Sam Moeller

Join us for an Educational Webinar on Digital Equity and Opportunity Collaborative Funding Design 

HR&A and Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc. (MHM) are hosting an educational webinar on July 19, 12 PM Central (10aPT / 1pET) focused on bridging the gap between digital equity and opportunity grant-makers and grant-seekers. Register today!

 

We’ll share best practices from MHM’s approach to designing its $21 million digital equity grant program with an emphasis on capacity building and ecosystem development. We’ll also discuss the importance of designing digital equity and opportunity programs towards outcomes like health access and workforce development, shedding light on how organizations can expand their impact beyond just getting people online.

 

Helping to Make the Most of a Pivotal Year

2024 marks a pivotal year for digital equity funding, with billions of dollars from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act beginning to flow to implementation partners. States, local and tribal governments, nonprofits, anchor institutions, philanthropies, and private sector partners all have roles to play in allocating funds, pursuing funds, or both.

 

Our discussion will cover:

  1. How to design a grant program that supports grantee capacity building and long-term success;
  2. Designing for integration into a strong digital equity and opportunity ecosystem
  3. How to prioritize and communicate the outcomes of digital equity programming (e.g. improved health outcomes) to bring a diverse group of funders and grantees to the table;
  4. Tactical grant-making lessons learned so far.

A Conversation with Susy Vaca, HR&A’s New Chief People and Culture Officer

In this conversation with our Chief People and Culture Officer, we discuss the “secret sauce” for building a strong culture, our commitment to Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and what makes a great mentor.

 

Can you talk a little bit about your background and what brought you to HR&A?

 

I’ve spent 20 years in human resources, primarily as a business partner in professional services firms. That includes all things onboarding, performance management, compensation, offboarding, and everything in between — and there’s so much in between!

 

I gravitate towards being purposeful and intentional regarding things like engagement, retention, aligning mission and purpose with the employee experience. Post COVID, many experienced professionals — myself included — did a lot of reflection about how we spend our days at work. In many ways, work identifies who you are and what you value.

 

It’s important to ensure the time you spend in your professional life is value accretive to your overall growth as a person. When I found the opportunity at HR&A, it seemed like a complete slam dunk. The work HR&A does in the world and our mission to improve people’s lives really resonated with me. I’m excited to be part of it.

 

 

What is the “secret sauce” for managing people and creating a strong culture in an organization?

 

Throughout my years doing this work, I’ve really enjoyed learning the business and figuring out how we best align talent strategies to help execute business goals. What’s always resonated with me is when I’m working with leaders who think of people first. Once you have that at the center, people have what they need to be successful and feel supported in their advancement and growth. Everything else follows.

 

For me, optimal culture is one where people feel cared for, appreciated, valued, and aligned in purpose in their roles. Who doesn’t like to feel appreciated? Who doesn’t like to feel cared for? When you’re operating from that place, everything can be accomplished with grace and appreciation along the way. It sounds simple, right? But, of course it isn’t — you need to bring intention to the work and make sure you’re dealing with things that get in the way.

 

HR&A has made significant investments in integrating Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ADEI) into everything we do. How are you hoping to continue that work?

 

My role is uniquely positioned to focus on both people and culture, and the company continues to embed ADEI into everything it does, which speaks volumes about HR&A’s unwavering commitment to ADEI.  As a HR leader and first-generation Latina, I’m especially invested in continuing to build a company that reflects the communities we serve and welcomes everyone to bring their authentic self to work. It’s also so important for folks internally to feel supported and look around to see themselves reflected in their colleagues.

 

There’s a lot of work that continues to need to be done, and it’s a priority in this next chapter for the firm. I’m looking forward to continuing to advance our ADEI investments and committments. It’s not only an important part of our culture, but also a value we bring to our clients that differentiates us.

 

 

What makes an excellent mentor?

 

A mentor is someone you can have a very thought-provoking conversation with you about how to move the needle on something important  — and that means different things to different people. My mentors have either been HR leaders who I’ve worked with tackling employee or culture problems in creative ways or business leaders who are incredibly savvy and understand the value of investing in people. I’ve been able to learn from both kinds of mentors and they were excellent in different ways.

