Our Staff

Michelle Malanca Frey
Executive Director
michelle.frey@uli.org
(628) 245-2406

Michelle Malanca Frey is the Executive Director of the Urban Land Institute San Francisco. Since joining ULI in 2016, she has collaborated with members to launch a number of initiatives, including Housing the Bay. Michelle currently serves on the Executive Steering Committee of the Mayor of San Francisco’s Zero Emission Building Task Force. In 2019, she was a recipient of the Northern California Real Estate Woman of Influence Award from the San Francisco Business Times.

Prior to this, as Vice President at the World Green Building Council, Michelle led collaborative, global initiatives and campaigns to accelerate the uptake of sustainable buildings and address climate change. As Technical Director at the Green Building Council of Australia, she chaired multi-stakeholder processes to develop green building rating tools and transform the real estate industry. As part of her own consultancy, she worked with public, private, nonprofit, and multilateral organizations around the world, developing green building rating systems and integrating sustainability initiatives into large real estate projects and portfolios. She has spoken at dozens of conferences in the US, Australia, South Africa, Kenya, Canada, and throughout Latin America.

Natalie Sandoval
Senior Director
natalie.sandoval@uli.org
(628)245-2405

Natalie is Senior Director at the Urban Land Institute San Francisco (ULI SF) and has over 10 years of experience in real estate, economic development, urban planning, and landscape architecture. At ULI SF, she oversees Technical Assistance Panels (TAPs), which provide multidisciplinary advice to local governments, public agencies, and nonprofits facing complex land use issues. Collaborating with ULI SF members, she also manages ULI SF’s Housing the Bay initiative, which is tackling the root causes of the Bay Area’s housing crisis. Natalie also oversees all ULI SF’s public sector initiatives including UrbanPlan for Communities, City Development Partnership Training, and City Council Study Sessions.

In 2020 Natalie helped to launch ULI SF’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiative with a focus on increasing membership diversity, building the pipeline of diverse industry professionals, and supporting the creation of more equitable communities. Additionally, she served on the ULI America’s DEI Staff Task Force and co-chaired the subcommittee on how to increase the diversity of membership.

Prior to joining ULI, Natalie worked in the New York office of HR&A Advisors, an economic development and real estate consulting firm as the Director of Marketing and Business Development. Prior to HR&A, she lived in Los Angeles and was the Marketing and Business Development Manager at SWA Group, an international landscape architecture and urban design firm.

Natalie received her MBA from the Presidio Graduate School and holds a Bachelor of Arts from Bard College. In addition, she studied Landscape Architecture at UCLA Extension.

Julie Luu
Senior Associate
julie.luu@uli.org
(628) 245-2407

Julie joined the Urban Land Institute San Francisco in 2016. At ULI SF, Julie supports the Silicon Valley Programs Committee, San Francisco Programs Committee, the Women’s Leadership Initiative, the UrbanPlan Committee, and NEXT Committee to plan, manage, and execute high-quality programming.

Before joining ULI San Francisco, Julie lived on the Oregon Coast and worked at the Greater Bandon Association (GBA), a nonprofit organization focused on local community and economic revitalization.

Julie holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in Urban Studies and Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley. Outside of her work at ULI, Julie enjoys vegetable gardening, reading non-fiction books, and thrifting.

Casey Pond
Senior Associate
casey.pond@uli.org
(628)245-2146

Casey Pond joined ULI San Francisco in November 2017, allowing her to continue to explore her interest in nonprofit work and passion for the environment and sustainable land use and development. As an Associate, Casey supports the work of ULI SF’s members and initiatives.

Casey graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies and Professional Business Writing and Communications. While studying, Casey was a content marketing intern for Hofmann Architecture, an architecture firm in Santa Barbara that designs and sustainably renovates vintage airstreams and other small mobile spaces. Casey has also gained experience working for various nonprofits and local government; including Get Oil Out, the Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, and the 19^th State Senate district’s office.

Outside of her work at ULI, Casey enjoys going on long runs and hikes with friends and family, listening to live music, and exploring new food around the Bay Area.

Adrian Garcia Hernandez
Associate
adrian.garcia@uli.org
(628)231-2627

Adrian recently graduated from UC Berkeley where he received simultaneous degrees in Sustainable Environmental Design, Forestry and Natural Resource Management. While at Berkeley, Adrian was selected as a Haas Scholar and received funding to perform an independent research project exploring the effects of tourism on equity and social inclusion in a rural community in Jalisco, Mexico. Prior to joining ULI, he studied abroad in Australia and the Solomon Islands while carrying out an independent research project regarding the prevalence of plastic and solid waste pollution in coastal areas.

Adrian is excited to join the ULI team and looks forward to supporting our mission to make cities a better, more livable place for everyone.

Get in Touch

ULI San Francisco
2 Bryant Street
Suite 300
San Francisco, CA 94105
(628) 231-2197 | map
sanfrancisco@uli.org