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Episode Description

In the first episode of  Capital Region Catalyze, Greater Washington Partnership CEO JB Holston talks equity and inclusive growth with Matt Kelly, CEO of JBG Smith and Sarah Rosen Wartell, president of the Urban Institute. From housing and gentrification to Amazon and leading through a pandemic, Sarah and Matt dive into personal narratives, the history and trajectory of the region, and the glaring inequities that COVID-19 has laid bare.

Hosted by JB Holston. Produced by Maribeth Romslo and Nina Sharma. Edited by Maribeth Romslo. Engineered by Micah Johnson. With support from  Jenna Klym, Ian Lutz, Justin Matheson-Turner, and Colie Touzel. 

Sarah Rosen Wartell is the president of the Urban Institute, an economic and social science research and policy organization whose researchers, experts, and other staff believe in the power of evidence to improve lives and strengthen communities. Previously, Wartell was deputy assistant to the president for economic policy and deputy director of the National Economic Council. She also worked in various roles at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. Wartell currently serves on the boards of Enterprise Community Partners and the Georgetown Day School, Bank of America’s National Community Advisory Council, and The Sadie Collective’s Advisory Board. Her areas of expertise include community development, consumer finance, asset building, and housing finance. Wartell has a bachelor’s degree with honors in urban affairs from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. She has a JD degree from Yale Law School.

Matt Kelly is the CEO of JBG SMITH. Prior to the formation of JBG SMITH, Matt served as a Managing Partner of the JBG Companies and was co-head of JBG’s Investments Group. Prior to that, he was a co-founder of ODAC Inc., a media software company, and worked in private equity and investment banking with Thomas H. Lee Partners in Boston and Goldman Sachs, & Co in New York. Matt serves on the boards of the Urban Institute and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. He is Chairman of the Board of the Medstar Washington Hospital Center and serves as an Executive in Residence of the Steers Center at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College and a Masters of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.

JB Holston is the CEO of the Greater Washington Partnership, a civic alliance of business leaders with the mission to foster unity and catalyze solutions to make the Capital Region the most inclusive in the country. JB has 30 years of success as a global scale-up CEO and entrepreneur and is active in a range of civic initiatives around innovation, open government, entrepreneurship, impact investing, and media. Prior positions include Dean of the University of Denver’s Daniel Felix Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science, founding Executive Director for the Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network and founding CEO for NewsGator (now Sitrion). He served as President of Ziff Davis International and senior executive positions at NBC and GE after starting his career with the Boston Consulting Group. JB has a BA and MBA from Stanford University.

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