 

Having a range of mentors, sponsors, allies, and other kinds of support throughout your career is so important. The more you have people around you — your community, inside and outside of where you’re working — the more you’ll grow as a professional.

 

Looking to the future, how do you see emerging technologies like AI and new ways of working impacting our workforce?

 

When we’re thinking about integrating new tools or emerging technologies, our guiding principle should always be: how can they help our people thrive and do the work they love? It all comes down to ensuring that we’re an employer of choice. We want people to feel supported and aligned with their passions. We want them to feel like they are spending their time meaningfully and are growing professionally.

 

The work is the work, and the ways to get from A to Z will change based on technology and new processes, but what doesn’t change is the human experience of that work. In every room I enter, with every new tool or method we’re incorporating into how we do what we do, I’m thinking of the employee mindset. How does this impact an employee from their chair? If you center the human experience, the rest will fall into place.

 

Learn more about Susy. 

A Conversation with Desmond Hunte, HR&A’s New Chief Finance and Operations Officer

We sat down with HR&A’s new Chief Finance and Operations Officer to discuss the future of HR&A and the work he’s doing to support our growth to tackle even greater challenges in cities and communities across the globe.

 

Can you share a little bit about your background and what brought you to HR&A?

 

I started my career doing economic and business and strategy analysis for a bank that was focused on improving mortgages and lending for low- to moderate-income, first time, and minority homebuyers. As my career progressed, I worked for organizations like Wells Fargo; the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; and lobbying and consulting firm Michael Best Strategies. In many ways HR&A’s mission feels like a “full circle” moment.

 

HR&A presented a unique opportunity to connect my career experiences and my values. I want to work for a successful business that also has positive impact on the communities where we work and live.

 

 

What are you looking forward to in the next year as HR&A’s Chief Finance and Operations Officer?

 

As our finance and operations leader, my main goal is always to make things work seamlessly so the “experts can expert.” That’s really been my philosophy everywhere I’ve gone, whether it’s with bankers, policy experts, or government agencies around the world. It’s about creating an environment that allows the experts to focus on what they do best — producing excellent work for our clients and communities — by streamlining the stuff that can get in the way.

 

My team is focused on building systems so that our clients and project teams can maximize their impact. If I can save the organization 20 minutes a day, that’s 20 minutes more that we can serve as experts. Also, those 20 minutes spent more productively have a positive impact on our bottom line, our staff’s happiness at work, and the communities we serve. So, in a myriad of ways, I’m looking forward to building systems that amplify those results over the next year.

 

HR&A is company with an almost 50-year history, and with Jeff Hébert stepping into the role of CEO in early 2024, we’re embarking on a new chapter. As a core member of his Executive Leadership Team, what do you think are the opportunities and challenges facing a company like HR&A at a pivotal moments like this?      

 

HR&A is in a great position because our our  entrepreneurial spirit, and  committment to  tackling even bigger projects and challenges. With that in mind,  every company reaches a stage in its growth when you need to step back and evaluate the systems you have in place and how they will grow with you. No one in our industry matches HR&A in terms of the level of excellence in our client work, and I want to make sure the internal structure supporting that work mirrors that excellence and even raises the bar. It all comes back to streamlining how we do business to ensure our “experts can expert.”

 

HR&A has demonstrated that changing and adapting is part of its DNA. That’s a huge opportunity, because change is hard for most organizations. At HR&A, there’s an openness to evolving that will serve us well. In the end, everything we’re doing is with the goal of serving our clients and helping our employees be more efficient, productive, and happier at work.

 

 

How do you manage implementing change and growth without losing what makes a company like HR&A special?

 

I’ve been around a lot of professional services organizations in my career, and HR&A offers a uniquely customized, hands-on, and action-oriented approach to our work. We’re not just taking things off the shelf and reselling them to clients as something new for the sake of greater profit. No matter how much we grow, we can’t get away from the customized and committed way we deliver our work, because it’s what makes us special. I’m here to help make sure we can stay true to who we are while we grow to become even better.

 

Learn more about Desmond.

