Introducing our ReFrame 2025 Keynote Sessions
Join us in Kansas City, MO or online for their sessions this fall!
ReFrame Conference 2025 will be held at the Kansas City Country Club Plaza Marriott in Kansas City, MO from November 12-14, 2025. Together, we'll explore how we can build resilient organizations for resilient communities and hear from local organizations through a bus tour. We're excited to introduce two of our keynote speakers, Karen Black and Bree Jones, and information about our advocacy panel!
Wednesday, November 12th at 1pm (CST) | Karen Black, May 8 Consulting
Karen L. Black is the CEO of May 8 Consulting and teaches at the University of Pennsylvania in the Urban Studies Department. Black is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Drexel University Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation. In addition, Black is the co-founder of the Healthy Rowhouse Project, an initiative to improve access to private capital for preservation of privately owned affordable housing that has leveraged over $100 million in public and private capital. Black is the author of award-winning publications discussing strategies to revitalize communities, preserve and create affordable housing and attract private investment. Black taught a course on public policy responses to gentrification at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs in 2015. Prior to beginning her consulting practice, Black was the founding director of the Metropolitan Philadelphia Policy Center, a region-wide policy center founded to research issues impacting the economy, environment and equity within the Philadelphia metropolitan region. Prior to that, Black spent 12 years as a practicing civil rights attorney. She received a Bachelor of Arts from Williams College and a Doctorate of Law from the University of California at Los Angeles.
Karen's keynote session will explore what the latest research reveals about home repair's powerful role in improving housing stability, health, and wealth preservation.
Thursday, November 13th at 9am (CST) | Advocacy Panel
Driving Change Through Advocacy: A panel discussion on speaking up, building power, and creating lasting impact
Advocacy is one of the most powerful tools organizations have to drive long-term change. In this engaging panel discussion, members of the Coalition for Home Repair’s Advocacy Steering Committee will share how their programs have plugged broader housing movements and used on-the-ground experience to shape housing policy. This session will reframe advocacy not as extra work, but as mission-critical work – offering practical advice, examples, and lessons learned. Attendees will walk away with strategies to amplify their impact through advocacy.
This session will be a collaborative panel featuring panelists from four organizations:
- Jerry Zuniga, Habitat for Humanity International
- Michael McKnight, Green & Healthy Homes Initiative
- Darcy Scott, National Center for Healthy Housing
- Emma Carrasco, Coalition for Home Repair
Friday, November 14th at 9am (CST) | Bree Jones, Parity Homes
Bree Jones (she/her) is the founder of Parity, an equitable development company based in West Baltimore. Parity sparks upfront demand for affordable homeownership opportunities in neighborhoods experiencing hyper-vacancy by creating pathways for existing residents, families, friends, and other social collectives to purchase formerly abandoned homes alongside each other, block by block, as a means of community-building and wealth-building. Bree's work is grounded in the principle of Development Without Displacement: she believes we can revitalize historically redlined neighborhoods while ensuring that long-time residents can actively participate in and benefit from reinvestment efforts. Bree's work through Parity has garnered widespread recognition as a model for systems change. Her accomplishments have been highlighted by publications such as the Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, Afro Tech, Fast Company, WYPR, Bustle, and the Brookings Institute. Bree has also delivered a TED talk, showcasing her insights and ideas, as well as given a keynote speech at the Nantucket Project. She holds fellowships with Ashoka, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Open Society Institute, Fund for New Leadership, and New Profit.
Prior to launching Parity, Bree enjoyed a successful career in finance, alternative investments, and venture capital. Her expertise encompassed deal structuring, capital raises, conducting due diligence, and predictive analytics using big data.
Bree's keynote session will share how her organization is transforming blocks of historic rowhouses in West Baltimore through comprehensive home rehabilitation that centers people over profit.
Categories
