ULI Oklahoma, which serves ULI members in Oklahoma and northwest Arkansas, will be expanding its reach in Arkansas as a result of a generous grant to the ULI Foundation from the Walton Family Foundation.

ULI has announced a new chairman and a new president for its Americas region, which serves the Institute’s members in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Global Board member and ULI Treasurer John R. “Jack” Chandler, founder of Majesteka Investments Holdings and chief investment officer and board member for Reterro Inc., and former managing director and chairman of BlackRock’s global real estate business in New York City, has been named chairman of the Americas region, a volunteer role that includes service as chairman of the Americas Executive Committee. Multifamily industry leader Gwyneth Jones Cote, who most recently served as chief operating officer for Bell Partners, has joined ULI’s staff as the president of the Americas region.

ULI has released two new reports related to building for health and wellness—one offering lessons for development of healthy affordable housing for the broader marketplace, and the other for development of agrihoods, single-family, multifamily, or mixed-use communities built with a working farm or community garden as a focus. Together, the reports illustrate opportunities for developers to create financially successful projects that improve resident and community health and promote social equity and sustainability.

ULI’s Global Strategic Plan emphasizes strengthening member engagement by providing more opportunities to participate in the Institute’s unique member networks, including the highly popular Product Council network. Nine Product Councils—including five new ones and four additional flights to existing councils—were added during FY 2018, opening up participation to 228 members who had never before served on a council, as well as 98 members who transferred membership or rejoined councils.

The redevelopment spurred by Amazon’s decision to open headquarters sites in Northern Virginia and Long Island City, New York, will reflect an ongoing evolution of urban areas that we at ULI believe will continue for decades to come.

ULI has named J. Phillip Horne, former chief development officer of George Washington University’s Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, as the chief advancement officer for the Urban Land Institute Foundation. The ULI Foundation, now in its 48th year, provides philanthropic support for ULI’s mission-focused programs, such as activities from its Terwilliger Center for Housing, Center for Sustainability and Economic Performance, Center for Capital Markets and Real Estate, ULI’s Advisory Services program, and UrbanPlan.

The Case for Open Space, a new report from the ULI Center for Sustainability and Economic Performance, makes the business case for real estate investments in parks and open spaces. Case studies highlighted in the report were drawn from 30 open-space projects across the United States supported by the private sector, with five compelling projects that incorporate open space.

ULI’s real estate education programs tailored to students, public officials, and industry entrepreneurs are being reinforced with a gift of more than $200,000 to the ULI Foundation from ULI Trustee and former ULI Global Chief Executive Officer Patrick L. Phillips. Phillips’s contribution provides $150,000 for UrbanPlan, ULI’s popular urban development curriculum offered to high school and university students as well as public officials to raise awareness about the impact of development on the long-term future of communities, with the remainder of Phillips’s gift supporting ULI’s Real Estate Entrepreneur Program.

In the closing address at the 2018 ULI Fall Meeting in Boston, social psychologist and best-selling author Amy Cuddy urged audience members to alter their physical posture, speak more slowly, and use expansive breathing to feel more powerful and open to communicating with others.

In an emerging “gig” economy, with each individual developing his or own brand, does leadership still matter? At the ULI Fall Meeting in Boston, Ralph Boyd, ULI senior resident leadership fellow, moderated a panel of industry notables discussing the critical importance of leadership.