About the presentation:
About Our Speakers:
Siqi Zhu
Director of Planning & Urban Technology
Associate Principal
Planner
Siqi brings a unique blend of expertise in planning, urban technology, and urban innovation to assist cities, developers, and institutions in tackling their most critical and strategic urban development challenges. As an Associate Principal based in Sasaki鈥檚 New York City office, he leads the firm鈥檚 planning and urban design practice in the city, as well as its growing Urban Technology practice.
Siqi鈥檚 work in Urban Technology revolves around the design and implementation of purposeful, responsible, and value-aligned technology applications in cities, with a focus on promoting sustainability, resilience, engagement, and value creation. His current projects include technology master plans for urban districts, urban data science initiatives, and the development of urban technology prototypes and pilots. This new practice builds upon Sasaki鈥檚 established strengths in planning and design, creating a holistic and integrated problem-solving capacity for clients seeking to address their diverse needs across space, technology, user experience, and strategy.
Prior to joining Sasaki, Siqi served as a Director of Planning and Project Delivery at Google/Sidewalk Labs, where he played a leading role in Quayside, Sidewalk Labs鈥� flagship real estate and urban innovation project in Toronto. Additionally, he spearheaded a $1 million technology incubation program focused on 鈥渦rban streets of the future,鈥� resulting in the creation of a first-of-its-kind curb management system prototype. Siqi鈥檚 experience also encompasses digital product development at Google and Envelope.city, along with planning, urban design, and data analytics projects for municipal, non-profit, developer, and university clients.
Siqi earned a Master鈥檚 degree in Urban Planning from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and holds a Bachelor鈥檚 degree in Engineering Science from the University of Toronto. He teaches at Harvard鈥檚 Masters of Design Engineering program, focusing on the design and prototyping of speculative future technologies. Siqi is also an active member of ULI鈥檚 Technology and Innovation Council and the Urban Design Forum.
Mordecai Cargill
Co-founder and Creative Director
ThirdSpace Action Lab
Mordecai Cargill is a co-founder and Creative Director of ThirdSpace Action Lab and Third Space Caf茅. Prior to starting this exciting venture, Mordecai served as the Director of Strategy, Research & Impact at Cleveland Neighborhood Progress (CNP), a community development funding intermediary committed to fostering inclusive neighborhoods of choice and opportunity throughout the city of Cleveland. Mordecai provided oversight and analysis for the implementation of the Cleveland Neighborhood Progress 2017-2021 Strategic Plan, focused primarily on 3 key areas of activity: Program Design and Evaluation; Research and Thought Leadership; and Partnership and Resource Development. After joining the CNP team in 2014 as Manager of Fund Development, Mordecai鈥檚 responsibilities included project management for strategic initiatives such as an Organizational Assessment (2014), and the planning process for the 2017-2021 Cleveland Neighborhood Progress Strategic Plan (2016). He also contributed to CNP鈥檚 emerging Policy, Advocacy & Research body of work, and co-led the organization鈥檚 efforts to elevate racial equity and inclusion as a citywide community development priority. Mordecai earned his BA in African American Studies from Yale University, with a concentration on Black Culture in the 20th Century. He was awarded the William Pickens Prize for his Senior Thesis entitled, 鈥淭he Black Arts Iconography of John Coltrane.鈥�
Esther Thomas
Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
City of Akron
An Akron native and lifelong student of justice and equity, Esther L. Thomas joins the City of Akron with 20+ years of public service. She has held positions of Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion with the Summit County Sheriff鈥檚 Office, Magistrate with Summit County Juvenile Court, and Human Resources Director with Community Action Akron Summit. Additionally, Thomas has been the chair of the Akron Civil Rights Commission for 3 years.
While at the Sheriff鈥檚 Office, Thomas was the project director for year-round Faith & Blue events, designed to unite community and public safety professionals. She looks forward to working with City of Akron employees in courageous conversations and increasing equity in City government.
Thomas earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Amherst College in Amherst MA and her Juris Doctor (JD) from the University of Cincinnati College of Law.
She is an avid theatergoer and was last seen on stage in Weathervane鈥檚 2022 production of The Color Purple. She is a proud auntie and great aunt to a dozen.
Our Moderator:
Liz Ogbu
Designer + Social Justice Activist
Liz is a globally recognized expert on engaging and repairing unjust urban environments. From transforming a low-income housing development on the grounds of a former plantation in Charlottesville, Virginia to reimagining struggling public spaces trying to navigate the post-Apartheid landscape of Durban, South Africa, Liz has a long history of working with communities to leverage the power of design to catalyze community healing and foster environments that support people鈥檚 capacity to thrive. She is Founder and Principal of Studio O, a multidisciplinary design practice that works at the intersection of racial and spatial justice. In addition, Liz has held academic appointments at several leading universities and, in 2023, was an inaugural University Fellow at the University of Virginia.
Liz has written for and been profiled in publications such as The New York Times, US News & World Report, and 91福利. Her projects have been featured in museum exhibitions and received numerous design awards globally. Liz鈥檚 honors include TEDWomen Speaker, Aspen Ideas Scholar, Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Resident, and Manzanita Fellow for Racial, Economic, and Environmental Justice at Mesa Refuge. Her TED and TEDx Talks, which share a creative process rooted in community wisdom and healing, have been viewed over a million times.