Rebecca L. Flora, AICP, is the executive director of the Green Building Alliance (GBA), a non-profit organization that drives market demand for green building through education and project facilitation. She was responsible for GBA's initial organizational strategic plan and office start-up, and currently directs a staff of five with an operating budget of $600,000. Under her leadership, GBA received a 2001 Three Rivers Environmental Award in the Public Awareness category. Also noteworthy is her role as a member of the project team overseeing the greening of Pittsburgh's $350 million convention center expansion project.

Previously, Ms. Flora served as executive director of the South Side Local Development Company (SSLDC), a non-profit that provides business development, planning and housing services to Pittsburgh's historic main street and riverfront neighborhood of the South Side. During her tenure, the SSLDC was the 1996 winner of the Great American Main Street Award. Also while there, Ms. Flora completed the master planning of an eight-acre tract of former industrial riverfront land for housing redevelopment and directed the development of Phase II - New Birmingham, a 32-unit, energy-efficient housing development that was a Three Rivers Environment Awards finalist. Additionally, she served as a planning consultant to the South Side community for the early master plan of the South Side Works development, a 130-acre former steel mill site.

Prior to the SSLDC, Ms. Flora worked for the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) of Pittsburgh, serving as project manager for the Washington's Landing and Pittsburgh Technology Center projects, both of which included the reclamation and development of former industrial, riverfront property. Before coming to Pittsburgh, she was employed as a planner for K.W. Poore & Associates, a planning and consulting firm in Richmond, Virginia.

Ms. Flora is committed to broadening traditional economic development practices to include a greater emphasis on environmental and social responsibility.