Placemakers 14: A place-based approach to creating vibrant downtowns

About This Event

Event Recording

Presented by CMLC, in partnership with The City of Calgary and Calgary Public Library, Placemakers 14 will feature a keynote by award-winning city executive Tommi Laitio who will share his expertise on place-based design, sustainable programming models, vibrant downtowns and the importance of innovative city-building.

Keynote From Tommi Laitio

As the inaugural Bloomberg Public Innovation Fellow at Johns Hopkins University, Tommi Laitio is currently taking his more than 20 years of combined experience as a journalist, researcher, and culture executive to apply his expertise into a two-year research project that focuses on how cities lead, join, and enable partnerships in the development of parks, trails and public libraries. Tommi’s research seeks to identify the skills, imagination and practices needed within local governments to drive investments that promote sustainable growth and human flourishing.

Panel Discussion

A panel discussion with Kate Thompson, CMLC’s President & CEO, Thom Mahler, The City of Calgary’s Director of Downtown Strategy, and Sarah Meilleur, Calgary Public Library’s CEO will follow the keynote.

Kate Thompson, moderator and panellist

Under Kate’s leadership, CMLC is overseeing over $1B in city-building projects within the Rivers District including the BMO Centre Expansion, Arts Commons Transformation and critical infrastructure projects in east Victoria Park, delivering on the vision for Calgary’s Culture + Entertainment District.

Kate’s exceptional leadership and foresight have been instrumental in the success of many of Calgary’s major infrastructure and development projects over the past 10 years, including the new Central Library and Platform Innovation Centre & Parkade. She is highly regarded in the industry for her deep expertise, uncompromising standards and unwavering commitment.

Thom Mahler, panellist

As Director of The City of Calgary’s Downtown Strategy team—the stewards of The City’s $200M+ investment to build a thriving, future-focused downtown, Thom is responsible to transform downtown from the traditional 9 to 5 business district to a vibrant and thriving city centre.

With more than 30 years of experience in city planning, Thom has worked in development review, urban design, policy planning and economic development in Calgary, Southwestern Ontario and the Lower Mainland of British Columbia.

Sarah Meilleur, panellist

A born-and-raised Calgarian, Sarah Meilleur learned to love her local library at an early age. Her passion for promoting literacy and reading made her a natural fit to lead the Calgary Public Library as CEO in 2021. Sarah has authored numerous journal articles, lectured at Harvard University on library design, led the design thinking of Calgary's award-winning Central Library and launched the Community Heritage and Family History Digital Library—an online bank of more than 5,000 photographs and postcards documenting Calgary’s history and growth. As a recipient of Avenue Magazine's Top 40 under 40 award and Queen Elizabeth ll's Platinum Jubilee Medal for outstanding service to family, community, and country, Sarah is enthusiastic about how public libraries transform lives and works to foster curiosity, innovation, belonging, and fantastic visitor experiences.

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Event Accessibility

The event venue is equipped with accessible seating, restrooms and elevators. The Performance Hall can be accessed via an elevator on the east side of Central Library, or through the Level 0 West Doors by request. Captioning will be provided. If there are other considerations that would make the event more accessible or comfortable for you, please send an email to rsvp@calgarymlc.ca