Exploring Neighborhood Assets: Speaker Info

Michael Bradley
Community Outreach Coordinator, Revolution Workshop
Michael is an experienced and trained social media worker committed to his career in the communications field. He is skilled at both written and verbal communication, with experience managing sports teams and organizing community outreach by utilizing a variety of social media platforms. He is deeply committed to helping his community and being the change he wants to see in the world.

Olatunji Oboi Reed
President & CEO, The Equiticity Racial Equity Movement
Olatunji Oboi Reed (President & CEO, Equiticity) works globally as a racial equity tactician, increased mobility advocate, and racial justice activist. Oboi’s passion lies at the intersection of community, culture, and health. He works globally as a racial equity tactician, increased mobility advocate, and racial justice activist. With an extensive background in both nonprofit management and corporate social responsibility, he is most proud of his work to create a diverse coalition of people, organizations, and businesses all working together to achieve racial equity and mobility justice across the City of Chicago.

Oboi serves as the founding President & CEO of Equiticity, a racial equity movement, operationalizing racial equity by harnessing our collective power through research, advocacy, programs, and community mobility rituals, to improve the lives of Black, Brown, and Indigenous people in our society. Equiticity’s vision is a mid- to large-sized U.S. city where racial equity is fully integrated at the policy and legislative levels into every function, department, budget, and resource associated with the city’s operations, services, and programs. In 2015, Oboi was awarded The White House Transportation Champion of Change award by The White House and the United States Department of Transportation, under the administration of President Barack Obama.

Oboi serves as Co-Chair of the Transportation Equity Network, and Steering Committee Member of PolicyLink’s Transportation Equity Caucus. Oboi is an appointee on Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning’s Regional Economy Committee. He is a member of the 2018 Grist Fixers Cohort, TransitCenter Foundation’s National Transit Justice Network, and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights’ Justice Reform Task Force. Oboi previously served as a Community Member of the City of Chicago Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Council and a member of the Board of Directors of Streetsblog Chicago. He is a frequent speaker, panelist, and facilitator at conferences around the world. 

Ana Solano (they/she)
Program Manager of Health and Leadership, Erie Neighborhood House
Ana is a life-long resident of La Villita. Through her advocacy work in her community, she found Erie Neighborhood House and began her journey as a volunteer. Erie House is very mission driven, and the organization aligned with Ana’s values. In her current position she works closely with community members that are the most marginalized. She enjoys making connections with people that are also committed to social justice. She is grateful for this opportunity and is excited to share space with other wonderful neighbors. 

Sandria Washington
Director of Engagement & Partnerships, Urban Juncture
Sandria Washington is a proud Chicago-born and South Side-raised writer, wellness activist, and media professional. In her current role as Director of Engagement and Partnerships, Sandria leads the Engage Bronzeville initiative to develop beautification, community relationships, external partnerships, storytelling and funding efforts.

She is a longtime volunteer with several local and national organizations and has facilitated youth empowerment workshops for The Metropolitan Board of the Chicago Urban League, Young Women’s Leadership Charter School and Illinois Caucus of Adolescent Health. In 2012, Sandria was awarded a competitive Harriet Tubman Trailblazer Fellowship by the groundbreaking health organization GirlTrek and has served as a leader within the organization for more than four years, empowering Black women to reclaim their health, families and communities through walking. As a certified yoga teacher (CYT) she has taught weekly yoga classes on the South Side of Chicago at Gary Comer Youth Center, as well as workshops for Chicago Public Schools, Columbia College and nonprofits throughout the city. Sandria is a graduate of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign with a B.S. in Advertising.

Audrey Wennink
Director of Transportation, Metropolitan Planning Council
Audrey directs MPC’s transportation efforts and coordinates transportation initiatives with other facets of planning including affordable housing, land use, equity and the environment. She leads transportation research and advocacy efforts including pursuing sustainable funding for transportation in Illinois, integration of performance-based planning methods into transportation practice, and developing efforts to boost transportation equity. Under her leadership, MPC developed the Toward Universal Mobility report defining needed improvements to the region’s transportation system to benefit people with disabilities and seniors.   The Where the Sidewalk Ends report documents the state of municipal ADA transition planning in the Chicago Metropolitan Area.   Her work on transportation equity includes contributing to research on understanding mobility barriers for marginalized communities, studying how equity is used as a project prioritization criterion by metropolitan planning organizations, and development of a toolkit for employers to support transportation needs of workers in disconnected communities.   The Transit Means Business report she spearheaded highlights the need for transit investment to support jobs in the region.  She also leads the MPC Transportation Advisory Committee, comprised of regional business and public policy leaders.

Prior to MPC, Audrey was a transportation planning and policy consultant for 12 years with national expertise in transit, traffic safety, freight and performance based planning. Prior to her planning career she served in various communications roles in Washington, D.C. and Chicago. 

A Chicago resident for more than 20 years, Audrey is an advisory board member of the Greater Chicago chapter of WTS, a professional organization to advance women in the transportation industry. She also serves as member of the national advisory board of Young Professionals in Transportation.  Additionally, she is a member of Lambda Alpha International, an honorary society focusing on land economics and planning issues. Audrey also serves on the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning’s transportation committee. She holds a B.A. in English and Spanish from Colby College and a Master’s in Urban Planning and Policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is a fellow of the University of Chicago’s Harris School’s Civic Leadership Academy.