. She also does "Little Women" one better by being the second oldest of five girls.

Here at the Suburbs Alliance, we recognize Brittany as a certified health nut. Her business alone could keep Whole Foods out of the red. She's also a running fanatic and member of the Downtown Runners, a weekly running club in Detroit. Detroit happens to be Brittany's new hometown; after living the nomadic life (15 houses in 11 cities in Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin, Indiana, Maryland and - finally - Michigan), she and her fiancée are enjoying the downtown life with their kittens, Livernois and Vernor.

Outside of the health arena, Brittany exhibits relentless attention to detail that some would term "perfectionism." We, however, consider her borderline crazy.

 

 

Luke Forrest

Public Policy Director


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Luke has been with the Suburbs Alliance since May 2006, contributing his public policy and urban planning expertise to the UniverCities Connection project and our policy work. The past year was an exciting one for Luke. He got married in August and just bought an adorable house in Ferndale. To top it all off, after graduating from the University of Michigan with a master's degree in Urban Planning and a graduate certificate in Real Estate Development, he became our Public Policy Director.

Name something and it is likely that Luke has been there, done that.  Serving as a legislative staffer in the U.S. Congress. . . selling music at Encore Recordings in Ann Arbor. . . managing federal relations as Assistant Director of the National Association of State Universities & Land-Grant Colleges . . . starring as the Tin Man in Beulah High School’s production of the Wizard of Oz. . . Luke also got to see the inner workings of one of our member cities first-hand when he interned for the City Manager’s Office of Ypsilanti. All the while he wrote about everything from real estate trends to music as a freelance journalist, one of his life-long goals. Two others were working in a great record store and having his own radio show. Having accomplished these goals before graduating from college, Luke decided to give government a try and here he is!

 

 

Anna Clark

Communications Coordinator

Anna Clark grew up in St. Joseph, MI, a small town she’ll happily point to on her left palm. She graduated from the Residential College at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor with degrees in Creative Writing & Literature and Art History, as well as—why not?—a minor in Crime and Justice. Anna facilitated workshops in Michigan prisons and detention centers through the Prison Creative Arts Project and The Portfolio Project while she lived in Ann Arbor. She went on to be a live-in community member at Haley House, a Boston-based social justice nonprofit where she worked with people who were homeless and low-income. Her last months in Boston were spent with The Center for New Words, a feisty nonprofit that creates "spaces and places where women's words matter." In January, 2007, she earned her walking stick (no, really; a hand-carved walking stick) from Warren Wilson College's Master of Fine Arts Program for Writers in Asheville, NC, where she was a fiction student.

Besides being the go-to gal for Suburbs Alliance communications, Anna is a freelance journalist, fiction writer, and blogs at her literary and social justice website, Isak. She’s also a reader, a knitter, a fan of Detroit sports, and a lover of kayaking. She’s habitually barefoot and laughs entirely too loudly at her own jokes. And she’s the queen of writing about herself in the third person.

 

 

 

Toni Moceri

Strategic Development Coordinator

Here's what you need to know about Toni Moceri: she can fit the whole of the Suburbs Alliance in her minivan (actually it's her momma's). A native of Warren, Toni picked up her master's in Research from the London Consortium with a thesis that just happened to be about … ummm … Warren. It was then that she realized that although she was enjoying her European la la lifestyle, she might as well return home and embrace her nerdiness. While abroad, she also earned a post-grad certificate from the Bauhaus in Transnational Urbanism. Oh yes, and she also has a pair of degrees from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor in American Culture and Anthropology, with a minor in Spanish Language & Literature.

Toni has put her studies to practical use as a researcher for Shrinking Cities, based in Berlin, where she was one of the go-to Detroit specialists. True to her metro Detroit heritage, she even worked on the line making caddies and then later joined the Social Security Department at the United Autoworkers International Union to assist with benefits and policy matters. These days, she's deepening the possibilities of the Suburbs Alliance with her super savvy skills.

 

Sharon Carney

Special Project Director

Bio coming soon!

 

 

 

Tracy Lewis

Program Assistant

Tracy comes to us via California. She graduated in 1999 from Sacramento City College with an associate’s degree in Languages and Literature and Ethnic Studies, and in 2003 with a Sociology degree and International Studies minor from Wayne State University. Today she's a graduate student on her way to a master's degree in Public Administration from Wayne State.

