Laura Slutsky is Executive Director of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Philadelphia District Council where she is responsible for all operations, programs, policy, external strategy and management of the 900-member organization, part of a global non-profit.  Laura’s background prior to ULI is in affordable housing, community and economic development finance and policy. She returned to her native Philadelphia from the New York City Department of Housing Preservation (HPD) and Development, where she developed and oversaw a portfolio of preservation finance programs, transactions and policy initiatives. Laura has significant federal and local experience managing housing and community development projects, large scale programs and policy issues including serving in Mayor Bloomberg's Office of Housing Recovery Operations as Deputy Director for Policy and Strategic Partnerships and as an Obama Presidential Appointee at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). She has political experience leading field teams on presidential campaigns and serving on Capitol Hill.  Laura holds a master's degree in Public Administration from the Fels Institute of Government at Penn, and a bachelor's degree from Cornell.