Meet Your Trainer

Chris Porto is the President & CEO of Smart Growth - a sustainable real estate development and investment company based in Oakland, California. The company focuses on urban infill, mixed use and transit oriented development projects. He is also the Founder of the Smart Growth Developer Academy which is dedicated to training leaders that want to build wealth and create impact in society with the power of commercial real estate.

Within a matter of three years, Chris went from having zero experience in real estate to building a seven figure net worth and carrying out numerous commercial real estate development projects that took advantage of the potential defined in the zoning code to positively impact his City. 

Chris noticed the lack of practical training available for professionals to get started in commercial real estate development especially with a triple bottom line - economic, social and environmental - benefit. So, he decided to design a training program based on his experience and learnings to teach others how to follow the proven path he and others have navigated to take on projects that create transformative value that make cities better.

Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Chris worked as a senior analyst in project finance at SunPower focusing on commercial solar energy development. Before this, he worked as a consultant at Deloitte where he focused on strategy & operations for corporations looking to address sustainability and climate change.