Advisory Board

Executive Director

Kome Ajise

Kome Ajise is the new executive director of the Southern California Association of Governments. He has three decades of experience in regional planning and transportation, most recently as the director of planning at SCAG. Prior to working at SCAG, Ajise was the chief deputy director at the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), where he was responsible for internal operations, overseeing more than 18,000 employees and a budget in excess of $1.1 billion. Previously, he was Caltrans’ deputy director of planning and modal programs and oversaw the Aeronautics, Mass Transportation, Rail, Transportation Planning, Local Assistance, and Research Innovation and System Information Divisions. Ajise has a bachelor’s degree in geography and regional planning from the University of Benin, Nigeria, and a master’s in city and regional planning from California State University, Fresno

President and CEO

Tia Boatman Patterson

Tia Boatman Patterson is the President and CEO for the California Community Reinvestment Corporation. With years of executive leadership experience in both the public and private sectors, she previously served as the Associate Director of Housing, Treasury, & Commerce in the Executive Office of the President’s Office of Management & Budget. From 2014 to 2021, she served as the Executive Director of the California Housing Finance Agency where she brought about positive organizational change and significantly grew loan production. She simultaneously served as Governor Gavin Newsom’s Senior Advisor for housing from 2019 to 2020. From 2015 to 2021 she was a director on the National Council of State Housing Agencies Board, serving as Board Chair from 2018 to 2020.

Ms. Patterson was general counsel for the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency from 2009 to 2014. She is recognized nationally and in the state of California as a policy expert in affordable housing, community development, small business and economic development having served as a special assistant to four Speakers of the California State Assembly. Patterson received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from San Diego State University, and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. She is licensed to practice law in the state of California and the District of Columbia.

CEO and Founder

Cecilia V. Estolano

Cecilia V. Estolano is an expert in sustainable economic development and urban revitalization. The many projects she has directed as co-founder of ELP Advisors include advising local governments, nonprofits, and foundations on redevelopment dissolution and economic revitalization, overseeing research on green infrastructure and job creation in Philadelphia, and managing complex multi-stakeholder processes. She serves as vice president of the California Community Colleges Board of Governors and sits on the University of California Board of Regents and the boards of directors of Manufacturing Renaissance and the National Employment Law Project. Estolano has taught urban planning at UCLA and UC Berkeley. She is a graduate of Boalt Hall School of Law and holds a master’s degree in urban planning from UCLA, along with a bachelor’s degree in social studies with honors from Harvard-Radcliffe Colleges.

Director

Bill Fulton

Bill Fulton was the planning director of San Diego from June 2013 to October 2014. Fulton served as mayor of the City of Ventura from 2009 to 2011 and is an author, urban planner, professor, and senior fellow at the University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy, where he teaches land use policy and smart growth. He is a leading advocate of the smart growth movement in urban planning and was named to Planetizen’s list of Top 100 Urban Thinkers. Fulton is best known as a commentator and expert on urban planning in California and has written hundreds of articles on the topic, including more than 40 Sunday opinion pieces in the Los Angeles Times between 1982 and 2009. He is the author of several books, including “Guide to California Planning” — the standard textbook on urban planning in California.

Director

Nicholas Maricich

Nick Maricich is a Principal City Planner with the Los Angeles Department of City Planning, where he leads the Citywide Policy Division. In this role, he oversees teams dedicated to comprehensive planning, housing policy, mobility, and environmental justice. Prior to this role, Maricich served as the Director of Planning Policy and Development in the Office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, where he was the mayor’s policy advisor on city planning matters and coordinated current and advance planning initiatives across multiple city departments. In his 15 years with the City of Los Angeles, he has held a range of positions, including managing a comprehensive update to the city’s zoning code, leading community planning efforts for the city’s downtown core, and serving as a planning liaison to LAX. He joined the City in 2007 after working in both the private and non-profit sectors. He has a bachelor’s degree in geography with a minor in city and regional planning from UC Berkeley, and holds a master’s degree in urban planning from the UCLA.

Former Councilmember

Pam O’Connor

Pam O’Connor served on the Santa Monica City Council from 1994-2018, including as mayor three times. She is particularly interested in issues that advance sustainability and mobility. She is a member of the regional council of the Southern California Association of Governments, and previously served as council president. O’Connor works with cities throughout the world on environmental, sustainability and climate issues as a member of ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability-USA Board. As a professional urban planning consultant, O’Connor specializes in historic preservation. She has also served in many other positions including as director of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Northridge Earthquake recovery partnership program and as a planner for the city of Pasadena. O’Connor holds master’s degrees in planning and technology management from Eastern Michigan University and a bachelor’s degree in communications from Southern Illinois University.

Senior Policy Fellow

Bill Pitkin

Bill Pitkin has worked in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors in Los Angeles for nearly 30 years, in fields as diverse as teaching, community organizing, research and planning, and strategic philanthropy. Currently, he is Senior Policy Fellow at the Urban Institute, where he leads research and work on housing justice, racial equity, and economic mobility in the Research to Action Lab. Since 2019, he has advised  organizations and foundations on catalyzing social change and equity through investments in collaborative leadership and systems and policy change. Previously, Bill was Director of Domestic Programs at the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, overseeing the planning, development, implementation, and evaluation of the domestic priority areas (homelessness, transition age foster youth, substance use prevention and youth workforce development). He is also a Fellow at the FrameWorks Institute, collaborating on strategic communications to influence media and public discourse on key social issues, and in 2021 he served as Professor of Practice in Pardee RAND Graduate School‘s Community-Partnered Policy and Action policy engagement stream. He holds master’s and doctorate degrees in urban planning from UCLA.

Co-Founder and Principal

Mott Smith

Mott Smith is co-founder and principal of Civic Enterprise, a founding board member of the California Infill Builders Association, and adjunct faculty in the University of Southern California’s master of real estate development program. Earlier in his career, he was the acting director of planning for the Los Angeles Unified School District after serving as founding executive director of New Schools-Better Neighborhoods. He also worked as editor and business manager of The Planning Report. He received a master’s degree in real estate development from USC and a bachelor’s degree in linguistics from UCLA.

CEO

Stephanie Wiggins

Stephanie Wiggins was appointed chief executive officer of LA Metro in April 2021. Prior to that, Wiggins served as CEO of Metrolink, directing an agency that operates a commuter rail network on seven routes across a six-county, 538 route-mile system. Wiggins returns to LA Metro, where she had previously held numerous positions including deputy CEO, executive director of vendor/contract management, and executive officers and project director of the Congestion Reduction/ExpressLanes Program. She has also served as regional programs director for the Riverside County Transportation Commission and oversaw transit, commuter rail, rideshare, goods movement and rail capital projects. Wiggins is the founding president of the Inland Empire chapter of Women’s Transportation Seminar and has received many awards, including Conference of Minority Transportation Officials 2018 Women Who Move the Nation Award. Wiggins has a Master of Business Administration degree from USC Marshall School of Business.