Alyson Craig, Assistant City Manager for the City of Charlotte
Release Date: 04/29/2025
Mark Jerrell, Chair Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners | Representative District 4
Getting Real With Rob
Mark Jerrell, chair of the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners and the representative for District 4, which comprises the eastern part of Mecklenburg County. And we have to say, this podcast episode is one we’ve been looking forward to for a long time. His leadership qualities are complemented by his easy-going demeanor, and a quick wit. But the building of a leader happened early in his life, he shared. Because of his upbringing, and the loud voice of a strong momma in his head, Mark is committed to breaking down barriers and ensuring that resources are accessible for our most...
info_outline
Ed Driggs, Charlotte City Councilperson District 7
Getting Real With Rob
When Ed Driggs, Charlotte City Councilperson for District 7, sat down for our interview, he elaborated on many civic issues. But woven in between the answers, we heard him speak of two important principles that he uses to facilitate the positive outcomes he’s known for. One. Make sure the people in the room feel comfortable. And two, never stop learning. These words offer sage advice to not only anyone reading this but stands as a key to his results-driven municipal leadership that has stood the test of time. Representing Charlotte’s District 7 since 2013, we may think his task has grown...
info_outline
Danté Anderson, Charlotte City Councilperson District 1
Getting Real With Rob
It’s been 2 years since Danté Anderson, City Councilperson for District 1, joined us for an episode of Getting Real with Rob. And although the sitting Council looks a little different, Danté still brings her signature gravitas to the podcast booth, just as she does to any interview. Appointed as the Chair to the newly independent Charlotte City Safety Committee, she clarified what she sees as an effort to connect all the relevant safety-minded entities within the City with Uptown residents and business owners, to ensure they support and uphold the work of our dedicated police force. ...
info_outline
David Longo | Founder, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer – CBI Workplace Solutions
Getting Real With Rob
“It’s really easy to identify a problem; it’s actually not that hard to come up with solutions. The real work comes with implementing them.” shares David Longo, our first guest of 2026, as he gave his closing remarks. Our episode drilled down into the details of the Transportation Referendum and the accompanying 1 cent sales tax increase that passed last November as David’s leadership was instrumental in forging bipartisan collaborations between Raleigh and Charlotte. Helping to move this historic initiative forward, its successful passing reinforced his belief that real progress...
info_outline
Aaron Houck, Land Use Attorney with Robinson Bradshaw
Getting Real With Rob
In this episode, we turn our attention to policy makers and citizen groups’ persistent distaste for growth, and confusion around managing it intelligently. And all over the US, albeit the world, there is a tug of war between those who live in a place and those who want to live in a place with each believing they hold virtue over the other. With NC assumed to become the seventh most populated state in the country by 2030, leaning in is a prerequisite to resolving our issues. That’s why we’re thrilled to welcome our guest Aaron Houck, a land use attorney at Robinson Bradshaw, who...
info_outline
Dan Puvak, Operations Partner—Architectural & Estimating Services at True Homes
Getting Real With Rob
A veteran of nearly every discipline in home building, our podcast guest Dan Puvak, Operations Partner—Architectural & Estimating Services at True Homes in Monroe, NC reminds us that unpacking the intricacies of building a home is something relatively few understand. He would love to see more narratives dig deeper into the facts and details so the public can become educated about its elegance and importance to our economy and our communities. Sharing his views on how the UDO, even in its imperfect form, can help create predictability and therefore efficiency in planning and...
info_outline
Torrey Feimster | CEO for Ascension Community Development Corporation
Getting Real With Rob
Torrey Feimster is championing efforts that pave pathways to accelerated generational wealth through homeownership, thereby helping to close the widening wealth gap. Torrey chatted with Rob Nanfelt about the nuances of this benevolent mission, but it's clear this is a personal passion for Torrey in addition to a mission for good. Previously, Torrey served as Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at GEM Investments (GEM), a $ 12 billion+ OCIO, where he advanced diversity initiatives and participated in the development of GEM's proprietary impact investing framework, which includes a...
