Communication Across Barriers

Gregg Colburn is the Marsha and Jay Glazer Endowed University Professor and Associate Professor in the Runstad Department of Real Estate in the College of Built Environments at the University of Washington. He publishes research on topics related to housing and homelessness and is co-author of the book, Homelessness is a Housing Problem: How Structural Factors Explain U.S. Patterns. Gregg is also co-author of the recently released book, Affordable Housing in the United States. His research has been featured in leading media outlets, including The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Economist, Bloomberg, and National Public Radio.

Gregg holds an M.B.A. from Northwestern University, and a M.S.W. and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. Prior to academia, he worked as an investment banker and private equity professional. At the University of Washington, Gregg teaches classes in housing, urban economics, and finance. Gregg serves as co-chair of the University of Washington’s Homelessness Research Initiative and is a member of the National Alliance to End Homelessness Research Council.

Andrew Abela is the founding dean of the Busch School of Business and Ordinary Professor of Marketing at The Catholic University of America, in Washington, D.C. He is a faculty affiliate at the Harvard University Human Flourishing Program and a Contributor at Forbes.com. His research on the integrity of the marketing process, including marketing ethics, Catholic Social Doctrine, and internal communication, has been published in several academic journals, including the Journal of Marketing, the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, the Journal of Business Ethics, and the Journal of Markets & Morality, and in two books. He is the winner of the 2009 Novak Award, a $10,000 prize given by the Acton Institute for “significant contributions to the study of the relationship between religion and economic liberty.” His two most recent books are Super Habits: The Universal System for a Successful Life from Sophia Press and A Catechism for Business from Catholic University Press.

Dr. Abela also provides consulting and training in internal communications to Fortune 100 corporations. Prior to his academic career, he spent several years in industry as brand manager at Procter & Gamble, management consultant with McKinsey & Company, and Managing Director of the Marketing Leadership Council of the Corporate Executive Board. He holds a B.Sc. from the University of Toronto, an MBA from the Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Switzerland, and a Ph.D. in Marketing and Ethics from the Darden Business School at the University of Virginia. He and his wife, Kathleen, have six children, three of whom (so far) have graduated from Catholic U.

The Galt House Hotel

140 North 4th Street
Louisville, KY 40202

SVdP Group Rate:  $179 per room, per night, plus taxes.  To book a room at The Galt House, you can use this booking link:  The Galt House Hotel. Group rate expires, August 1, 2025!
Rooms booked under the group block are eligible for a discount of $10 off of self-parking the parking discount or $10 for self-parking. Current self-parking rate is $30 per day.

Located in downtown Louisville, the hotel is approximately 9 miles from Louisville International Airport (SDF).
Transportation is available from the airport to The Galt House via Taxi, Uber, Lyft.

Southwest Airlines is pleased to offer 2025 SVdP National Assembly attendees discounted fares. To utilize the discount, book via SWABIZ® using this link. Discount valid for travel 8/23/2025 to 9/2/2025.

Stephanie Land’s bestselling debut memoir Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive recounts her harrowing saga as a single mom navigating the poverty trap. It depicts her life at age 28 when she and her seven month-old have to move into a homeless shelter fleeing a violent home, begins the bureaucratic nightmare of applying for food stamps and subsidized housing, and starts cleaning houses for $9/hour.  Her unflinching testimony exposes the physical, economic, and social brutality that domestic workers face, all while radiating a parent’s hope and dedication.

Praised for its raw portrayal of poverty and systemic inequality, Maid inspired the Emmy and Golden Globe nominated Netflix series of the same name, reaching over 67 million households, in which Land served as an executive producer on the show. Her follow-up memoir, Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education, continues her story as a single mother navigating college and poverty.

Land writes on economic justice, domestic abuse, and motherhood, with work featured in major outlets like The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Atlantic. She is a fellow at the Center for Community Change and an ambassador for the National Domestic Workers Alliance. She is currently working on her third book, The Privilege to Feel.