Urban Habitat Staff

EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT

Allen Fernandez Smith, President & CEO, has been committed to issues of social, racial and environmental justice since his early years growing up in Chicago, where he got a firsthand look at inequality and the systematic exclusion of low-income families and communities of color from economic and political opportunities.

Fernandez Smith worked most recently as the Executive Director of the California School-Age Consortium (CalSAC), a statewide, non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the professional development of youth workers across California through high-quality trainings, policymaking, and advocacy. As President of the Board of Directors and then as Executive Director, he led the organization in developing and implementing a multi-year strategic plan that culminated in a realignment of CalSAC’s mission, vision and staffing.

Prior to his tenure at CalSAC, Fernandez Smith served as a Senior Community Development Specialist in the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Community Development. He worked closely with major city agencies, local community leaders, and small business owners to revamp neighborhood economic strategy programs in distressed commercial corridors.  Fernandez Smith also worked at the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and Their Families. There he managed the first-ever citywide initiative to improve San Francisco’s after-school programs, bringing multiple stakeholders together in a comprehensive system to serve youth from all parts of the city.
 
Fernandez Smith graduated from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Illinois and was a graduate fellow at the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund.  In 2011, he was named to “The Root 100” national list of African-American leaders under 45 years old. He now lives in Oakland, CA with his wife, Kay Fernandez Smith, Deputy Director at PolicyLink, and their children, Malcolm and Malaya.

Uma Viswanathan, Director of Strategic Initiatives is a social entrepreneur and leadership trainer with seven years of experience in national and global strategy and innovation, program design and management of social and environmental ventures focused on leadership development. She graduated with a B.A. and M.A. from Harvard University, focused on psychology. Uma has designed curriculum and facilitated experiential learning engagements for about 1,000 people in secondary and university education, government, community, and NGO settings, totaling 130,000 man-hours of leadership training. In 2008, Uma founded and directed Nouvelle Vie Haiti, a sustainable development program in Haiti that developed 350 Haitian community leaders who have impacted nearly 10,000 Haitians in 4 years. Nouvelle Vie has received recognition from the World Bank, UNICEF, and USAID as one of Haiti's top youth leadership development programs and has been written about in the Washington Post, Huffington Post, Triple Pundit, and Care2.

 Joe Feria-Galicia, Educational Technologist, designs and implements curricula using innovative technology for multiple Urban Habitat programs. He maintains the online course site for the Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI) and supports the program’s growing alumni network with hybrid/blended learning technologies. He also supports the facilitation of Urban Habitat’s Social Equity Caucus (SEC). Joe comes to Urban Habitat with extensive teaching experiences and is passionate about supporting the acquisition of critical media literacy skills to encourage civic engagement and active democratic participation. He completed his PhD in Educational Policy Studies from the University of Illinois in 2010.

In 1999, he completed his Master's Degree in Educational Technology from Pepperdine Graduate School. As a member of the Scholars Program at Whittier College, Joe graduated with a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in 1994. He later obtained his California Professional Clear Multiple Subject Teaching Credential and Clear Bilingual Crosscultural Language Academic Development Certificate from the State of California.

Land Use and Housing Program

Vu-Bang Nguyen, Associate Director of Land Use and Housing, began his journey into the world of land use planning after studying Architecture at the University of California (UC) - Berkeley with an emphasis on City and Regional Planning and Design in the Third World while also working for the City Planning Departments of San Jose, Oakland and Berkeley, CA. He continued his studies at UC - Berkeley and completed a Masters in City and Regional Planning with an emphasis on Community Development and Land Use Planning. His research included working with the San Jose Redevelopment Agency on increasing community engagement in the City’s Strong Neighborhoods Initiative, especially among San Jose’s Vietnamese American population. After City Planning positions for the City of Berkeley and Town of Los Gatos, Vu-Bang switched to the private development side as a Project Manager for a real estate development company in San Jose, CA. He is Urban Habitat's site coordinator for the Great Communities Collaborative, working in several planning efforts throughout the Bay Area including Sunnyvale and East Palo Alto. Vu-Bang is a member of the American Planning Association (APA) and the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).


Race, Poverty and the Environment

Jesse Clarke, Editor of Race, Poverty & the Environment, Urban Habitat's national journal for social and environmental justice. Jesse is responsible for all phases of production and design on the print and web editions of the magazine and also oversees the production and design of Urban Habitat's website. Jess has been involved in the movements fighting for equal rights and promoting social justice for over 20 years as a teacher, writer, and community organizer.

Transportation Justice

Bob Allen, Director of Transportation Justice, has a background in community planning and policy work both in the United States and overseas with international Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). While at UH, Bob led the successful 2008 Campaign to help pass a regional measure, Measure VV, which raised funds to keep bus passes affordable for seniors, youth, and disabled riders. Currently, Bob is leading UH’s efforts on federal and state transportation advocacy. Bob received both his Bachelors Degree in Political Science and History and his Masters in Public Administration from Rutgers University.

Lindsay Imai, Associate Director of Transportation Justice, Lindsay works to increase funding for bus and other public transit systems serving low-income neighborhoods through research, policy analysis, advocacy, coalition building, community organizing support and media activism. Before joining Urban Habitat, Lindsay worked as a program manager with Citibank’s Community Mortgage Lending department focused on prime lending through partnerships with CDCs and other community development organizations; as a program manager and Academy Fellow with the Greenlining Institute focusing on affordable housing and community reinvestment; and as a community organizer to reform public schools in Queens, NY.

Lindsay completed a Master's degree in Public Administration in June 2006 from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University with a focus on non-profit management and urban policy. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Ethnic Studies from Stanford University.

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