Our Mission

President

Derik Kane, AICP, CNUa

Derik is a Senior Planner for LaBella Associates and President of CNU-WNY (Partners for a Livable Western New York), the official affiliate for the Congress for New Urbanism in WNY. As a planner for LaBella, his work focuses on: Smart Growth, Form Based Codes and Zoning Revisions, Comprehensive Planning, Business Development & Downtown Revitalization, Pedestrian and Bicycle Accessibility, and Resiliency Planning.

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In 2020, Derik was recognized by Buffalo Business First as a recipient of their 40 under 40 award and was selected in the inaugural class for the Buffalo Olmsted Park Conservancy’s Young Professionals for Olmsted Parks program. Additionally, he is part of the current leadership Buffalo class. 

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Derik holds a Masters of Urban Planning from the University of New York at Buffalo, with a specialization in Economic Development, and is accredited with the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNUa). He previously served as the chair of the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce’s Business Development Committee, as a leadership member of Buffalo’s Young Preservationists, and the Batavia Business Improvement Districts Economic Development Committee. 

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Derik resides in Amherst, NY with his wife and two daughters.

Vice President

William Tuyn

Bill is an NBS Certified Green Professional with over thirty-eight years of experience as a land development consultant who has designed and managed projects across a diverse range of places and forms.

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The 2015-2016 President of the New York State Builders Association, Bill was nominated by the Governor of New York and confirmed by the NYS Senate, as the Building Industry representative on the New York State Fire Prevention and Building Codes Council.

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The 2009 President of the Buffalo Niagara Builders Association, he has twice served as both the New York State representative to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and as NAHB’s National Vice President/National Area 2 Chairman. A longtime member of NAHB’s Legal Action and Land Development Committees, he currently is Chairman of NAHB’s Audit Committee.

An avid advocate Smart Growth and sustainable design, he was named as the 2015 Buffalo Ambassador of the Year for his successful effort to bring 2014’s twenty-second annual Congress for the New Urbanism to Buffalo.  In addition to serving as Co-chair of CNU22, he serves on the Board of the Congress for the New Urbanism’s New York Chapter, has served on the Board of Vision Long Island, and is the Vice Chairman of the Board of  CNU-WNY (Partners for a Livable Western New York), the CNU’s WNY regional chapter.

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A United States Patent holder and former faculty member of the prestigious Collège du Léman in Versoix Switzerland, Bill also completed a course of study in Urban Design and Management Practices at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.

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A proud father of 3, he currently oversees development operations for David Homes, Inc., where in his home town of the Village of Williamsville, New York, he serves on both the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Traffic and Safety Committee. He is also Vice Chairman of the Board of the Amherst Industrial Development Agency.

Chair of Programming

George R. Grasser

George led the formation of CNU-WNY (Partners for a Livable Western New York) in 1999, served as its executive director for 18 years, and co-chaired the organization’s hosting of the Congress for the New Urbanism in Buffalo in 2014. 

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He is a real estate consultant with 50 years of experience as a real estate development and transactional attorney and developer, including the creation of the legal structure for more than 200 condominiums and homeowner associations throughout New York State and Ontario, Canada.

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In addition to being co-chair of the New York State Bar Association Condominium and Cooperative Committee, Georgeheaded the development team for The Gardens at Oxbow new urbanist development in the Village of Lewiston that was named Project of the Year by the New York State Builders Association in 2013.  

He co-founded the Western New York Chapter of the Community Association Institute and served as a national trustee of CAI.

Chair of Communications

Terry Fisher

As a local business owner for over twenty years, and as an educator for an additional twenty years in WNY, Terry has developed a long and varied relationship with area cultural organizations, local governments, banks, manufacturers, and healthcare systems. The result of which is a deep understanding of how healthy, active, fair & equitable, and well-designed communities can improve the lives of citizens and the economic stability of their city, town, or village.

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Terry has received an Ed.M. in Instructional Design & Educational Media from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and a BA in Theatre & Communication from the State University College at Oswego. He has been an Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Fredonia State, Brockport State, Canisius College, and with The New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University,and was the Director of The Media Center at Canisius College.

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He is also a professional screenwriter and an owner of Full Circle Studios, a digital media design and production company in WNY.

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Terry is currently a board member of the Buffalo Broadcasters Association, the BFLO Experience/WNY Hall of Fame, the Theatre District Association, and the CNU-WNY (Partners for a Livable WNY).

Projects I Love –

1. Larkinville

2. The Niagara Greenway

3. The emerging Lower West Side

Secretary and Advocacy Chair

Don Erb

Don Erb is currently the Senior Sustainability Associate at the University at Buffalo for the Division of Student Life, and the Vice Chairman of the UB Professional Staff Senate where he assists University Student Affairs departments in achieving their departmental missions.

In 2003 Don accepted a New York State Engineering Award and LEEDCertification from the USGBC for the Creekside Village Community Building, the first such certified building in upstate New York. In 2009 Don was named BOMA Buffalo Member of the Year. In 2012 he was awarded LEED Certification for the first LEED Gold Certified Residence Hall in New York State for Greiner Hall, which also won a Brick by Brick Award, the local BOMA Award for Best Real Estate Development, and anABBY Award from Buildings Magazine. In 2012 Don received a third LEED Certification for the rehab of Crossroads Culinary Center in the Joseph Ellicott Complex.

​Mr. Erb has had a long affiliation with the 18,000 member Building Owners and Managers Association International and has served in various elected and appointed capacities including President of Greater Buffalo BOMA in 1998 and 2003-2004. 

