Kevin is the founder and CEO of Verdunity, an award-winning community consulting firm based in Texas. He and his team help city leaders cultivate fiscal health and local wealth in communities through fiscally informed plans and development codes, community engagement services, and implementation coaching. Kevin earned his degree in civil engineering from Texas A&M and spent the first 17 years of his career designing infrastructure and site development projects throughout Texas. In 2009, his career changed course when he was offered the opportunity to serve as National Director of HDR’s Community Planning practice and member of the firm’s Sustainable Solutions Leadership Team. It was during this period that Kevin realized that most communities across the country were developing in a manner that depletes natural resources, alienates residents, and leaves cities with far more infrastructure than they have revenue to pay for. He founded Verdunity in2011 to focus on helping communities understand and address these challenges because he believes everyone deserves to live in a prosperous place at a cost they can afford. 

Over the past decade, Verdunity's fiscal analysis and related planning work has been featured by Texas Municipal League, American Planning Association, and Texas Economic Development Council, as well as national organizations including Strong Towns, Incremental Development Alliance, Bloomberg, and Streets blog. Kevin hosts the Go Cultivate! podcast and is a lead facilitator for Verdunity's Cultivate Community workshops and summits. You can learn more about Verdunity's work and subscribe to their podcast and blog at www.verdunity.com or follow Kevin on twitter at @verdunity and @k_shepherd.