A Conversation with Eric Rothman, HR&A Partner and Board Co-Chair

 

We sat down with one of HR&A’s most senior leaders to reflect on the progress he oversaw as HR&A’s CEO and what made him decide to shift his focus from HR&A’s corporate management back to the project work that inspired him to join the company almost 30 years ago.

 

While you’ve had a long history working in the transit and economic development sectors, much of your focus in recent years has been on managing HR&A as its third CEO. Can you share how the company evolved under your leadership and what led to your decision to transition into your current role as a Partner and Co-Chair of the Board?

 

For several years, HR&A Advisors has been in a time of exciting and meaningful transition. Over the last year, I have worked very closely with Candace Damon and Jeff Hébert, with our Board, and with Partners to plan and implement a transition that resulted in Jeff becoming HR&A’s fourth CEO.

 

Back in the early 2000’s, when we were a scrappy firm of 20 brilliant professionals in New York and L.A., I served as President and a near full-time Partner leading projects that included PlaNYC 2030, real estate advisory work for the Port Authority and NJ Transit, a re-use plan for the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in DC, and many more. As the firm grew, I focused an increasing amount of my time on the internal business. This included transitioning into an employee-owned company and me becoming HR&A’s third CEO in 2019. We also expanded our capabilities to help our clients tackle the pressing issues facing cities, resulting in the growth of our climate, urban tech, inclusive cities/equitable governance, infrastructure, housing, and broadband and digital equity practices.

 

HR&A today is truly a world-class firm that serves clients and communities around the globe with an outstanding impact across 550+ projects last year.  We have also walked the walk that I shared with Partners in early 2020 shortly after becoming CEO — which was that we need to change our culture to attract and retain diverse and talented employees who are more representative of the communities we serve. And while there is still work to be done, we’ve made steady progress over the last four years due to the tremendous work of our company leadership and staff. As we shared in our recent 2023 ADEI Progress Report, our company is 47% BIPOC, and we were named a 2023 New York Urban League Champion for Recruitment, Retention, and Belonging.

 

While serving first as HR&A’s President and then CEO has been the greatest privilege of my professional life, in recent years, I’ve had less time available to work on the opportunities that originally attracted me to HR&A as a Senior Analyst in 1997. I’m ready to shift my focus back to the work and spend most of my time as an HR&A Partner, which I truly believe is the most attractive career choice for American urbanists.

 

 

In this “full circle” moment where you’re reconnecting with the project work that initially drew you to HR&A, what key themes continue to motivate you about transportation and economic development?

 

I think way back to when I was studying public policy in college, and I remember learning about the ways in which transportation infrastructure can positively and negatively impact people’s lives. I wanted to explore alternative models to traditional approaches to development, which have caused great harm to communities across the country, and that really launched a core theme of the work I’ve done throughout my career — with New York’s MTA, as Head of Business Planning for Transport for London (TfL), and of course with clients at HR&A.

 

While we’re in a time where there’s great appetite to do this work in new ways that can start to right past wrongs, I also know from experience that transportation infrastructure development takes time. In the eighties and nineties, I was looking at the anticipated economic impact of new rail transit systems like Washington’s WMATA, Atlanta’s MARTA, and Portland’s TriMET. Now 30 years later, those cities’ investments are coming to fruition, and you can see how the location of stations and the urban design around them has had a direct effect on where housing, offices, and amenities are located.

 

One of the projects that I worked on when I was at the New York MTA in the early Aughts was a multiagency planning effort called Access to the Regions Core, and a project that came out of that effort is what’s now called Grand Central Madison, which connects the Long Island Railroad to Grand Central. Grand Central Madison opened in early 2023—almost 20 years after I worked on the first stages! So, I want to be engaged in the next generation of transit infrastructure development now, so I can see these projects come life over the next few decades.

 

What do you think are the most exciting things happening in transit-oriented development, sustainable mobility, and economic development?

 

The pandemic and hybrid work have fundamentally changed commuting patterns, and I think public transit agencies and the cities and regions that support them are really grappling with that. Transit agencies have always been a subsidized model, but they were able to rely on fare revenue from commuters. In the post-COVID environment, we’re still far from a place where everybody is working five days a week in central cities, and most transit agencies are seeing ridership levels hovering somewhere around 70 – 90% of where they were before COVID.

