Washington, DC is often understood through its monuments and institutions, yet it is equally shaped by its vibrant neighborhoods, rich culture, and everyday lived experiences. As the city navigates growth and change, DC is exploring essential questions about who public spaces serve, whose voices are elevated, and how community identity is formed. 

This Future Fridays session brings together local leaders and community builders who are shaping the city’s civic life through connection and storytelling. Through personal narratives and conversations, participants will explore belonging, representation, and the future of DC.

About the Speakers

Calvin Gladney, LEED® AP, is a senior executive with 20+ years of leadership experience providing strategic, mission-driven leadership and vision to non-profits, government agencies and private sector companies that are helping to revitalize communities through innovative land use, housing, planning and economic development strategies.  

An entrepreneurial leader, adept fundraiser, and elite public speaker who has worked in the non-profit, private and public sectors, Mr. Gladney was most recently President and CEO of Smart Growth America (SGA), a 30-person national non-profit based in Washington, D.C. that strives to make the built environment more sustainable and create more thriving communities. He has led urban redevelopment efforts in dozens of communities around the country as a private real estate consultant and developer, and as a government redevelopment agency official. In 2017, Mr. Gladney was a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Urban Land Institute (ULI). Prior to leading SGA he was Managing Partner of Mosaic Urban, a real estate advisory services and development firm. Before establishing Mosaic, he served as the VP and then interim CEO of the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation (AWC), a quasi-public D.C. agency focused on sustainable redevelopment. Before AWC, Mr. Gladney was General Counsel & Transaction Manager at BRIDGE Housing Corporation in San Francisco, one of the largest developers of affordable housing in the country.  

Mr. Gladney graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School and received his B.S. from Cornell University. He is a Trustee of ULI, and a Board member of the Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF), and the Center for Community Progress. He is also a member of ULI’s national Responsible Property Investment Council. 

Emeka Moneme is the President of the Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District – a community nestled between the US Capitol and the Anacostia River – a mixed-use, 15-minute neighborhood, and regional activity center. 

Emeka has been a strategic advisor and executive leader of enterprises at the intersection of urban infrastructure, mobility, development, and finance. His public leadership record includes time at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) and the District Department of Transportation (DDOT). 

Emeka now calls the District of Columbia home and was raised in Ohio and is a graduate of both Miami (OH) University and the University of Cincinnati. 

Anita Cozart is the Director of the DC Office of Planning. Under her leadership, the agency has completed a series of neighborhood plans, developed the Streets for People program to activate downtown public spaces and support economic recovery, and commenced a rewrite of DC’s comprehensive plan. Her prior experience includes policy work for just and fair infrastructure investment at PolicyLink and previous leadership roles at the Office of Planning. Anita holds a Master of City & Regional Planning degree from the University of California, Berkeley and a Bachelor of Science in Civil & Environmental Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. She is a proud resident of Ward 5, where she lives with her spouse and children. 

About Future Fridays 

Future Fridays is the National Building Museum’s signature online series as part of the Future Cities initiative, hosted by James Darius Ball, director of Future Cities. Each one-hour session highlights the people, stories, and decisions that shape cities and everyday life in communities across the country. 

In its second year, the series emphasizes personal narratives and community perspectives, showing how residents, planners, designers, and civic leaders influence neighborhoods, public spaces, and city life. Participants can share their own perspectives, ask questions, and gain insight into how local choices reflect broader trends shaping American cities. 

Future Cities programming extends beyond Future Fridays, with a four-year slate of exhibitions, events, lectures, publications, digital activations, and community-based engagements designed to reach audiences from all walks of life and encourage participation in shaping the places where they live, work, and play.