Join the ULI Women's Leadership Initiative (WLI) Americas for its signature program where Emma West, WLI Americas chair and partner at Bousfields Inc., will moderate a fireside chat with Former Mayor Debra March, of Henderson, Nevada's second largest city. Debra held the mayor position from 2017–2023. During that time, she successfully expanded Henderson into a sports hub to include the Raiders, Aces, and Silver Knights, using public/private partnerships for all these projects. Debra also created the Women's Community Leadership Network (WCLN) to promote opportunities for women and girls in Henderson. Debra continues her work as a passionate champion for growing livable communities for all through her consulting company March Nawaday.

This session will include a robust discussion between city staff, elected officials, developers, and local and national consultants working to deliver new and innovative infill development solutions essential to the long-term success of Las Vegas. The session will include brief presentations by each of our panelists, offering a diverse perspective of the history, context, current conditions, ambitions of the project, and work across public and private sectors to make this project successful. This project is the result of intentional and extensive bilingual community engagement, creative partnerships, and a commitment to resilient development that helps some of the city's most vulnerable populations. The city of Las Vegas is leveraging its control of the 100-acre Desert Pines Golf Course in East Las Vegas to drive several community-driven goals, providing opportunities to incentivize affordable infill housing, embracing Latino culture through placemaking and design, partnering with education, and focusing on workforce training, increasing accessible park space, and developing a transit-oriented and walkable project.