Tracy's especially skilled in writing, creating and modifying procedure manuals, and executive and group presentations. She's put that expertise to good use in her work with Ferndale to research for Advisory Board and Continuing Education positions; develop departmental programming and policies regarding cable television; and draft an action plan based on the Council's goals for the City.

As if that weren't enough, the Ypsilanti DDA had the advantage of Tracy's talents as well. There, Tracy tracked public records, researched and advised on record-keeping, meeting minutes, and parliamentary procedure; clarified the roles of the DDA, the City and partner arts organizations as they collaborated on property maintenance and contractual responsibilties; and she investigated and drafted regulations on design, signage and the use of public spaces in the central business district. Tracy is also an excellent dancer.

 

 

Meet Our Interns

 

 

Lynn Evans-Rottman

Public Health Intern

New also to our outstanding group of interns is the next Iron Chef, Lynn Evan-Rottman. We were all a little excited (hungry, to be honest), when we discovered that our new Public Health Intern has cooked alongside Emeril Legasse and worked as assistant pastry chef for the local chain of Andiamo restaurants.

Lynn keeps balanced, however, through her experience as a dietician and health information manager. She's earned degrees from the Macomb Culinary Institute, Oakland Community College, Madonna University, and, if those weren’t enough, Lynn is currently working on her master's degree in Public Health Education at Benedictine University. Whew! She's certainly a woman with a vision. We just hope it includes bringing in some cookies to the Suburbs Alliance once in a while.

 

 

Latonya Mason

Human Resources Intern

Latonya knows southeast Michigan very well. She lives here: in Detroit these days. She was educated here: a leadership certificate from the University of Michigan; a Business Administration degree from Davenport University in Warren; her current coursework towards her master's degree in Human Resources from Central Michigan University in Warren. Latonya has worked here: more than a decade with Chrysler Corporation in Warren as an assembly line worker and a VIN number data entry operator, as well as her work at restaurants and stores in Harper Woods, Warren and Troy. And Latonya's been a leader in southeast Michigan: she's facilitated leadership training for groups of 40-50 people; supervised activies with cohorts of 15-20; and she's been trusted with work on fundamental paperwork and finances for her employers.

Latonya will offer her leadership skills to the Cities of Dearborn and Ferndale this summer as part of her human resources internship. At Ferndale, she's responsible for the research, development and compilation of policies and procedures for employee handbooks, including job descriptions, appointment guidelines, orientations and education plans. She will investigate best practices for employee training, development, appreciation and recognition.

Meanwhile, in Dearborn, Latonya will focus on supporting a regional municipal employee training consortium and building relationships among municipal leaders and community members.

 

 

Dan Merian


Redevelopment Intern

Dan Merian grew up in Milford, went to college in Alma, and is now making a home in Mt. Pleasant. But this summer, southeast Michigan will benefit of from the skills of this Central Michigan University master's student in Economics; Dan has signed on as a Suburbs Alliance Redevelopment Intern and will assist in facilitating the Redevelopment Ready Communities® program.

Dan is the treasurer of CMU's Economic Club, teaches undergraduates as a graduate assistant instructor, and tutors others in the field. But before grad school, Dan took two degrees from Alma College in Economics and Mathematics. At Alma, Dan played varsity baseball for four years, ultimately serving as the team's captain. He remains the assistant coach for his former team today. Dan's athletic interests have led him into the umpire gear for Milford's community baseball and softball league, to serve Milford's golfing community as a course technician, and to work as a weight room supervisor at Alma College.

 

Blerta Mileti

Community & Economic Development Intern

This Sterling Heights native is a junior at the James Madison College at Michigan State University. She's studying International Relations and English literature--a nice balance for this language-savvy bilingual woman (English/Albanian) who is rapidly moving towards trilingual (French). Blerta has also stepped onto theater stages, written and copyedited her school newspaper, and loves to read and knit

This summer, Blerta's looking to deepen her understanding of community development. At the City of Highland Park, she's tapped to review and design site plans; craft a strategy for retaining and attracting businesses; and support the ciy's housing rehabilitation, commercial development and Cities of Promise initiatives. Her local work is amplified by a regional perspective, as Blerta digs into local news media at the Suburbs Alliance. In this half of her placement, she's responsible for staying up-to-date with print and online publications; pulling out and passing on clips that serve the Suburbs Alliance's projects; designing a news archiving system for the Suburbs Alliance; generating ideas for how the Suburbs Alliance and member communities can increasingly participate in the public conversation; and supporting relationships between the Suburbs Alliance and local reporters.

