Speakers

Sam Baker is the Director of Transportation Planning with the Henry County Government. In this role, he manages the County’s transportation planning program and helps implement transportation projects from concept to construction in coordination with other Henry County departments and various partners in the federal government, state government, and the Atlanta Regional Commission. He has been with Henry County since 2019.

Sam has nearly two decades of transportation planning experience. Prior to joining Henry County, he had been the Transportation Planning Manager with the Gainesville-Hall Metropolitan Planning Organization in Hall County, Georgia. Sam also worked as a planner for the Georgia Department of Transportation, Georgia Department of Community Affairs, and Missoula County in Montana.

Sam holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture and a master’s degree in city and regional planning from The Ohio State University. In addition, he holds an MBA from Kennesaw State University. Sam is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).

Joseph Breems is Senior Executive and Director of Municipal Practice at the National League of Cities (NLC) - the voice of America’s cities, towns and villages, representing more than 200 million people across the country. NLC works to strengthen local leadership, influence federal policy and drive innovative solutions. Joseph leads NLC’s Center for Municipal Practice, overseeing teams that provide members and municipalities across the country with the tools, technical assistance, and peer learning to put new policy and programs into practice.

Most recently Joseph was the Chief Project Delivery Officer at Howard University, within the Office of the Chief Strategy Officer. Prior to his time in higher education Joseph worked in government, both municipal and federal, for a number of years.

Within the District of Columbia government Joseph worked in the Office of the City Administrator as Chief of Staff for Internal Services. His portfolio included oversight and support of government “backbone” agencies and functions, including construction and real estate, contracting and procurement, labor relations and human resources, technology implementation, risk management, federal grants management, and disability rights and access. Joseph also served as Branch Chief for Modified Government Operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading a cross-government team focused on modifying how everyday municipal services were delivered according to current health and legal guidelines.

Within the federal government Joseph worked at the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) in the Office of Research and Evaluation. At CNCS Joseph carried out studies of Americorps and Social Innovation Fund grant programs, developed data policy and visualization tools, and translated complex research for general use. Prior to his government service Joseph spent time working in healthcare, K-12 education, and workforce development. Joseph is also a proud Americorps alum.

Joseph received his masters degree in public policy and management from Carnegie Mellon University and his bachelors in International Relations from Calvin College. A Michigander by birth (born in Grand Haven), Joseph calls California home where he grew up in the town of Moreno Valley.

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Chris Teale is a staff reporter for Route Fifty, where he covers state and local government technology.