Each year, NextCity convenes land use planning and development leaders as part of a multi-day Vanguard Conference to research and build momentum around smart land use decisions that shape the lives of Americans across our nation. Designed to bring together professionals working across disciplines and sectors, each Vanguard class includes policymakers and politicians, architects and urban planners, and artists and mediamakers, all selected through a competitive application process. After more than a decade of Vanguard conferences, the Vanguards number more than 400.
This year, 1000 Friends of Oregon’s Executive Director Sam Diaz was named into the 2023 Vanguard class. Sam will travel to Richmond, Virginia, next month to meet with the cohort, share successes and challenges in our smart growth efforts here in Oregon, learn about possible solutions that could work in Oregon, and establish new partnerships to strengthen our movement. Sam is only the seventh person to join the Vanguard Fellow from Oregon.
“I am honored and excited to be able to represent 1000 Friends of Oregon’s simple and successful formula for a better quality of life for all Oregonians: educate and engage, legislate, and litigate (when necessary). The fate of our farms, forests, and watersheds are inextricably linked with the fate of our cities and towns. We can, and must, take care of these fates at the same time.”
The Next City Vanguard Conference, presented by the Weissberg Foundation, will be run by Next City in partnership with a Richmond-based host committee. The conference is supported by a grant from the Mellon Foundation.