The 2026 Annual BIA Conference will take place

Jay Pitter is a sought-after keynote speaker, lecturer, and public thinker who transforms how people understand public spaces and cities more broadly. Drawing on decades of precedent-setting practice, she delivers signature participatory keynotes that move beyond monologues — sharing her expertise while inviting every attendee to contribute their own. She has been engaged by client collaborators such as UN Women, municipal governments, cultural institutions, and leading universities. Whether addressing an auditorium of transportation planners, a room of policymakers, or a public audience in a park beneath an open sky, her participatory keynotes invite people to move beyond simply solving problems to embracing the possibility and poetry of place. 

“Jay Pitter is the most original and iconoclastic speaker on cities and urban design I’ve encountered in a long time. In a moving, articulate voice that weaves narrative and analysis, she always manages to shatter preconceptions and provide hopeful but practical ideas for meaningful change.” 
— Doug Saunders, Columnist and Award-Winning Author (Arrival City)