Carlos Brillembourg, Principal, Brillembourg Architects, New York City, has been practicing architecture in Caracas and the United States for over three decades. He is the editor of Latin American Architecture (Monacelli Press, 2004).

Robert Cowherd, PhD, Wentworth Institute of Technology Associate Professor of Architecture has worked extensively in informal settlements in Southeast Asia. He championed the village planning model replicated throughout Sumatra’s coastal villages impacted by the 2004 tsunami. His most recent publication is “The Heterotopic Divide in Jakarta: Constructing Discourse, Constructing Space,” in Heterotopia and the City: Urban Theory and the Transformations of Public Space (Routledge, 2008).

Manuel Delgado, Wentworth Institute of Technology Associate Professor of Architecture built extensively in Caracas before attending a prestigious mid-career Special Program in Urban and Regional Studies at MIT. He was Project Manager for the Fenway Community Development Corporation and collaborates with local communities around the Boston Region as part of the Wentworth Housing and Community Design Studio.

Alejandro Echeverri, Medellín City Planning Department

Sergio Fajardo Valderrama, PhD, was the Mayor of Medellín, Colombia from 2004 to 2008. Received his doctorate in Mathematics at the University of Wisconsin. The son of a prominent architect, he led the program to build Medellín’s best new buildings, landscapes and infrastructures to serve its most underserved informal neighborhoods. He is currently a candidate for the presidency of Colombia.

Tamera Marko, Emerson College

María Isabel Peña, Head of the Central University of Venezuela Urban Institute

Jorge Pérez Jaramillo, Medellín Regional Planning Department

Jota Samper, MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning

Oscar Tenreiro, Architect and Central University of Venezuela Professor