CAROL COLETTA
Memphis, Tennessee

AFFILIATION: Host and Producer, Smart City (public radio show), and President, Coletta & Company Inc.

AREA OF EXPERTISE: Imagining and organizing public policy change informed by weekly radio interviews with the best urban thinkers

BACKGROUND & EXPERIENCE: Carol’s career has focused on organizing public policy change initiatives, first as part of local government, then as senior vice-president of a large regional bank, and now as a consultant running her own firm. She has a longtime interest in how communities grow economically, culturally, and physically. She is host and producer of Smart City, a weekly public radio show, and is working on a book based on interviews with her guests. Current projects include "The Young and the Restless," a six-city project to learn where 25-34-year-olds are moving and why. She is also working on a major study for Shelby County government that drafted four alternative scenarios for the county's future. She recently completed the Talent Magnet Project and organized the Creative 100 Summit co-hosted by author Richard Florida.

RESEARCH INTERESTS: Carol is interested in exploring the nature and effect of branding and marketing to sell New Urbanist principles and development at a local level. Her goal is to develop a set of best practices for all communities seeking to apply New Urbanist principles, particularly older in-town neighborhoods that cannot overpower the advertising for suburban growth through conventional thinking.

E-MAIL: ccoletta@colettaandcompany.com