 

That means the funding structures for transit have been disrupted. With that disruption, a lot of the work that we do at HR&A around transit-oriented development is becoming a more important piece of the puzzle than ever before. We’re helping transit agencies identify their surplus properties and understand what community assets could be built there — whether it’s housing, offices, retail, or even flex industrial spaces. These developments might help generate revenue and attract more riders to fill in funding gaps.

 

I’ve worked with some clients to evaluate the business case for making public transit services a free essential service, like fire stations or public schools. The climate implications are important to consider with this analysis, since mass transit is more environmentally friendly than single passenger gasoline powered cars.

 

 

We’ve talked a lot about the public sector, but how are developers navigating transit-oriented development in the post-pandemic world?

 

Developers are always looking to reduce risk, and one of the biggest risks they face in transit-oriented development is the time it takes to get something built. It’s important to minimize the red tape that slow things down. Having worked with both sides of public-private partnerships, we understand how to streamline the process, which is in the best interest of all involved. For example, when we work with transit agencies, we help establish ground rules for what kinds of uses they’ll accept for their development plans so developers know what’s possible. It’s also important for transit agencies to partner with their local cities to resolve issues about allowable density and design requirements.

 

When it comes to transit-oriented development in the post-pandemic world, one theme that’s really dominating the conversation with my developer clients is the housing crisis. HR&A has helped to identify a whole series of affordable housing strategies and solutions that can work for cities and regions overall, and we incorporate that thinking into transit-oriented development.

 

When thinking about diving back into this work, what gets you up in the morning, and what keeps you up at night?

 

I think what gets me up in the morning is the same thing that keeps me up at night: Climate change.

 

As the effects of climate change continue to collide with the inequities in our cities that were exacerbated by the pandemic, sustainable transit infrastructure is a critical piece of the puzzle. I’ve lived in metropolitan areas my entire life, so this work is not just my professional passion — it’s personal. I want to do my part to build vibrant, economically thriving, and healthy cities that will shape and support the lives of my children, my community, and the planet. I draw inspiration from one of the teachings of my faith, “If not now, when?” – and more than ever “now” feels like a critical time to apply the knowledge I’ve gained over the course of my career to help make it happen.

 

Learn more about Eric Rothman here.

“Office-to-Residential Conversion in San Francisco’s Changing Real Estate Market” Research for SPUR and ULI San Francisco

HR&A Advisors has been honored to contribute to a landmark study with SPUR, ULI San Francisco, and Gensler to investigate how stakeholders might shape the post-pandemic future of downtown San Francisco. We investigated the economics underlying office to residential conversion to help fuel downtown San Francisco’s post-pandemic recovery. With downtown office space sitting vacant, can residential conversion activate downtown and deliver on needed housing? What would it take to make that happen?

 

SPUR Shares “Office-to-Residential Conversion in San Francisco’s Changing Real Estate Market” Research 

“Flexible work has transformed San Francisco, changing how companies and employees use office space. Firms are reducing their physical footprint, and the decrease in people and activity downtown has negatively impacted small businesses, cultural institutions, and the hospitality industry. Downtown’s recovery is hindered by a lack of economic diversity and a shortage of workforce housing. Could converting vacant office space to residential use be a financially viable solution to both problems?

 

In a first-of-its-kind study, SPUR and ULI San Francisco, in partnership with Gensler and HR&A Advisors, explored not just the physical suitability of office buildings for redevelopment as housing, but also tested the financial feasibility of conversion projects under different economic conditions and policy scenarios. We published a summary of our findings in March 2023. A report presenting our full analysis and expanding on our findings will be released later this year.”

 

You can learn more about the study on SPUR’s website and access the Executive Summary of the report here.

