Agenda & Speakers
Florida Housing Summit • James Museum, St. Petersburg • Wednesday, May 14, 7:30 AM - 4:00 PM
The Florida Housing Summit: Blueprint for Better Outcomes, hosted by the Florida Policy Project (FPP), is a premier event that brings together industry leaders, policymakers, experts, and stakeholders to discuss the pressing issues and solutions in housing today. The summit aims to address challenges, share innovative solutions, and pave the way for a brighter future for Floridians.
Expert speakers will discuss innovative solutions, including zoning, incentivizing Cities and Counties, RDU/ADU, vouchers, up-zoning, and more. Attendees can expect a day of knowledge sharing, innovative policy discussions, and networking opportunities.
Last year’s event sold out so, don’t delay, register today!
2025 Agenda
7:45 am-8:15 am | |
| 8:30 am-8:45 am Words of Welcome | Jeff Brandes, Florida Policy Project Founder & President, Former Florida State Senator |
| 8:45 am – 9:15 am Opening Lens Unpacking economic signals through a sharp, data-driven lens. | Kevin Erdmann, Author, “Shut Out: How a Housing Shortage Caused the Great Recession and Crippled Our Economy” and “Building from the Ground Up: Reclaiming the American Housing Boom” |
| 9:15 am – 9:45 am Power Talk From policy to persuasion—navigating influence with intention. | Patrick Slevin, NIMBY Crisis Expert, Florida Housing Coalition |
| 9:45 am – 10:15 am Capitol Currents: The Legislative Lowdown Get inside the chamber with leaders on what’s moving the needle. | Zayne Smith, Senior Director of Advocacy, AARP Florida |
10:15 am – 10:30 am | |
10:30 am – 11:00 am | |
| 11:00 am – 12:00 pm Fed Files: Marco Meets Main Street Michelle & Domonic bring the Federal Reserve’s pulse straight to the room with data on housing and Florida’s pulse. | Michelle Dennard, Vice President and regional executive of the Jacksonville Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Dominic Purviance, Subject Matter Expert within the Supervision Regulation and Credit Division at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta |
| 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Midday Mingle: Lunch and Learn Fuel up and connect. Who says lunch can’t be productive? | |
| 1:00 pm – 1:30 pm No Silver Bullets: Housing Reimagined Jim Ayotte and leaders from Florida’s Manufactured Homes Association on realistic, resilient solutions—from manufactured homes to modern challenges. | Jim Ayotte, CEO of the Florida Manufactured Housing Association (FMHA) |
| 1:30 pm – 2:00 pm Smart Aging: Senior Living & Innovation–ADU and Beyond Experts and guests with AARP explore what’s next in senior housing —from Accessory Dwelling Units to the condo insurance crisis to policy pivots. | |
| 2:00 pm – 2:30 pm Solutions from Across the US Experts from states and cities across the US will share best practices. | |
2:30 pm Closing & Next Steps | |
2025 Speakers
Emcee for this year’s event is Matt Walsh. Matt Walsh is founder, CEO and owner The Observer Media Group Inc. After starting the company in 1995 with the purchase of the Longboat Observer, Walsh and his late wife, Lisa. The company publishes seven newspapers, four websites, four lifestyle magazines, multiple social media channels and one podcast.
The company’s newspapers include the Longboat Observer, Sarasota-Siesta Key Observer and East County Observer; the Business Observer; the 120-year-old West Orange Times and Observer and Southwest Orange Observer near Orlando; and the 115-year-old Jacksonville Daily Record.
The company’s publications reach more than 432,920 readers a week.
Michelle Dennard is vice president and regional executive of the Jacksonville Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. She is responsible for the Branch’s Board of Directors and the District’s Advisory Council on Transportation and Logistics. In her role, she provides regional input into the Atlanta Fed’s monetary policy process.
Ms. Dennard joined the Jacksonville Branch in 2023. An attorney and member of the Florida Bar, Ms. Dennard has nearly 20 years of experience in workforce and economic development serving in state-level positions to provide strategic leadership and shape policy.
Kevin Erdmann is the author of “Shut Out: How a Housing Shortage Caused the Great Recession and Crippled Our Economy” and “Building from the Ground Up: Reclaiming the American Housing Boom”. He is a senior affiliated scholar with the Mercatus Center at George Mason University where he has published numerous studies and briefs detailing how obstructions to housing supply and homeowner financing have created a housing crisis. He covers these ideas and the current marketplace at his Substack newsletter, The Erdmann Housing Tracker. His work has appeared on C-Span, Bloomberg’s “Odd Lots” podcast, in the Wall Street Journal, the National Review, Politico, Barron’s, USA Today, US News, and others.
Patrick Slevin has earned a national reputation as a NIMBY crisis expert. Over the span of his career, he has educated, instructed, and counseled thousands of real estate executives concerned with the consequences of NIMBY opposition.
Slevin was elected the youngest mayor in the history of Safety Harbor, Florida in 1996 at the age of 27. He is a two-time Amazon bestselling NIMBY author and a nationally recognized YIMBY speaker and consultant. Patrick’s integrated public affairs firm, SL7 Consulting, is headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida. His website is www.PatrickSlevin.com.
Jim Ayotte is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Florida Manufactured Housing Association (FMHA) in Tallahassee, FL. Jim has worked in the manufactured housing industry for over 30 years and has held executive management positions at the Manufactured Housing Institute in Washington, D.C., and the Ohio and New England manufactured housing associations.
Jim holds a B.A. degree from the University of Massachusetts and an MBA degree from Babson College. Jim is a Certified Association Executive (CAE) through the American Society of Association Executives.
Dominic Purviance is a Subject Matter Expert within the Supervision Regulation and Credit Division at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. In this role, he is primarily responsible for conducting an ongoing assessment of risks associated with residential real estate markets and the potential impacts they may pose to the financial system. This includes analyzing conditions within individual markets as well as the impacts of external forces on real estate. In addition, Mr. Purviance is responsible for developing real estate related analytical reports and tools utilized internally throughout the Federal Reserve System to aid in risk surveillance and banking supervision as well as external tools such as the Home Ownership Affordability Monitor (HOAM).
Zayne Smith is the Senior Director of Advocacy at AARP Florida, where she leads strategic efforts to advance policies that positively impact the lives of older adults. Zayne brings a wealth of experience to her role, with a background in policy development and advocacy at both the state and national levels.
Zayne has a deep understanding of the issues facing communities and has been instrumental in driving change on critical issues such as long-term care, prescription drugs, health care, utilities, elections, housing, and transportation. She is known for her collaborative approach, working closely with stakeholders and coalitions to achieve common goals.
Zayne has represented AARP Florida on several key coalitions and advisory groups, including the Working Interdisciplinary Network of Guardianship Stakeholders, Guardianship Improvement Task Force, Sadowski Coalition, Professional Fiduciary Council of Florida, Department of Elder Affairs Florida State Plan on Aging Advisory Group, National Energy and Utility Affordability Coalition, and the Florida Don’t Text & Drive Coalition.
In 2023, Zayne was honored with the Above & Beyond Award, presented by City & State Florida + News Service of Florida, recognizing her as one of the 40 most influential and thought-provoking women in Florida government and public service. Prior to her work at AARP, Zayne served as a lawyer/lobbyist at the Alabama Appleseed Center for Law & Justice, focusing on health, poverty, and immigration policy. She has testified before the U.S. Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Human Rights Coalition.
Zayne holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and a Juris Doctor from the Thomas Goode Jones School of Law. Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, she is a proud member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.