As Managing Director for Gensler’s San Francisco office, Hao leads with design and is focused on building a dynamic practice through an open and collaborative culture. An inquisitive architect by nature, he is passionate about transforming experiences based on a deep understanding through research, the craft of technical excellence and a rigor of intellectual thought, all while striving to design beautiful places that impact people for the better. Working with diverse and talented teams, Hao’s projects such as The Tower at PNC Plaza, NVIDIA Headquarters, and Mercedes-Benz USA Headquarters have elevated the firm’s national and international profile and are well known for their high level of innovation and quality. Hao serves as a member of Gensler’s Board of Directors. He is an alumnus of UC Berkeley, where he graduated with Highest Honors, and the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

Michael is an enterprise-level Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Operations and Maintenance (AECO) technology consultant with more than 25 years of experience in integrating technology into the planning, design, construction and operations and maintenance process of buildings and infrastructure.

As Principal and CEO, Michael oversees all aspects of Microdesk’s sales, marketing, consulting and software development operations. He has been instrumental in developing technology plans and implementation strategies for organizations and government agencies throughout the United States and Europe. A sought after thought leader within AECO, Michael has participated in numerous industry events and panel discussions presented by Autodesk, Bisnow, and BuiltWorlds. His published commentaries on technology, sustainability and urbanization appear in business and trade publications. His experience and knowledge of the industry has led to interviews on a major regional cable network and popular industry podcasts.

As Founder of AlfaTech, Jeff has over 35 years of experience in the engineering design,

development, and execution of projects worldwide for numerous high profile and

Fortune 500 firms. Jeff has successfully grown the firm to three highly successful offices

in California, and now has resources through 55 additional offices across Europe, Asia,

the Middle East, Latin America and Africa. Through Jeff’s efforts and his ability to build

strong and lasting client relationships, the firm has worked on some of the most

innovative and creative projects for firms such as Uber, LinkedIn, Okta, ADI, AirBnB,

Kaiser, Stanford, and Genentech. The firm is presently involved in the highly visible

Lucas Museum in Los Angeles, and additionally, through Jeff’s efforts, AlfaTech has

become a known leader in the Data Center industry, providing engineering and

technology services for data centers around the globe. Jeff has been recognized

through CoreNet as Service Provider of the Year through the Northern California

Chapter.

Mr. Hutchens’s role at AvalonBay Communities involves leading a Safety team which provides support across the entire business enterprise, from community construction to residential operations, engineering and maintenance to property redevelopment. His recent efforts at AvalonBay resulted in a highly successful safety culture change implementation. Built on the concept of “Safety Performance as a Leadership Challenge” to drive culture change, the Incident and Injury Free approach resulted in significant improvement in both injury reduction and safety perception. His work in support of new safety technology led to the development of the firm’s innovative Fire Elimination program, awarded the International Risk Management Institute’s Horizon Award for Innovation. Prior to AvalonBay Communities, Mr. Hutchens led safety teams for Turner Construction’s business units in New York City; supported the US Army Corps of Engineers during Base Realignment and Closure contracts, including renovation of the Pentagon. Mr. Hutchens led safety and health programs for a startup company focused on small-business contracts in the United States and the United Kingdom. Mr. Hutchens began his work in safety and health during his service in the US Navy’s Submarine service.

Through hard work and diligence, my objective is to learn every day, improve every day, help build lasting business relationships, add value and help others be successful in their businesses and careers. Work in commercial real estate in a position that offers the challenge to develop, acquire, operate, maintain, repair, modernize and improve the sustainable areas of the built environment. Provide long range value through thoughtful planning, implementation and execution of the day’s work. Employers deserve this level of commitment from their investment in its employee's, and it is what makes companies fundamentally succeed. Your work should be your resume and it should speak to the success of the business as well.

Specialties: I have extensive experience in facility operations, maintenance, repair and construction as well as operating & capital improvement projects, bidding and execution of construction projects. I have performed multiple due diligence exercises for acquisition and disposition. I have an eye on sustainability and the USGBC LEED goals and objectives, processes and projects. I also have experience in labor negotiations and contracts.

Experienced real estate design & construction and workplace leader. Adept at aligning real estate strategies and delivery with business objectives. Navigate all phases of a business life cycle from hypergrowth to operational efficiency. Over 20+ years of experience leading, building & inspiring successful teams to deliver results/projects across the world. From world class offices and workspaces, biotech research and labs and academic learning environments to site selection and large scale site development. My unique capabilities is the deep real estate, design and construction expertise with a proven track record of aligning it to business outcomes. With solutions that consider the short-term and long-term risks and opportunities, with on-time delivery and efficient capital management. Focused on finding the intersection of business strategy, people and culture, I’m passionate about creating innovative and sustainable solutions that foster productivity, collaboration, and employee well-being.

