SUPPLY CHAIN COUNCIL

Steven Hussain is Senior Vice President and Head of Government Affairs. In that capacity, he leads the organization’s efforts to engage the public sector to deepen relationships and advance Prologis’ business objectives. Before joining Prologis, Steven served in various senior leadership roles in the public and nonprofit sectors focused on economic development, education, and municipal policy. Steven holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Texas at Arlington and an MBA from Baylor University.

John Ramirez is a partner specializing in Land Use, Government, Regulatory, and Entitlement Law, as well as Real Estate at Rutan & Tucker, LLP. Before joining Rutan & Tucker, LLP, he practiced law at Nielsen, Merksamer, Parrinello, Mueller & Naylor in Sacramento, focusing on government and regulatory law. Prior to this, Ramirez served as a Staff Attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation,representing landowners in various land use, constitutional law, exaction, and rent control cases. Before pursuing his legal career, Ramirez worked as an Executive Fellow at the Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency during the administration of former California Governor Pete Wilson, where he worked
on transportation, infrastructure, and housing issues. He later held a position at the Governor’s Office of Planning & Research. In 2002, the Los Angeles Daily Journal recognized Ramirez as one of the “Top 20 Lawyers in the State Under 40.” He obtained his law degree from the University of California, Hastings School of Law, where he was a member of the Hastings Law Journal and served as a Judicial Extern for California Supreme Court Justice Kathryn Werdegar. Ramirez completed his undergraduate studies at the University of California, Irvine.

David is a land use and environmental attorney with more than two decades of experience counseling clients in complex permitting and regulatory matters.

With a focus on governmental affairs and community relations, David also advises clients in the areas of political strategy and media relations. As a result, David has successfully represented clients in a wide variety of high-profile land use projects before elected and appointed bodies in jurisdictions throughout California and his land use expertise has resulted in tens of thousands of acres of residential, retail, commercial, mixed use, industrial and institutional development approvals.

Tim Walsh serves as the Chief Investment Officer for Dermody Properties, where he oversees all origination activities including acquisitions, development, and build-to-suit projects. With over 34 years of experience in industrial fund creation and asset management, he collaborates with Dermody Properties’ national team of regional partners to identify optimal industrial investment opportunities. Based in the company’s Midwest Region office, Mr. Walsh has facilitated the acquisition of over 25 million square feet of core industrial space and 40 million square feet of value-added industrial space, totaling more than $6.8 billion in value. Prior to his tenure at Dermody Properties, he served as a Principal at the Exeter Property Group, managing the acquisition of 94 industrial properties spanning 21 million square feet across the United States. Additionally, Mr. Walsh spent 14 years at Wrightwood Capital overseeing multiple industrial funds. He holds a B.S. from the University of Notre Dame and an M.B.A. from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, and is an active member of industry organizations including NAIOP, the Ecommerce Forum, and the Urban Land Institute’s Product Council.

Mike serves as President and General Counsel of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association. Mike advises PMSA on legal, statutory and regulatory matters, and regularly testifies on behalf of industry at administrative and legislative hearings. He is also the association’s liaison with outside counsel and advocates. Mike is a regular lecturer and presenter at industry conferences and events, including for the Pacific Admiralty Seminar, California Maritime Leadership Symposium, the International Bar Association, and the US State Department.

Prior to joining PMSA Mike worked in various capacities in the California state legislature as well as providing strategic consulting to local transportation agencies in the Bay Area, including the Port of Oakland and the Bay Area Rapid Transit District.

Mike earned a law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of Law and holds a BA in Economics from UC Berkeley. He is a member of the State Bar of California and the US Supreme Court Bar as well as the Maritime Law Association of the United States. Mike is the current Chair of the Advisory Council to the CSU – Cal Maritime School of Letters & Sciences. In addition, Mike is also active in regional land use and housing affordability issues, having served on the Alameda County Planning Commission for 12 years and as current Chairman of a large non-profit affordable housing development company.