 

 

Patrick Niebrzydowski

Design Intern

As an honors student at Michigan State University, Patrick has his arms wide open. He's on his way to two degrees: one in Advertising, the other in Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media. He's thrown in a specialized concentration in digital media art and technology. Patrick's practical experience has come recently as the co-director of advertising with the Student Alumni Foundation. There, he designs, develops and distributes materials for the university's largest student organizaiton. As well, he plans events and leads campus tours for prospective students. Patrick is also the assistant director of Merchant Maniacs, which designs shirts and logos for the student fans of the women's basketball team. For the past few summers, he's applied his 3D animation skills to the U.S. Army Tank and Automotive Command in Warren.

Patrick's design internship this summer will be spent focusing on developing the Suburbs Alliance's brand. He'll create innovative products and draft a business plan to generate a new revenue stream through the sales of those products. It's a job that calls for ingenuity and initiative, and we've no doubt that Patrick's up to the task.

 

 

Chidinma Ogbuaku

Communications Intern

Chidinma is a journalism student at Wayne State University. She's sharpening her newshound skills by writing profiles, features, news articles, arts stories and snapping photos for the campus newspaper, The South End. Chidinma also gets her voice out there as a member of the Detroit World Outreach Adult Choir and the Wayne African Student Society. As a former marketing intern with Comcast, Chidinma traveled around southeast Michigan, interacting with locals and growing to know communities.

She'll have ample opportunity to apply those communications skills as she serves the City of Highland Park by researching services, completing needs assesments, crafting communications and implementing collaborations with the city's block clubs. At the Suburbs Alliance half of her placement, Chidinma will audit and evaluate our contact database and other communications tools. She'll interview staff members on our needs and challenges, while researching cost-effective and innovative ways to improve our systems (to say nothing of staff happiness ...).

 

 

Stephanie Smith

Summer Fellow

In a rather unusual arrangment, Stephanie is working with the Michigan Suburbs Alliance as a summer fellow, courtesy of the University of Michigan's Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program. Her nearly full-time position is committed to planning the Suburbs Alliance's upcoming Mayors & Managers Policy Forum on millenials in our local cities. She'll also support our upcoming Millenials & Mayors Congress, an innovative regional leadership model that is marked by intergenerational action.

Stephanie is a native of Royal Oak. At the University of Michigan, she's majoring in Russian Languages & Literature and Political Science. She directs the International Relations Center of the Roosevelt Institute, a student-run think tank. In that role, she supervises research that leads to effective public policy, facilitates planning and events and pushes her own thinking forward by writing about policy for The Roosevelt Vanguard. Stephanie has also worked as a life guard and swimming instructor at the South Oakland Family YMCA.

 

 

Paul Spurgeon

Legal Intern

Paul is a law student at Case Western Reserve University, heading into this final year this fall. He is the Mock Trial Team's Vice President and has trained in applications of The Federal Rules of Evidence. This runner who calls marathon running his "hobby" was raised in Royal Oak is also a University of Michigan graduate. As a Wolverine, he studied political science, served as a resident advisor and was elected to the Michigan Student Assembly, where he chaired the Budget Priorities Committee. Paul's work experience has led him into the Washington D.C. Public Schools Office of Human Resources; Royal Oak's Common Ground Sanctuary; the University of Michigan Residential Dining Services; and Rep. Sander Levin's congressional office.

As a Legal intern placed in the City of Highland Park, Paul is responsible for updating the community's codes and ordinances in ways that improve quality of life, management and enforcement. He'll review the code for compliance with existing city practices and state law, eliminate antiquated language and ensure that the city has the laws needed to address local issues. As part of his work, Paul will interview city officials and staff to identify how codes can be best updated. He'll also make recommendations for what ordinances should be amended, repealed or adopted.

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