Sara Neff is a Partner and General Manager of Sustainability for Microsoft's Cloud Operations + Innovation team.

Prior to joining Microsoft, she was Head of Sustainability, Lendlease Americas, where she provided leadership and management oversight in developing, implementing and driving Lendlease's corporate sustainability framework in the Americas region.

Prior to that role, she served as Senior Vice President, Sustainability at Kilroy Realty Corporation. Under her leadership, Kilroy was recognized as a leader among publicly traded real estate companies on sustainability in the Americas by GRESB for seven of the last eight years as well as being recognized by NAREIT, and achieved carbon neutral operations at the end of 2020. She is a LEED Fellow and holds a BS from Stanford and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Susan is Vice President and Executive Principal at DES Architects + Engineers, where she leads the Life Sciences team. As an architect, she has had great fun designing over 1.5M square feet of life sciences space in the past few years. Her portfolio spans a wide range of clients from fast-growing startups and large biopharmaceutical campuses to developers and healthcare providers. Her insight comes from the wide range of project types she has led through programming, design, entitlements, and construction. Examples include: Scribe Therapeutics in Alameda, Guardant Health in Redwood City, Gilead Sciences in Foster City, and Menlo Park Labs for Tarlton Properties. She is an ardent advocate for her clients and for the betterment of the communities in which she works. Together with the DES leadership team, she sets the firm’s strategic direction and has been instrumental in DES becoming one of the largest and most influential architecture firms in Northern California.

A graduate of Cornell University, Susan has served on the Dean’s Advisory Council for Cornell’s College of Art, Architecture, and Planning. She has served on the Board of Directors for AIA San Mateo County and as a member of the City of Palo Alto’s Architectural Review Board. Susan is also a member of the International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineers (ISPE).

Working at the intersection of botany, architecture, interior design and urbanism, David has applied his passion for plants to a growing list of innovative projects, building a broad variety of modern, human-centric spaces with abundant plant life at their heart.

David is a pioneer in the field of vertical gardens. He holds a degree in Environmental Horticulture Sciences from California Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo. He credits his time spent studying at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, London, with setting him on the path to living wall design. It was at Kew that he came to appreciate the beauty of epiphytic plants – those which have naturally evolved to grow vertically on trees.

David sees his work as an integral part of a public shift in consciousness towards a renewed desire for closeness with nature and an appreciation of the restorative effect of plants, especially in urban environments. For David, designing living walls affords the chance not only to promote awareness of native and endangered plant species but also to have a direct impact on quality of life.

As director of architecture for Clark Pacific, Mickey oversees all aspects of design and delivery on parking structures where he is the Architect of Record. Mickey’s experience in corporate campus architecture includes mixed-use developments, large scale industrial parks, regional shopping centers and parking structures contributes to the overall design strength of Clark Pacific’s team.

Mickey is part of an integrated, collaborative team at Clark Pacific that includes in-house architects, engineers, builders, and prefabrication

specialists who collectively bring owners a new choice in parking structure construction: Design-Manufacture-Build. With his extensive background in commercial development, design and project delivery, Mickey helps lead Clark Pacific’s integrated drive to deliver projects for owners that bring greater cost, schedule, and scope certainty than any other approach.

Serving as Managing Partner of The Agency Development Group (TADG), Mike Leipart guides developers of luxury properties worldwide through every stage of the development process, providing everything from pre-construction design input to sales operation oversight. He played an instrumental role in The Agency becoming the only West Coast-based organization to combine the knowledge and experience of a residential real estate brokerage with the expertise of a dedicated development marketing and strategic sales planning team.

Under Mike’s direction, The Agency sold out more than 200 residences for a total of $375 million at The Ritz-Carlton Residences at L.A. LIVE. The average price per square foot traded at a 99% premium over comparable condominium real estate in the local market. The highly targeted marketing and sales strategy attracted foreign, national, and local buyers and led the revival of the luxury residential condominium market in Downtown Los Angeles.

Mike also directed sales and marketing strategy for The Carlyle Residences, built by renowned New York-based developer, Elad Group. Within three months of taking over, The Agency increased absorption from an average of ½ sales per month to 5 sales per month while achieving higher pricing premiums on every new transaction, averaging 10-18% increases on comparable sales.

During his time at The Agency, Mike has collaborated with some of the world’s most prominent developers, including Starwood, AEG, and JMA Ventures. In addition to managing TADG, Mike oversees all aspects of The Agency’s in-house creative marketing division, The Agency Creates, and is an integral part of the team approach The Agency brings to each listing it represents. He holds extensive experience in coordinating strategic partnerships with top construction, advertising, public relations, and interior design firms in the business.

