CATALYST / What to Expect
CATALYST brings people from housing, community development, finance and government together to imagine what’s possible for the neighborhoods we call home. Explore new approaches, learn from one another and identify practical ways your work can help create healthier, more equitable communities.
Save my seatFrom conversation to practice
Community development and finance shape each other. Join an interactive conversation exploring how these two perspectives can support community capacity, stronger relationships to place and the long-term health of neighborhoods.
Bring your questions and experience, and hear how people in different roles approach shared challenges.
A facilitated, hands-on workshop creates space to build on the conversation. Explore practical applications alongside people bringing different perspectives.
Consider how the ideas relate to your projects, your neighborhood and the role you can play in changing how development happens.
Meet the speakers
Hear from speakers working across design, housing policy and community development. They’ll share lessons from their work, connecting decisions about how we build, invest and plan with opportunities to strengthen community connections, expand access to housing and support healthy local ecosystems.
Director of Regenerative Design
Perkins&Will
Teresa is an architect and urbanist exploring how buildings and neighborhoods can support human and ecological health. Her work connects design, research and storytelling, with a focus on low-carbon communities, bio-based materials and urban biodiversity. She brings a perspective on how design choices connect people, buildings and nature.
Housing Policy Specialist
Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation
Chris is an architect working at the intersection of housing and California climate policy. He leads initiatives that connect housing solutions with shared prosperity, local innovation and community well-being. He brings a perspective on how state policy can support housing approaches rooted in the needs of people and place.
Founder
EVOAK!, Creative Development Partners and RBA Creative
Randolph brings more than 35 years of experience as an artist and social impact leader. His approach to “community benefit by design” connects development with community priorities, harm repair and Black cultural preservation in Oakland. He brings a perspective on how development can respond to a neighborhood’s history, culture and relationships.
More speakers to be announced. Stay tuned as we introduce additional voices joining the CATALYST conversation.
Bring your curiosity. No background in these approaches is needed.
Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026 · David Brower Center, Berkeley · $65 standard admission
Alex Coba
Communication Associate
As a proud California native from Stockton, Alex brings a wealth of experience and a versatile skill set. He has a solid communication background with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Public Relations from California State University, Chico. Alex is adept at strategic communications and media relations, with experience gathering and sharing stories from his local communities that uplift the unique spirit and values of those places. He is excited to join Build It Green, where he can apply his talents to further BIG’s mission to help communities across California thrive