CapCon 2024 Program

Jennifer Rigterink Assistant Director, State & Federal Affairs, Michigan Municipal League Jennifer Rigterink is the Assistant Director of State &

Federal Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League, where she advocates on behalf of communities with a concentration on municipal services, economic development, and land use issues. Jennifer joined the League in April of 2016. Prior to joining the League, Jennifer directed technical assistance for community development at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), including the Redevelopment Ready Communities® and Michigan Main Street programs. She also managed the Genesee Institute, now the Center for Community Progress, where she focused on building awareness of Michigan’s land bank authority model and vacant property initiatives. Jennifer has a bachelor’s degree in urban and regional planning from Michigan State University. In addition, Jennifer was appointed by Governor Whitmer to the Michigan State Housing Authority Statewide Housing Partnership to develop a strategy to implement the state’s first-ever Statewide Housing Plan. She also represents the League on MEDC’s Technical Assistance Advisory Council and sits on the executive committee of the Housing Michigan Coalition. She lives in DeWitt with her husband Chris and two children. She and Chris own a small business called The Mattress Source in East Lansing and Lansing, Michigan selling a locally made product.

Aidan Sova Trustee and Secretary, Ann Arbor District Library Aidan Sova is the Trustee and Secretary of the Ann Arbor District Library, making him the youngest-ever Black person elected to any office in Ann Arbor. Sova is a Product Solutions Consultant at Google. Prior to

Google, he was the Big Ten Academic Conference Executive Director at the University of Michigan and a Human Rights Commissioner for the City of Ann Arbor. He is also an Emerging Leaders Council Member for the federal Legal Services Corporation. Sova has served on the Grow Jackson Board of Directors, the State of Michigan’s Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities, and the Growing Michigan Together Council work group on infrastructure. Sova is a recipient of the City of Jackson’s Youth Citizen of the Year, the State of Michigan’s Youth Volunteer of the Year, the City of Jackson’s top-most Black Excellence distinction, and the University of Michigan’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Service Award. Aidan is a graduate of the University of Michigan. He studies part time as a master of liberal arts student at the University of Pennsylvania.

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