Prior to joining The Agency, Mike served as Senior Vice President, National Marketing Director at ST Residential where he created the national brand strategy for ST and launched nearly 50 multi-family properties, a $5+ billion national portfolio.

Chris is the chief design strategist at EHA and brings to the practice over 20 years of diverse design management experience. Chris is responsible for developing design direction and implementation on most projects in the office. Born and raised in Hawaii, as a child he preferred drawing to surfing. As a military brat, his family moved around a lot, teaching him to adapt quickly. He was fascinated by the differences of each city, its people and its culture. His creativity is inspired by art, nature and a healthy curiosity for the unknown. When he's not in the studio, he enjoys traveling, biking and cooking for his wife and daughter. Chris earned his BArch degree from California Polytechnic San Luis Obispo.

Prior to establishing eHa, Chris was design director for two well established California firms planning and designing projects in Los Angeles, San Diego and the SF Bay Area.

Jeffrey Heller, FAIA is president and founder of Heller Manus Architects. Since its beginning in 1984, the firm has established a reputation for influencing architecture and urban design in the Bay Area, nationally and internationally.

Jeffrey’s experience covers a broad range of professional endeavors. He is a leader in the profession and green movement with some of the first sustainable architecture and large scale urban planning projects in the US and China, including the first LEED Gold office towers in the sister cities of San Francisco and Shanghai, the first LEED Platinum neighborhood development master plan, a sustainable/livable master plan for Guangzhou’s North and South Axes, a sustainable urban plan proposal for Shanghai’s Yangpu Waterfront, and a sustainable urban plan for the city expansion area of Ulanhot, Inner Mongolia. His work in China often now involves land use implications for high speed rail.

Jeffrey is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. He has been recipient of several awards and honors including AIA design awards and various professional organizations’ awards. He is particularly proud of receiving the National AIA Honor Award, ‘Citation for Excellence in Urban Design’. He has been guest lecturer and speaker at various academic and professional venues for more than 20 years.

Prior to forming Heller Manus Architects, Jeffrey held various roles at well-known architecture firms including SOM, Gensler, and at KMD where he was partner.

Ryan Ware is co-founder and vice president of construction for Vantis, one of the largest commercial interior construction firms in Northern California. He is an expert in off-site construction modes and methods, including prefab, volumetric, panelized and precast construction; “lean” design and construction; and alternative contract delivery methods that optimize skilled trades labor. Vantis specializes in off-site construction as part of its design-build service. Vantis integrates pre- construction planning, off-site fabrication and multi-trade subcontractors to deliver custom interior spaces that are flexible and optimized for peak performance on Day 2 and Day 222. Vantis clients are general contractors and space occupiers in the corporate, technology, healthcare and education sectors. Representative GC clients: Devcon, DPR, Novo, Swinerton, XL. Representative corporate, technology, healthcare and education clients: Cisco, Silicon Labs, Stanford, Sutter Health, Symantec, UC Berkeley, Veterans Administration.

Perry is a Principal at HGA Architects and Engineers. With over 25 years of experience executing

workplace projects from start to finish, he has worn many hats including project executive, project

manager, and design team lead. Perry is driven by the challenge of developing new workspaces that

implement design as an experience. He continually draws on his experience and in-depth knowledge of

workplace to deliver exceptional projects for his clients, which include major Silicon Valley companies,

startups, and established iconic organizations. He has worked on a number of award-winning workplace

interior projects throughout his career. Perry grew up in Texas and has a Bachelor of Science from the

University of North Texas. In his spare time, Perry is an avid motorcyclist who has ridden all throughout

the state of California.

Peter approaches architecture through the prism of fine art. He studied sculpture and painting at the California College of the Arts, and ultimately turned his interest in carpentry into a business. While running his business, it dawned on Peter that architecture brought together his love of building and aesthetic enterprise, so he returned to school to earn his architecture degree.

Peter brings his love of art and building to all of his work. He believes that great architecture lifts the spirits of its inhabitants and that each new project presents an opportunity to learn. Never tiring of the process, Peter is always amazed by how much there is to discover and how much that can inform decisions about the design.

A San Francisco native, Peter spends every Saturday cycling with a group of local designers and developers. He views cycling as an extension of his passion for green architecture – it’s an energy-efficient way of experiencing the world.

