Ken Bernstein is principal city planner and manager for the Los Angeles Department of City Planning, for which he leads the City’s Office of Historic Resources. Since 2006, he has overseen the completion of SurveyLA, a multi-year citywide survey of historic resources, and has led the city’s comprehensive historic preservation program. Through adaptive reuse, thousands of new housing units have transformed downtown LA and beyond under his watch. He leads the department’s Urban Design Studio and previously directed planning initiatives, including housing policy. For eight years he was director of preservation issues for the Los Angeles Conservancy. He has a master’s degree in public affairs and urban planning from Princeton University and a B.A. in Political Science from Yale University. He is also the author of Preserving Los Angeles: How Historic Places Can Transform America’s Cities, which was named by Planetizen as one of the Top Ten Urban Planning Books of 2021. SOHO’s review HERE.

Flora Chou, LEED AP is an associate principal and cultural resources planner for the architecture and planning firm Page & Turnbull in their Los Angeles office. She leads the architecture history and preservation planning aspects of the firm’s Southern California projects. Her experience ranges from mid 19th-century adobe structures to late 20th-century modern buildings. She works to integrate historic preservation with urban planning, sustainable design, and community development while incorporating diverse cultural resources. Flora holds a master’s degree in historic preservation from Columbia University and is a LEED-accredited professional. She too worked at the Los Angeles Conservancy as a preservation advocate.

David Marshall, AIA is an architect and the president of the San Diego preservation firm Heritage Architecture & Planning. Heritage specializes in the restoration and adaptive reuse of historic structures. He has worked on many significant buildings, including the Hotel del Coronado, Western Metal Supply Company building at Petco Park, Balboa Theatre, and the Top Gun House in Oceanside. David is a past president of SOHO, served on the city’s Historical Resources Board, and was president of the California Preservation Foundation. He is currently on the board of Forever Balboa Park.