Terry Shook, FAIA, is one of America’s top placemakers. He’s founding partner and principal of Shook Kelley, a renowned firm with offices in Charlotte and Los Angeles that integrates brand strategy, architecture, urban planning, and communication design. He’s convened neighborhoods and developers on projects in cities all across the United States, including transformational projects in Charleston, Charlotte, and Detroit. He is a lecturer at Harvard University, and has been recognized by the Clinton Library and School of Public Service. Few people, if any, have more intimate knowledge of gentrification and the other challenges of progress in our vital cities.

Michael Graff is a nonfiction author, essayist, editor, and longform journalist who’s covered North Carolina for more than a quarter-century. He is coauthor of The Vote Collectors (2021, UNC Press), which told the story of the real people and places at the center of the greatest verified election fraud scheme in recent American history. His work has appeared in publications around the world, including ESPN, The Guardian, Reader’s Digest, Garden & Gun, and Success.