Clarence D. Mamuyac, Jr., FAIA, LEED AP BD+C, is President and CEO of ELS, which he joined in 1983. As

a leading voice on design practices for community-focused projects in wellness, recreation and

education, Clarence is known for working closely with clients on the development of outreach and

consensus-building efforts that lead to robust design solutions. Clarence has spoken at conferences and

in the media on topics in campus and sports design. A Fellow of the AIA and a past president of AIA East

Bay, he is also a past board member of AIA California. He chaired the Dean's Advisory Council at UC

Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design, from which he received a Master’s in Architecture with

distinction and an undergraduate degree with majors in Architecture and Landscape Architecture.

Cass Calder Smith established the architectural firm that bears his name in 1990. Born in 1961, Smith earned his Bachelor and Master of Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley. A native of New York City, he has lived in California since 1972 and now splits his time between both coasts. As the son of an Academy-Award winning filmmaker and a California landscape painter and designer, his early years were influenced by both Greenwich Village intellectuals and rural California artisans.

Smith is recognized internationally for his architectural and interior design projects. Firmly based in the modernist idiom, Smith draws inspiration from history’s great architects and cities as well as the epic filmmakers of the last century. Bold imagery and intricate detail are characteristic of his designs balanced with experience and common sense.

Smith teaches at UC Berkeley, chaired the Civic Design Review Committee on The San Francisco Arts Commission for 8 years, and is a Trustee on the Board for the Djerassi Residents Artists Program. He and his work have won numerous awards and have been recognized in The New York Times, Architectural Record, Metropolitan Home, Metropolis, Dwell, Interior Design and Abitare, among others.

With 25 years of experience in luxury hotel, commercial, and residential design, Anne Wilkinson brings an unparalleled amount of knowledge to each new project. A New York native, Anne earned her Design degree from Cornell University, alongside interests in theatrical lighting, classical and modern dance. Named Principal of BAMO in 2017, Anne has contributed to the growth and success of the firm since its inception.

Working around the globe in vibrant, cosmopolitan destinations, Anne intuitively envisions settings that speak to the destination, culture, client, and user. Her strong understanding of the complexities of design for both public and private space allow her to develop creative and innovative solutions that improve the overall experience and add to the client’s success. Anne infuses a marked sense of style and place into her elegant and cohesive designs.

David Bogstad has been developing innovative solutions for a wide variety of projects for over 30 years, many with intricate and complex programs. David’s strong belief that collaboration brings about superior buildings begins with qualified teams of experienced consultants and extends to his work with government agencies. His passion for design, fine detail and constructability, together with his natural ability to motivate and energize the team, has resulted in the successful completion of a large portfolio of significant projects.

A graduate of Cal Poly University, San Luis Obispo, David formed McCullough Landscape Architecture as a sole proprietorship in 1999 while consulting for another firm. After wife and partner, Catherine joined the business in 2001 and became Chief Executive Officer and President in 2002; the firm became a woman-owned corporation and a certified Small Business by the State of California.

With offices in San Diego and the Bay Area, McCullough creates spaces for hospitality, retail, mixed-use and institutional properties around the world. As principal landscape architect, David oversees all aspects of the design and production of firm projects at McCullough. He serves as head designer on all projects and maintains quality control on all work completed. Previous projects have earned awards and recognition in several national publications.

David finds time in his schedule to take leadership in creative organizations such as the the San Diego Architecture Foundation (SDAF) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) local Urban Design Committee. He currently serves as Chair of the Pecha Kucha Night program, which is on its sixth successful year. He finds it inspiring to take part in such a diverse mix of creative minds while bringing them together to share with the public their wild ideas.

In addition, recently David was appointed by San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer to serve on the Historical Resources Board as Chair, which governs the identification, protection, retention and preservation of historical sites in San Diego. Concurrently, he has been invited to serve on the city’s Code Monitoring Team (CMT).

David’s design philosophy is centered around merging context and creative passion with grit, soul, and style. The firm takes every project with a uniquely creative approach that centers around diversity, discovery and conservation. David feels it’s important to engage the human spirit with nature, while expressing empathy.

Recent projects include a large waterfront development in Shanghai, China, Seaport San Diego redevelopment, several multifamily projects in Calgary and Vancouver, along with other notable hospitality, entertainment, and mixed-use collaborations in the Western US and Canada.

WHA is a full-service land planning and architectural firm with offices in Orange County, Los Angeles &

the Bay Area. Jeremy Leach has been an instrumental member of WHA’s production studio for over 25

years, having co-founded the firm’s Northern California office in 1997. Collaboration with some of the

country’s most innovative and influential homebuilders has provided Jeremy with a unique insight

regarding residential design trends and what shapes the housing we design for today and for the future.

In addition to the management of SFD and Multi-Family Residential projects both large & small at WHA,

Jeremy takes an active role in the firms marketing efforts, as well as representing the firm’s membership

in the BIA Bay Area.