info_outline
Sagar Rathie | Managing Director - Office at Crescent Communities | 2025 President NAIOP Charlotte
Getting Real With Rob
“You can have an impact!” states Sagar Rathie as he deftly handled our questions from host Rob Nanfelt. As our latest podcast guest, he approached the interview with enthusiasm and a plan. Immediately endearing and always prepared, Sagar has made a meteoric rise in the commercial development industry here in Charlotte. He also calls himself a bit of a Renaissance man but also stated that one of the mobile apps he couldn’t live without is his GPS (…so he knows where he’s going!). Then he explained how, given a choice between being the smartest person in the room or the funniest, he...
info_outline
Bobbi Jo Lazarus, Shareholder with Elliott Davis
Getting Real With Rob
We thought long and hard about the first few lines of our editorial for this podcast, in the hopes we’d successfully ignite some curiosity with our audience. It was decided that leading with “Tax Talk” might not be the hook needed. But after our interview with Bobbi Jo Lazarus, Shareholder with Elliott Davis, we changed our minds. Because spending 25 minutes on this podcast is going to be more entertaining and interesting than you would think. And extremely (yes, extremely) educational. In a short amount of time, we unpacked the top elements of the new implications of the Big Beautiful...
info_outline
Rodney Faulkner & William Haygood III | Boundary Street Advisors
Getting Real With Rob
This month on Getting Real with Rob, we welcome West Charlotte schoolmates Rodney Faulkner and William Haygood III, founders and partners with Boundary Street Advisors here in Charlotte. Established in 2018, this full-service commercial real estate firm is dedicated to some pretty big, bold ideas when it comes to commercial development. And because of that, Rodney, an alumnus of Appalachian State University and William, an alumnus of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill helped us record an episode that inspires just as much as it informs. Boundary Street Advisors is nothing if not...
info_outlineAs we welcome Alyson Craig back to the podcast booth, we get a chance to not only celebrate her advancement to the position of Assistant City Manager for the City of Charlotte but reconnect on so many issues that important to our members.
By way of background, Craig joined the City of Charlotte in 2018 as the Charlotte Planning, Design & Development Deputy Director and managed the Land Development, Entitlement Services (Rezoning/UDO), and Design and Preservation divisions as well as the department's human resources and budget operations. Craig also led the city's "one stop shop" initiative and the creation of the CLT Development Center.
Previously serving as the Co-Director of the Childress Klein Center for Real Estate and the Director for the Master of Science in Real Estate program at UNC Charlotte. She taught several courses within the UNC-Charlotte graduate real estate program including planning and real estate development and has been an active member of the Charlotte community, committing her time to the Urban Land Institute, the American Planning Association, Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, and several other professional and community organizations. Craig is also a certified planner with the American Planning Association and received her AICP certification in 2009.
Alyson has a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has two master's degrees, one in sustainable development and conservation ecology from the University of Georgia and another in real estate from UNC Charlotte. With over 25 years of experience in land use planning, real estate development, public policy, and education, Alyson is one of the few in her field with experience in both the public and private sectors. That ‘savvy’ reaches across all sectors including land use planning, entitlements, community outreach, budget and staff management, and communications.
As far as the cadence of the interview, both Rob and Alyson were full of humor that belied her full transparency into her intentions and vision for Charlotte. She shared her recommendations for helping to continually improve and refine the “living document”; her reference to the Charlotte UDO, her desire to truly streamline the permitting process, to push forward on exploring church owned property collaborations for developing attainable housing, and even a clever idea to help mitigate tree canopy metrics while helping to maximize lot yield. And the positive buzz she is hearing across the country about our great city of Charlotte makes our buttons burst.
In summary? Alyson is constantly pushing against the norm, finding cracks in the ‘box’ so she can break it wide open and find real solutions. Thank you, Alyson, for your willingness to update our REBIC members with this episode!