Dates – June 17 & 18, 2026
Location – Yours Truly Hotel, 1143 New Hampshire Ave. NW, Washington DC
This summit will focus on the regulatory system, policy and processes of the U.S. and take a deep dive exploring the wicked problem of regulatory reform and the role the engineering community can play leading transformational efforts in pursuit of an abundant and prosperous future. The summit will examine changes that are needed to:
- Inject “wisdom” back into regulations and the regulatory process and re-energize America’s “producer culture” (Klein).
- Foster innovation as well as build and deploy capacities needed to address critical societal and engineering grand challenges.
- Rebalance “safety and risk” within engineering practice and technological innovation. (From precautionary/hyper-cautious thinking to proactionary/smart choices balancing uncertainty and risk with opportunity and benefits.)
The summit will address regulatory process and policy transformation in the realm of the built and natural environment.
Hotel reservations for the Yours Truly Hotel are available at a reduced group rate at this link. The reduced rate will be available until May 19, 2026. The room rate listed includes a destination fee which will not be billed to our attendees.
Agenda & Reading List
Transforming the Regulatory System Summit Agenda
Evocateurs
Kevin Frazier. Kevin is Senior Fellow at the Abundance Institute, Director AI Innovation and Law at the University of Texas School of Law and co-host of the podcast Scaling Laws. He will explore the intersection of AI and regulatory policy making, highlighting driving forces reshaping the regulatory system around AI and technology.
Paul Heberling. Paul is Senior Policy Advisor, Permitting and Project Approvals with The Nature Conservancy. Paul will outline needed innovations in regulatory processes from the perspective of an organization focused on environmental stewardship.
Lisa Kammer. Lisa is Vice President/Technical Director at Weston Solutions, Inc. and an expert with respect to site investigation and remediation of deep fractured bedrock PFAS. She will offer her thoughts on needed innovations in regulatory processes from the context of the PFAS challenge.
Rachel Levine. Rachel is the Senior Transmission Policy Analyst for the Niskanen Center’s Climate and Energy Team. She leads transmission-centric research focused on interregional planning, marketplace governance, high-voltage direct current technology, and permitting reform. She will contribute her knowledge and experience related to innovations in energy regulatory processes as well as strategies for engaging with policy makers in new ways.
Guru Madhavan. Guru is the Norman R. Augustine Senior Scholar and Senior Director of Programs at the National Academy of Engineering. Guru is a biomedical systems engineers. His books include “Applied Minds: How Engineers Think” and “Wicked Problems: How to Engineer a Better World.” Guru will offer his system engineering approach to transformation of our regulatory system.
Toccarra Nicole Thomas. Toccarra is Assistant Vice President Housing and Development and Executive Director Center for Zoning Solutions at Smart Growth America. Toccarra will offer her thoughts on needed regulatory innovations for housing and inclusive community development.
David Sloan Wilson. David is an evolutionary biologist, author, and President of Prosocial World, a nonprofit dedicated to enabling individual and collective action for positive change. He will kick off the summit by helping participants to move beyond minor tweaks to regulations toward an evolutionary view of the regulatory system and its potential transformation — from a static system of constraints into an adaptive, performance-oriented structure.
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