Michigan Suburns Alliance    Michigan Suburbs Alliance

About Us

Staff


Michigan Suburbs Alliance Consultants
  • Jamie LaTendresse Design
  • Walton Business Management Systems
  • Plante & Moran
  • Carlisle Wortman Associates
  • Don Gross


Interns

 

Conan Smith

Executive Director, Michigan Suburbs Alliance


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 grew up in Brighton, Michigan among corn fields and a spattering of small lakes. She led an adventurous childhood exploring the swamps and woods near her childhood home and has many stories about her idyllic days hunting for frogs. Mel's spirit of exploration led her to live in and travel to numerous international cities starting at the age of fourteen. These metropolises became her classroom on how other places function and helped shape her ideas about urban space. This understanding of both rural and urban communities gives her a unique perspective, which she continues to explore as the leader of Redevelopment Ready Communities®.

If Mel could, she would be a professional student. She earned a bachelor's degree in German and Communications from Albion College, a Master of Urban Planning degree from Wayne State University and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

Before crossing over to the nonprofit world, Mel worked at Ross Roy (now BBDO Detroit) and Organic, Inc., two print and interactive 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. In 2009, Mel was elected to the Ferndale City Council.

Fun Facts About Mel:

  • Easily mesmerized by process flowcharts
  • Randomly blurts out old college band cheers
  • Uses road maps as wrapping paper
  • Annually participates in the Zoo-De-Mack, a 52 mile bike ride through northern lower Michigan

     

 

Sharon Carney

Special Project Director

Sharon launched and leads the Millennial Mayors Congress, a regional partnership of city officials and young leaders who work to address regional challenges. She has been working with the Suburbs Alliance since 2005 in various capacities.

In 2009, Next American City tapped Sharon to join Next American Vanguard, a group of 30 young leaders from across the country who are working to improve American cities and foster a network of like-minded activists.

Previously, Sharon freelanced as a copywriter and communications strategist, helped women leaders develop self-help groups in rural India and wrote for the University of Michigan's College of Architecture and Urban Planning.

Sharon earned a B.A. in English Language and Literature from the University of Michigan.

 

 

Luke Forrest

Energy Office Program Director

Luke has been with the Suburbs Alliance since May 2006, contributing his public policy and urban planning expertise to all three of our program areas. This Ferndale resident graduated from the University of Michigan with a master's degree in urban planning and a graduate certificate in real estate development.

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 Benzie Central 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 in 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!

 

 

Brittany Galisdorfer

Program Director


Brittany joined the Michigan Suburbs Alliance as a program coordinator in May 2005 after working as an intern the previous summer. She graduated from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor with a bachelor's degree in mathematics and a minor in and is pursuing her master's degree in public policy at the Ford School. 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 husband are enjoying the downtown life with their cats, Livernois and Vernor. Brittany serves the community as an elected member of the Downtown Detroit Citizens District Council, which represents residents' interests on development proposals in the downtown area. Her math degree suits her well as a member of Central United Methodist Church's Finance Committee, the oldest Protestant church in Michigan. Additionally, Brittany serves as a non-voting Board member for Bridging Communities Inc, a Detroit nonprofit that assists the elderly in maintaining independent lives.

In all that she does, Brittany exhibits relentless attention to detail that some would term "perfectionism." We, however, consider her borderline crazy.

 



Interns


Christina Drane

Photographer

Christina Drane is a proud native of Cleveland, Ohio, but she's lived in Brownstown, MI, for the past two years. She's an enrollment counselor for the University of Phoenix in Southfield, where she works closely with military students. No doubt she can relate: Christina served in the United States Marine Corps for seven years, complete with two tours of duty in Iraq. She finished her career in the Marines as a Sergeant (E-5), and says she's "happy to have been part of the most elite and decorated branch of service." 

Christina calls herself a resource broker ("because I am the 'go-to' person for everything," she says), and loves reading and writing. She's married, has an eight-year-old stepson, and is a proud mother of a American Staffordshire Terrier (pitbull). She graduated from John Carroll University with a degree in physical education, concentrating in exercise science. She recently finished her MBA, with a concentration in human resources, from the University of Phoenix. She's now working on a second graduate degree--this one focused on adult education and training.

Christina's goal is to teach photography in a college while working as a professional photographer. She says that in her Suburbs Alliance internship, she wants to "gain practical, real-world experience that will help me to transition into a successful career in either the public or private sector, learn about the role that photography plays in strengthening regionalism and local governments, and learn about the use of photography in a nonprofit's marketing, publication design and brand development."

It's evident how lucky we are to have her on our team!

 





Susie Stec

Regional Energy Intern

Susie Stec is a Warren resident with a master's degree in urban planning (Wayne State University) and bachelor's degrees in anthropology and international development (McGill University). For five years, she served as program manager of the Eight Mile Boulevard Association, based in Detroit. In her role there, she served as a liaison to local businesses, residents and communities; facilitated partnerships between thirteen cities, three counties and the Michigan Department of Transportation; and created and implemented a corridor-wide facade improvement program ... among many other tasks. In other lives, Stec worked as a bookseller in Brighton and a ropes course leader in Howell.

While working at the Energy Office, she will be working on several outstanding grant opportunities for the region:

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