Join DAG on February 11th, 2025 for a one-on-one discussion with Jessie D. Lawrence, the new Director of Planning and Development for the City of Philadelphia.

Jessie D. Lawrence has nearly 20 years of experience in public and privately driven real estate development, urban planning, entitlements, and land policies. He most recently worked in administration of Philadelphia’s 100th Mayor, the honorable Cherelle L. Parker,  as Associate Deputy Mayor for Planning and Strategic Initiatives. His experience has primarily been with the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, the Philadelphia Land Bank, and the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation. In the latter of the three, he served as the Director of Real Estate where he directed a multi-faceted land management team in securing interagency approvals, from multiple boards of directors and City Council, that have allowed for the sale and disposition of publicly owned land in Philadelphia. Much of this work has gone on to foster the recent affordable housing, tax credit projects, and social-impacting developments that exist throughout Philadelphia today. Most recently, his team’s work at PHDC has directly supported the production of affordable homeownership opportunities marketed by the Turn The Key program under City Council’s Neighborhood Preservation Initiative. Consequently, his combination of experiences has allowed him to effectively navigate public sector policies and operations through pushing project schedules, troubleshooting anticipatory delays, and interfacing with city and community leaders as well as private sector developers. 

This event will be held at the Center for Design Philadelphia, 1218 Arch Street, Philadelphia PA 19107.

Registration is not required for in-person events, however it is helpful for our planning. Light refreshments will be served.