​Don has a passionate interest in the future of Buffalo as the center of a vital WNY and has spent a great deal of his time volunteering on a number of civic committeeswhere he continues to be active. He was a steering committee member for the AIADowntown Housing Regional /Urban Design Assistance Team” and is the Past Chair ofthe Waterfront Action Group of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership. He is a past Board of Directors Member of Leadership Buffalo.  He was the Outreach Chairman for the highly successful Congress for the New Urbanism 22 Congress in Buffalo during 2014 and is a Past President and Board Member of Partners for A Livable WNY, the Local Host for the event.

Chair of Finance

Gail Plato

Gail has lived in Western New York most of her life and is such a pro-Western New Yorker that she even received her Bachelors degree from State University of NY at Buffalo.

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Gail’s parents liked to buy homes that needed finishing or remodeling and even as a child she would “work” with them.  Throughout her adult life, Gail has always purchased properties that needed work and she enjoys taking them from the original condition when purchased to something more complete and much nicer.

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After becoming a single mother of 4 children, Gail obtained a real estate license and while selling real estate learned a lot about cities, towns, villages and rural areas.  Gail also discovered that she really liked finance and mortgaging whichlead to a career in mortgaging, often centered around new construction and community reinvestment.

Being a mom lead Gail into coaching and refereeing soccer and starting  the Clarence Holiday Valley Ski Club with Jane Floss, that takes teenagers to Holiday Valley on Saturday afternoons and evenings in the winter, now in its 35th year. 

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The knowledge obtained by various paths in her life has inspiredGail to believe in smart growth and the importance of maintaining livable cities, villages and towns.  This has led tobeing a board member of  CNU-WNY (Partners for a Livable Western New York) and membership in the Congress for the New Urbanism.

Treasurer

Bill Harrington

Bill is one of the founding members of CNU-WNY (Partners for a Livable Western New York), and serves as its Treasurer.  He is an attorney in private practice concentrating primarily in transactional areas such as real estate, tax, estate planning, trusts and estates, and business/corporate work. Occasionally, he handles land use disputes but always finds it more interesting to consider how land use and city design is planned.

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Bill has a lifelong interest in architecture and design and happened upon the new urbanism movement when reading about those topics.  He has been a member of the Congress for the New Urbanism for a couple decades and has participated in several annual Congresses including the highly successful Congress held in Buffalo in 2014.

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The Congress for the New Urbanism is unique as it invites participation by anyone having an interest in architecture, planning, and urban design.  Many of its members teach those topics in universities and/or are professional planners, architects, and designers.  But there are many civic minded individuals having expertise in other areas whose ideas are welcomed.

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It goes without saying that one of the pleasures of living in a free society is the ability to travel to other cities in the US and beyond.  Eventually, one begins to understand why a place is so beloved and what it takes to make a place that way. Buffalo has a long ways to go but has come very far.  The ideas of good design seem to have caught on in the development community and governmental officials may come to finally understand its importance, too.

Board Member

Renata Niedzwiecka Kraft, RLA, ASLA

As Deputy Executive Director of Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper, Renata serves to deliver the mission of the organization as a whole, and helps to direct the organization’s multidisciplinary teams in visioning, planning, design, and implementation of Waterkeeper’s programs and projects throughout the Niagara River watershed. Waterkeeper’s vision is to protect clean water by restoring the health of our ecosystems, while at the same time connecting people to water and inspiring economic growth.  

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Renata is a New York State Registered Landscape Architect.  A graduate of the Professional Landscape Architecture program in the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Washington in Seattle. Renata practiced in both planning and landscape architecture in Seattle and San Diego prior to returning to Western New York.  

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Renata’s professional experience includes park, campus, urban and community master planning and design; multi-modal transportation project development; cultural and historic landscape preservation; public art incorporation; waterfront development, and ecological resource enhancement and implementation. 

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Renata also currently serves on the boards of Vision Niagara and CNU-WNY (Partners for a Livable Western New York).

Board Member

Christina (Lincoln) Paradowski

Christina works for the Matt Urban Center as Housing Rehab Programs Manager, assisting east side residents in getting health and safety repairs done on their homes. The Center is also exploring additional programs and community development activities that benefit everyone in their diverse service area, including recently putting together an activity book for the Broadway Fillmore neighborhood. 

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Christina holds a Masters degree in Urban Planning, Design, and Development from Cleveland State University’s Levin College of Urban Affairs, one of the top planning schools in the country, and a graduate certificate in historic preservation.

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• Board Member, WNY-CNU (Partners for a Livable WNY)

• Advisor, National Trust for Historic Preservation

• Co-chair, Design Committee, Fillmore Forward, a Main Street program developed to increase economic activity and community space along Fillmore Avenue.

• Brought the Historic Preservation in America’s Legacy Cities conference to Buffalo in 2018 and was on the planning committee for the inaugural event in 2014. The summit brought people from across the country to talk about preservation through the lens of equity, equality, inclusion, and sustainability. 

• Published in the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative’s Urban Infill Historic Preservation edition and “Right Here, Right Now: The Buffalo Anthology.”

• Won a Preservation Advocacy award from Preservation Buffalo Niagara

• Volunteering since 2017, is now Team Lead for the 11 Day Power Play, an 11 day long hockey game that raises money for cancer research at Roswell Park, and to assist families through Camp Good Days, Make a Wish, and Oishei Children’s Hospital Oncology Unit

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Lives in the Hamlin Park Historic District with husband Mark and their surviving triplet Larkin, restoring our historic home very, very, very slowly. 

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Projects I love: 

1. The restoration of Humboldt Parkway (hopefully in progress)

2. Activation of the Central Terminal 

3. Carousel at Canalside