Meet our Plenary Speakers!
Meet our Plenary Speakers! Thursday, March 1, 2018 Secretary Neal Rackleff Mr. Rackleff was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 3, 2017, to serve as Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD). Prior to assuming his current role as Assistant Secretary with HUD, Mr. Rackleff was a Partner at Locke Lord, a nationally recognized law firm, where he focused his practice on community and economic development, affordable housing, and inner‐city revitalization. Prior to his tenure with Locke Lord, he previously served as Director of the City of Houston's Housing and Community Development Department. During his Houston tenure, the Department financed production of approximately 10,000 high‐quality affordable multifamily housing units and assisted 1,700 single‐family homeowners with reconstruction of hurricane‐ damaged homes, financial assistance to low‐income homebuyers and emergency home repairs to ameliorate health and safety issues. Additionally, during this period, Houston became the first major city to effectively end Veterans’ homelessness, while chronic homelessness declined over 70%. Key revitalization projects Mr. Rackleff led include developing a grocery store in a food desert and the historic preservation and conversion of a blighted office building into the new JW Marriott Houston Downtown hotel. Mr. Rackleff graduated cum laude from Brigham Young University and received his law degree from the University of Southern California.
Sean Baker Sean Baker is a writer/director known for the Spirit Award nominated films Take Out (2004), Prince of Broadway (2008) and Starlet (2012) (winner of the Robert Altman Spirit Award). His film Tangerine (2015) premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and will be released by Magnolia Pictures in the United States. His latest film, The Florida Project (2017) received an Academy Awards nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He is also one of the creators of the long running comedy television show entitled Greg the Bunny (2005) and its spin-off Warren the Ape (2010).
Rafael López Mr. Rafael López has been Managing Director of Health & Public Service Practice at Accenture plc since May 2017. Mr. López works across Accenture's child support, child welfare, public assistance and public health practices to shape strategy and identify, develop and deploy offerings, focusing on helping government, education and nonprofit organizations leverage technology and innovation to improve services and mission effectiveness. He joined Accenture from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where he served as the Commissioner of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families. Prior to joining HHS in 2015, he served as a Senior Policy Advisor at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Executive Office of the President and with the Domestic Policy Council. Before that, he was an Associate Director at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a private national philanthropy devoted to improving the educational, economic, social and health outcomes for at-risk children. Earlier in his career he served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Family League of Baltimore City, Inc., where he was a Member of the Baltimore City Mayor’s Cabinet; as Executive Director of the City of Los Angeles Commission for Children, Youth and Their Families; as Deputy Director of the City and County of San Francisco Department of Children, Youth & Their Families; and as Senior Deputy for Health and Human Services for Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina. Mr. López has worked closely with community-based organizations as a volunteer, manager, executive, board member and founder and was a fellow at Stanford University’s Center for Social Innovation at the Graduate School of Business Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders. Mr. López is an alumnus of Vassar College, the University of California Santa Cruz and Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Sean Baker Sean Baker is a writer/director known for the Spirit Award nominated films Take Out (2004), Prince of Broadway (2008) and Starlet (2012) (winner of the Robert Altman Spirit Award). His film Tangerine (2015) premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and will be released by Magnolia Pictures in the United States. His latest film, The Florida Project (2017) received an Academy Awards nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He is also one of the creators of the long running comedy television show entitled Greg the Bunny (2005) and its spin-off Warren the Ape (2010).
Rafael López Mr. Rafael López has been Managing Director of Health & Public Service Practice at Accenture plc since May 2017. Mr. López works across Accenture's child support, child welfare, public assistance and public health practices to shape strategy and identify, develop and deploy offerings, focusing on helping government, education and nonprofit organizations leverage technology and innovation to improve services and mission effectiveness. He joined Accenture from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where he served as the Commissioner of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families. Prior to joining HHS in 2015, he served as a Senior Policy Advisor at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Executive Office of the President and with the Domestic Policy Council. Before that, he was an Associate Director at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a private national philanthropy devoted to improving the educational, economic, social and health outcomes for at-risk children. Earlier in his career he served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Family League of Baltimore City, Inc., where he was a Member of the Baltimore City Mayor’s Cabinet; as Executive Director of the City of Los Angeles Commission for Children, Youth and Their Families; as Deputy Director of the City and County of San Francisco Department of Children, Youth & Their Families; and as Senior Deputy for Health and Human Services for Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina. Mr. López has worked closely with community-based organizations as a volunteer, manager, executive, board member and founder and was a fellow at Stanford University’s Center for Social Innovation at the Graduate School of Business Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders. Mr. López is an alumnus of Vassar College, the University of California Santa Cruz and Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
