Robert Liberty, director of the Urban Sustainability Accelerator at Portland State University, has worked in many roles and at all levels of government for more than 30 years to promote livable and sustainable cities and regions. Mr. Liberty was Staff Attorney and then Executive Director of 1000 Friends of Oregon, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the implementation, defense and improvement of Oregon's comprehensive land use planning program. He has worked as a land use hearings officer, a planning consultant and a speaker on planning topics in the U.S. and other countries. He served as Senior Counsel to Congressman Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, assisting him with federal policy issues concerning livable communities. In 2004 he was elected to the Metro Council, the metropolitan government in the Portland, Oregon region and was re-elected in 2008. On the Metro Council he chaired and co-chaired committees considering rail transit investments, regional housing policy and other matters.