Speaking

We seek keynote opportunities and are happy to speak at your conference, workshop, meeting, or event. Over the past two decades we’ve spoken at nearly 40 gatherings by AARP, Appalachian Regional Commission, Conservation Fund, Downtown New Jersey, Main Street America, the International Downtown Association, International Economic Development Council, and the US EPA among others. A chronological list of major speaking engagements follows. Contact Us if you’d like to ask Isaac to speak.

Upcoming Talks

Advocacy Community of Practice, Main Street Now Conference, Tulsa, Oklahoma (April 2026)
Convened by MSA’s Government Relations team, Main Street America’s Advocacy Community of Practice is a monthly virtual gathering of Local Main Street programs, Coordinating Programs, and partners to connect, learn from each other, and explore collaborative opportunities around advocacy for the Main Street approach. This session is an opportunity for in-person interaction between existing and interested Advocacy CoP members to bring advocacy issues to the table and use our shared wisdom to create change. Join us to meet peers interested in advocacy, hear recent updates from the network, and co-design impactful conversations.

Community Aid That Supports Local Businesses, Main Street Now Conference, Tulsa, Oklahoma (April 2026)
Have you ever wished you could create programs that address Main Street’s challenges and opportunities using a “local currency” that also keeps those funds in your community, benefiting your small businesses? Join us to hear case studies on how organizations like yours are channeling funds to people in need, while also ensuring that those funds are spent with their treasured small businesses. Far beyond your typical “shop local” campaigns, these include relief for disaster recovery, food insecurity, main street construction, at-risk youth, farmers and more. Bring your local challenges and let’s find solutions that keep funds in town!

Prior Talks (in reverse chronological order)

  1. How to Find and Keep an Executive Director and Make a 6 Month Work Plan, Trenton Downtown Association, Trenton, New Jersey (July 18, 2024)
  2. Mental Health of the Main Street Manager, Main Street Now Conference, Birmingham, Alabama (May 6-8, 2024)
  3. Affordability on Main Street, Main Street Now Conference, Main Street Now Conference, Boston, Massachusetts (March 30, 2023)
  4. Downtown Turnaround, Northeast Region CSI Conference, Jersey City, New Jersey (March 24, 2023)
  5. Building a Strong Entrepreneurial Ecosystem for Princeton and New Jersey, Gotham Princeton, Princeton, New Jersey (March 17, 2023)
  6. Princeton Independent Consultants Club, Princeton, New Jersey (February 23, 2023)
  7. Thinking Livable Place: Working with Main Street, Business Retention and Growth Conference, Columbus, Ohio (June 14, 2022)
  8. Tools and Techniques – Preservation by Other Means, New Jersey Preservation Conference, Trenton, New Jersey (June 3, 2022)
  9. Lean Start-up Guide to Getting Stuff Done on Main Street, Main Street Now Conference, Richmond, Virginia (May 18, 2022)
  10. The 2022 AARP Community Challenge Webinar, AARP, Virtual (February 17, 2022)
  11. Benefits of Main Street, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, Virtual (January 25-26, 2021)
  12. Placemaking for the Win, New Jersey Downtown Conference, Virtual (January 21, 2021)
  13. Winning Winter, Downtown New Jersey, Virtual (October 2, 2020)
  14. The Power of Partnerships: Advancing Age-Friendly Communities in New Jersey, Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest, Virtual (September 20, 2020)
  15. Age-Friendly Communities, Age-Friendly Communities Initiative, Virtual (June 30, 2020)
  16. Age-Friendly Communities, New Jersey Future Redevelopment Forum, New Brunswick, New Jersey (March 6, 2020)
  17. Everybody Innovates Here, International Downtown Association Annual Conference, Baltimore, Maryland (October 30, 2019)
  18. Surviving the Retail Apocalypse: Designing Storefronts that Sell, International Downtown Association Annual Conference, Baltimore, Maryland (October 30, 2019)
  19. Lean Livability Projects, Grantmakers in Aging, New York, New York (October 17, 2019)
  20. The Future of Historic Preservation, Albion Public Library, Albion, Michigan (August 28, 2019)
  21. Lean Livability, Age Friendly Communities Initiative, Garfield, New Jersey (April 23, 2019)
  22. How to Help Your Businesses Win at Marketing, Main Street Now Conference, Seattle, Washington (March 25-27, 2019)
  23. Catalyst Projects Yield Extraordinary Results for Downtowns, Main Street Now Conference, Seattle, Washington (March 25-27, 2019)
  24. Lean Livability, Stern Lecture, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey (March 13, 2019)
  25. Lean Livability: Making Lovable Places for $500 or Less, 6th Annual AARP Livable Communities National Conference, Charlotte, North Carolina (November, 12-14, 2018)
  26. Livable Communities 101 Breakout Session, AARP College 2018, Somerset, New Jersey (April 21, 2018)
  27. Placemaking: Building It Lighter, Quicker, and Cheaper & Managing It Well, Governor’s Conference on Housing and Economic Development, Harrah’s Waterfront Conference Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey (October 5-6, 2017)
  28. Mastering the Art of Bringing Low-Cost Rapid Change Downtown, International Downtown Association, Winnipeg, Canada (September 13, 2017)
  29. Case Studies on Economic Resiliency in Rural Communities, at Balancing Nature and Commerce in Gateway Communities, The Conservation Fund, Shepherdstown, West Virginia (January 2017)
  30. Creative Placemaking Bootcamp, Main Street Now Conference, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (May 2016)
  31. Balancing Nature and Commerce in Gateway Communities, The Conservation Fund, Sheperdstown, West Virginia (March 2016)
  32. Tactical Urbanism, National Brownfields Conference, Chicago, Illinois (September 2015)
  33. Tactical Urbanism Workshop, National Main Streets Conference, Atlanta, Georgia (March 2015)
  34. New Landscapes: Youth and Communities, Appalachian Regional Commission Fall Conference, Florence, Alabama (September 2014)
  35. Using Tactical Urbanism to Preserve Downtowns, National Main Streets Conference, Detroit, Michigan (May 2014)
  36. Economic Development Panel, Citizen’s Institute on Rural Design, Somerset, Kentucky (October 2013)
  37. Give your District New Life in Two Days for Less than $2,000, National Main Streets Conference, Baltimore, Maryland (April 2012)
  38. Historic Communities and America’s Great Outdoors, National Trust for Historic Preservation Annual Conference, Buffalo, New York (October 2011)

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