 

Press Coverage

S.F.’s empty office space could hold 11,000 new homes — but only with City Hall’s help, report saysSan Francisco Chronicle (March 2023)

 

More than 10K residences could replace SF’s empty office towersThe Real Deal (March 2023)

 

Non Profit Equity Action Tea

Strengthening L.A.s’ Nonprofits for the Committee for Greater LA

HR&A was proud to support the Committee for Greater LA and partner with the Nonprofit Finance Fund to create “Resetting LA City to Meet Urgent Community Needs,” a report that outlines immediate actions the City can take to reduce unnecessary financial strain on the nonprofits it partners with to deliver critical services.

 

23% of all City of Los Angeles jobs are nonprofit jobs, and nonprofits are vital to the economic well-being of Los Angeles.

 

Nonprofits are critical to helping meet the needs of some of the city’s most vulnerable populations, including people experiencing homelessness. Unfortunately, too many nonprofits face barriers limiting their ability to deliver critical services to those most in need. BIPOC-led nonprofits face additional barriers, even though their cultural expertise is essential to reaching people most in need.

 

Resetting LA City to Meet Urgent Community Needs outlines immediate actions to overhaul how the City of Los Angeles works with nonprofits with the goal of eliminating unnecessary financial strains to the city’s nonprofit partners. The report reveals that nonprofits are unfairly burdened by cumbersome bureaucracy, delayed payments, and underpayments, impacting their ability to meet increased demands for social and supportive services.

 

Mayor Bass endorsed the recommendations in the report, saying ““The Committee for Greater L.A. is spot-on – Los Angeles nonprofits confront so many obstacles every day, but City bureaucracy should not be one of them.” 

 

Read more about the report findings on the Committee for Greater LA’s website here, and you can read the full report here.

 

Photo: Committee for Greater LA

Downtown DC Parks Master Plan Release

Congratulations to our client, the DowntownDC BID, on the release of the DowntownDC Parks Master Plan!

 

Working with a multi-disciplinary planning and design team, HR&A conducted a real estate market analysis for the new plan, with the goal of understanding current and future drivers of demand for parks within downtown Washington DC.

 

As part of the market scan, our team conducted a real estate market analysis scan, highlighting trends in office, residential, and retail uses Downtown, and the impacts of COVID-19 on office occupancy and visitation trends within the BID. We developed case studies of aspirational office typologies that could drive further downtown foot traffic and increase available funding for parks.  We also identified opportunities where investment in parks and open space could further Downtown’s economic development goals.

 

“The DowntownDC Parks Master Plan was created to spark interest in developing an intentional, vibrant, and meaningful downtown park system. Based on community engagement and coordination with concurrent planning efforts, the plan offers six system-wide recommendations.” Find out what they are and explore the new plan on the DowntownDC website.

 

We look forward to seeing how this new plan will help shape strategic investment to create a more vibrant, prosperous downtown DC!

Governor Hochul, Majority Leader Schumer, Senator Gillibrand Announce New York State Will Receive $100 Million in Federal Funding to Expand Broadband Infrastructure

Congratulations to our client, Empire State Development (ESD) on this important milestone! This funding will help provide access to New York families who need it most. We have been proud to support ESD in this critical work.

 

Governor Hochul said it best: “This critical funding to unlock high-speed internet for thousands of New York renters will build on the success of our ConnectALL broadband initiative while supporting the goals of our five-year plan to build and preserve more affordable housing. Thanks to the Biden administration and New York’s Senate and Congressional delegations, New York will continue to lead the nation in bridging the digital divide and making broadband available to all.”

 

You can learn more about this historic investment in Broadband in the Governor’s press release.

HR&A Principal Greta Byrum Speaks at FCC Roundtable on Broadband Access, Affordability and Deployment

 

 

HR&A Principal, Greta Byrum was invited to speak at this roundtable discussion hosted by the Federal Communications Commission’s Communications (FCC)’s Equity and Diversity Council (CEDC). Alongside stakeholders spanning community organizations, internet service providers (ISPs), federal agencies with emergency broadband funding, and state agencies, Greta shared lessons learned from the pandemic.

 

When building solutions to close the digital divide, Greta stressed the importance of working with organizations on the ground that might not be considered technology providers at first glance — for example, churches, food banks, schools, libraries, and community organizations. These connections can be the key to getting digital access to people who need it most.

 

You can learn more about the Roundtable discussion on the FCC’s website.

Video: FCC