Stephen Dragos

Biography: Stephen Dragos Consultant Southport, NC Stephen Dragos directed privately funded nonprofit community development organizations for more than 40 years. Most recently he was founding president & CEO of the Greater Camden (NJ) Partnership, an organization formed and supported by the region's private sector, higher education, healthcare and civic leaders to plan, stimulate and guide reinvestment in the downtown area of the City of Camden, NJ. Prior to opening GCP in 2002 Mr. Dragos was founding CEO of the Somerset Alliance for the Future in Somerset County NJ, founding president of the Phoenix (AZ) Community Alliance, executive vice president and principle staff of the Milwaukee (WI) Redevelopment Corporation, and executive director of the Valley Development Foundation in Upstate NY. In each case Mr. Dragos was responsible for developing strategic community development plans, crafting a public/private revitalization action agenda and carrying out key projects in partnership with public and private sector agencies and investors. Projects in which Mr. Dragos has participated have received recognition at the highest levels: the Council on Urban Economic Development Private Sector Initiative Award (downtown Milwaukee revitalization); the NY State Council on the Arts Award (Valley Development Foundation for economic development); the American Institute of Architects Award for Urban Design Excellence (Kakaako District in Hawaii); the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Award of Excellence in Urban Retail Development (The Grand Avenue Retail Center in Milwaukee, WI); and numerous state design and planning awards for projects which include Arizona Center in downtown Phoenix Mr. Dragos has been a full member of ULI since 1970. He was a founding member and chair of the national ULI Public/Private Partnership Council. He was a founding member of the ULI Phoenix, AZ District Council, and a member of the executive committee of the ULI Philadelphia District Council. He has participated in more than a dozen ULI Advisory Services Panels. He has been a member of several American Institute of Architects R/UDAT planning panels including a joint panel with the Royal Canadian Institute of Architects. He has consulted on planning and development projects in Kingston Jamaica for USAID, in Hawaii for the Queen Emma Foundation and also for the State of Hawaii, in Edmonton Canada and in several other cities for public and private sector clients. Mr. Dragos received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Notre Dame (five year academic program) and he completed Continuing Education for the Public Service at the Maxwell School of Public Policy at Syracuse University. He was Adjunct Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee graduate schools of Urban and Regional Planning and Architecture for ten years and for six years at the Arizona State University graduate schools of design and planning. Updated October 2013