In this conversation with OHNY executive director Gregory Wessner, Jeff Hebert, a partner at HR&A Advisors and a leader in resilience planning and community revitalization, discussed how recovery efforts can be leveraged to help solve long-standing systemic issues of inequity.

At HR&A, Hebert works with cities across the country to develop strategies that mitigate social, economic, and physical shocks and stresses. At HR&A, Hebert works with cities across the country to develop strategies that mitigate social, economic, and physical shocks and stresses. Hebert was formerly First Deputy Mayor and Chief Resilience Officer of the City of New Orleans, and Executive Director of Community Planning for the Louisiana Recovery Authority.

AIA CES: 1 LU | HSW

Open House New York’s Conversations on the City offers diverse perspectives on the issues defining New York’s recovery, resilience, and reopening in the aftermath of COVID-19. The series was launched at the onset of the pandemic in April 2020 amid a moment of uncertainty about the future of urban life, ultimately drawing together an audience of 10,000 over the subsequent months. Organized around a broad theme or topic, the series has a point of view: urban life brings an abiding joy. What makes cities continue to thrive, what propels them forward, is a shared need for human connection; this is what cities make possible and it will always prevail over whatever challenges may arise.