Meet Ilana
Ilana is on a mission to design a more inspiring future, one community and project at a time. As a participatory futures design strategist, Ilana works at the cutting-edge intersection of policy, community engagement, and development. She is known for challenging conventions and driving innovative solutions that reshape industries and stimulate positive change.
Ilana works with cities, real estate developers, international aid organizations, and creative communities around the globe. Her work has catalyzed community development through art, culture, dialogue, public input, and economic opportunity. Ilana’s work welcomes participation and creates space for transformative solutions that inspire lasting positive impact. All of her work considers social equity, climate, culture, and community.
Ilana was recognized by the Obama White House as a “Champion of Change in Civic Innovation” for her work co-founding freespace, an initiative to temporarily transform vacant spaces into community, cultural, and arts hubs. She is a trained futurist, having worked at Institute for the Future, where she co-created a course in Design Futures. She earned an MBA in sustainable management from the Presidio Graduate School. Ilana currently lives in Oakland, CA, and is a Commissioner for the City of Oakland’s Cultural Affairs Commission.
“Ilana is a multi-talented connector with an ability to create community in any undertaking, seamlessly working across sectors, neighborhoods, countries, and time horizons. She’s uniquely talented at facilitating and fostering collaboration, surfacing the interests and assets of varied stakeholders and melding them into a product everyone feels good about. Very few people can unify and deliver results in the way Ilana does.”
— Amy Cohen, former San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development
Affiliations
Cultural Affairs Commission, Commissioner, City of Oakland
Farming Hope, Former board member
Urban Land Institute, Advisory Services Panelist
ReAllocate, Board member
Big Ideas Contest, Contest mentor and judge
Emerge California, Alumni
The Seastars, Singer and songwriter
Placemaking X, Leader