Jon embarked on his journey in the Labor Movement in 1986, initially as the Director of the Center for Contract Compliance (CCC) after earning his Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice Administration from San Diego State University. Despite initially viewing this role as temporary due to aspirations outside the Labor Movement, Jon found himself deeply entrenched in the cause, marking over three decades of dedication to it. Throughout his career, he navigated various roles within the movement, spanning from investigating contractors’ compliance to negotiating contracts as a Field Representative and Chief Negotiator. Seeking broader exposure, Jon joined the AGC of California in 1995 as the Director of
Industrial Relations, where he gleaned invaluable insights into cooperative labormanagement relations and the pivotal role of collective bargaining. In 1998, he assumed the role of Executive Director of Audit and Collections for the Construction Laborers Trust Funds for Southern California, overseeing the transition to in-house administration and implementing robust collection strategies. Subsequently, he undertook the challenge of representing Plaster Tenders under Laborers International Union of North America (LiUNA!), elevating their status within the industry through strategic negotiations and robust apprenticeship programs. Jon’s leadership culminated in his appointment as Business Manager of the Southern California District Council of Laborers in 2017, a position he continues to hold, alongside chairing various labor trusts and serving on influential boards within the labor movement.

Michael has spent the last 20 years of his career navigating the politics of infrastructure related to transportation, transit, water, and goods movement funding. Since his appointment as Executive Director of CAJ in 2016, Michael has help lead efforts to secure hundreds of billions of dollars in new funding that have built thousands of infrastructure projects across California. In 2016 the Alliance successfully worked to pass over $30 billion in local transportation measures across four different counties. In 2017, the Alliance led a coalition of over 500 groups supporting the passage of SB1, a historic $52 billion state transportation funding package. That coalition continued into 2018 with the success of the No on Prop 6 campaign, defeating a ballot measure that would have repealed the SB1 gas tax increase and funding for over 6,700 local transportation projects. Currently CAJ continues to advance responsible investments in Californias road, transit and water infrastructure that support a stronger economy and middleclass jobs.

His broad portfolio covers strategy and communication related to effecting successful outcomes in legislative, political, and regulatory issues, as well as statewide ballot initiatives and local infrastructure measures. Michael paid his way through college by working in the construction industry before attended New Mexico Military Institute while serving in the Army National Guard. He graduated in 2002 from Texas A&M University with a B.A. in History and Political Science. He currently lives in El Dorado county.

Jon Switalski serves as the Executive Director of the Rebuild SoCal Partnership (RSCP), bringing with him a wealth of experience in strategic public affairs and communications. Prior to joining RSCP in June 2021, Switalski led Spring Street Consulting and served as Executive Director of Californians for Balanced Energy Solutions starting February 2019. His expertise lies in campaign tactics, communication, energy and environmental policy, open space revitalization, and community engagement. Earlier in his career, Switalski held positions such as Director of External Affairs at River LA and Vice President of Government Relations and Business Development at Ebus Inc. He also served as a Michigan State Representative and held roles in the Macomb County Commission.

Dana Whitmer is responsible for all aspects of shepherding Covington’s projects through the development process. Prior to joining Covington, his career has been centered around the development of industrial business parks in Southern California. He has extensive experience navigating projects through complex entitlement efforts and has successfully managed the design and construction of over 8MM SF of industrial buildings. Mr. Whitmer obtained an MBA from The University of North Carolina and a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Southern California. Before beginning his career in real estate, he served for four years as an officer in the United States Marine Corps.

Joe leads the development acquisition efforts for the west region. The west region currently has 36 projects totaling over 6.9 million square feet in various stages of the development process.

Prior to joining Link Logistics in 2020, Joe worked in the brokerage, investment and development sides of the industrial real estate business with CBRE, Colliers, DCT Industrial, and CRG. Joe holds a Masters in Real Estate Development and a Bachelors in Business Administration from the University of Southern California.