New role will help grow the Advanced Certificate in Real Estate Development program
San José State University recently received a $1 million gift from Scott Lefaver, ’68 Social Science, ’72 MUP, to create the first-ever endowed professorship in the College of Social Sciences. The first to take on this new role will be Kelly Snider, urban planner and development consultant, who has been named endowed professor of practice and director of the Advanced Certificate Program in Real Estate Development (CRED) in the Urban and Regional Planning department.
“Kelly has been teaching in our CRED program since it launched in 2014 and has helped establish the program as a well-respected and sought-after credential for professionals in the real estate industry,” said Department Chair Laxmi Ramasubramanian.
“Increasing her influence and oversight to a year-round position means we can grow the number of graduate students in the CRED program and also reach more students from the community.”
Developing community, curriculum and CRED
Lefaver has championed the Urban and Regional Planning program for 50 years, ever since he graduated with the first cohort of master’s in urban planning students. Throughout his career, he has worked for both the public and private sectors, serving as the first city planner of Gilroy and the founder and former president of Community Housing Developers, Inc., a Santa Clara County-based nonprofit housing corporation.
SJSU alumnus Scott Lefaver’s gift enables the CRED program to bring urban planner Kelly Snider on as endowed professor of practice and director of the CRED program.
Lefaver served on the Santa Clara County Planning Commission for 12 years and is currently serving on the board of directors for HomeFirst Services of Santa Clara County, the largest provider of shelter and services to the unhoused in the county. In 1997, Lefaver and business partner Stephen Mattoon established Cabouchon Properties, LLC, which specializes in purchasing, rehabilitating and managing affordable housing across the United States.
An Urban and Regional Planning lecturer since 1974, Lefaver helped establish the CRED program in 2014 with Mark Lazzarini, ’84 MUP; Eli Reinhardt; and the late Charles Davidson, ’57 Engineering, ’14 Honorary Doctorate. Their goal? To provide practical and well-rounded approaches to planning, community development and real estate that can be applied in public agencies and government as well as private businesses.
“Development doesn’t take place on a piece of land—it takes place in a community,” said Lefaver. “Planners need to understand what development is about, and developers need to consider how communities are affected.”
The CRED program combines instruction in fundamentals of real estate development, such as project financing, legal challenges and land use entitlements. The program also addresses traditional development practices, including privately funded mixed-use and transit-oriented development, which use less energy and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
It also explores new and emerging industries, like self-driving cars, data centers and long-term collaboration between private companies and public agencies.
“Endowed professorships generate funds that faculty can use for research, creative and scholarly activities, including employing student assistants,” said Walt Jacobs, dean of the College of Social Sciences.
“We are so grateful for Scott’s commitment to the college. By endowing Kelly’s position, he is enabling us to make an even bigger impact not only on our students but the greater Silicon Valley community.”
“Scott’s gift beautifully represents his dedication to the university, as well as his commitment to his chosen field,” said Theresa Davis, vice president of University Advancement and CEO of the Tower Foundation.
“San José State is fortunate to have philanthropic alumni such as Scott, who go above and beyond to support the next generation of Spartans.”
Building the future
Lefaver first met Snider in 2014, when Urban Planning Professor Emeritus Dayana Salazar and Urban Planning Professor Hilary Nixon recruited her to teach for the CRED program.
Urban planner Kelly Snider has been named the endowed professor of practice and director of SJSU’s CRED program.
Impressed by her track record in both the public and private spheres, Lefaver knew that the next logical step in building out the certificate program would be establishing an endowed professorship. As an expert in Silicon Valley land use, with experience as a public planner and as a private developer, Snider was the perfect fit.
“We’re trying to educate both the nonprofit, city or county government professionals and the for-profit developers, so there is a value add for everybody,” explained Snider.
“We want to take advantage of the profitability of building and make sure that it has guardrails, so it builds inclusive, family-friendly, multicultural, healthy and safe communities. The CRED program provides the foundation that professionals need to do just that.”
Snider plans to develop mentoring and internship opportunities within the real estate development industry and expand the CRED program by partnering with regional leaders. She hopes to prepare graduates to create inclusive and sustainable projects in the communities where they work.
This is especially important as Silicon Valley is currently experiencing one of the biggest development booms in the United States, according to Lefaver.
In its first five years, CRED alumni have landed positions in the highest levels of city administration and in prominent companies across the Bay Area. CRED alumni include senior executives at Colliers, HMH Consultants, Marcus & Millichap.
“The great thing about our environment and how people interact with it is that everyone has a story,” said Snider. “Everyone lives somewhere—we all have our environment in common. We’ve got to do a better and faster job of transforming the private, for-profit developments into places for everyone to thrive.”
For more information on the Certificate in Real Estate Development, visit SJSU’s Department of Urban & Regional Planning.