Design Impact - Event Speakers

The Design Impact series brings together an outstanding roster of global leaders to share their work and vision, challenging us as a global community to use design as a tool for actionable, transformative change and healing.

ALICE KIMM

PRINCIPAL, JOHN FRIEDMAN ALICE KIMM ARCHITECTS, DIRECTOR, OPEN SOURCE HOMELESSNESS INITIATIVE (OSHI)

BASED IN LOS ANGELES, CA

Alice co-founded JFAK Architects in 1996 and Open Source Homelessness Initiative in 2020. Among other honors,  JFAK is a 2-time winner of The Rudy Bruner Silver Medal for Urban Excellence.  A longtime educator, Alice chaired USC’s undergraduate architecture programs from 2010-2014. She was named a 2004 Emerging Voice by The Architectural League of New York and is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. A Fulbright Scholar, she was selected to deliver a TEDxFulbright talk in 2015. She lives in the Silverlake neighborhood of Los Angeles with her partner and husband John Friedman, their three children, and two cats.

Volume 2 Event Curator on 12.3.20 

ALNOOR LADHA

FOUNDER, BRAVE EARTH

BASED IN COSTA RICA

Alnoor’s work focuses on the intersection of political organizing, systems thinking, structural change and narrative work. He was the co-founder and Executive Director of The Rules and is currently the board chair of Culture Hack Labs. He is also a co-founder of Brave Earth (Tierra Valiente), an alternative community based in the northwestern jungle of Costa Rica.   

Panel Speaker in SESSION 2 on 09.24.20 

ANACLÁUDIA ROSSBACH

REGIONAL MANAGER (LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN), CITIES ALLIANCE

BASED IN MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

An economist and urban specialist, has been working for 20 years as a practitioner and researcher for international organizations, local and national governments, universities and NGOs. Currently she is Regional Manager for the Latin America and Caribbean at Cities Alliance.

Panel Speaker in SESSION 1 on 09.24.20 

ANGELA HOWARD

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, REAL ESTATE AND FACILITIES, COVENANT HOUSE

BASED IN NEW YORK, NY

Angela has over thirty years of experience in the field of Real Estate and Construction Management. Prior to her tenure at Covenant House International, which serves youth facing homelessness, Angela was Managing Director of the Culture, Health and Education Practice of Jonathan Rose Companies. She has worked with public sector and nonprofit entities to strategically plan, program, design, finance, construct, and asset-manage civic, cultural, institutional, and educational facilities. She serves as a founding Board member of Academy of the City Charter School, is a board member at WIN NYC and TAWAH Tanzania and education advisor to the 14+ Foundation, and is also a Parish Council member at St. Augustine’s RC Church in Park Slope, NY.

Panel Speaker in SESSION 2 on 12.03.20 

A staff reporter at Quartz, her coverage underscores the design angle of politics and business news. She is the first recipient of the Steven Heller Prize for Cultural Commentary. Anne wrote Mag Men: Fifty Years of Making Magazines, (2019) a book about the glory days of magazine design. She graduated from Georgetown University with a master’s degree in Visual Culture and is an alumna of the School of Visual Arts Design Criticism MFA where she wrote a thesis on the nation branding of the world's newest nation, South Sudan.

Panel Speaker in SESSION 3 on 09.24.20 

ANNE QUINTO

JOURNALIST AND DESIGN CRITIC

BASED IN NEW YORK, NY

BINYAMIN APPELBAUM

LEAD WRITER ON BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD OF THE NEW YORK TIMES

BASED IN WASHINGTON, D.C. 

Binyamin Appelbaum joined the editorial board of NYT in March 2019. A graduate of University of Pennsylvania, he was previously a Washington correspondent for the Times, covering the Federal Reserve and other aspects of economic policy. Appelbaum has previously worked for The Florida Times-Union, The Charlotte Observer, The Boston Globe and The Washington Post. While at The Charlotte Observer he was part of a team that produced a series on a local subprime mortgage crisis, which won a Gerald Loeb Award for Medium Newspapers, a George Polk Award, and was a finalist for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize in public service.

Event Keynote and Panel Speaker in SESSION 1 on 12.3.20

BRYAN C. LEE, JR

ARTIST, EDUCATOR, ARCHITECT & DESIGN JUSTICE ADVOCATE 

BASED IN NEW ORLEANS, LA.

Bryan is the founder/Design Director of Colloqate Design a nonprofit multidisciplinary design practice, in New Orleans, Louisiana,  dedicated to expanding community access to design and creating spaces of racial, social, and cultural equity. He has led two award-winning youth design programs nationwide and is the founding co-organizer of the DAP (Design As Protest) Collective. He was most recently noted as one of the 2018 Fast Company Most Creative People in Business, a USC Annenberg MacArthur Civic Media Fellow, and the youngest design firm to win the Architectural League’s Emerging Voices award in 2019.

Panel Speaker in SESSION 3 on 09.24.20 

CLAIRE ELIZABETH WILLIAMS

CO-FOUNDER & CEO, FOUNDATIONS FOR SOCIAL CHANGE

BASED IN VANCOUVER, B.C.

Claire Elizabeth Williams is the Co-Founder and CEO of Foundations for Social Change (FSC). Inspired to be a positive force for change, she is the driving force behind the New Leaf Project - North America’s first direct giving project with people experiencing homelessness. Claire holds a BA, High Distinction in Environmental Studies and Economics from Carleton University and a Master of Urban Planning with Distinction from Dalhousie University.

Panel Speaker in SESSION 3 on 12.3.20 

COURTNEY D. 

SHARPE

FORMER DIRECTOR OF CULTURAL PLANNING FOR THE CITY OF BOSTON, CURRENT MBA CANDIDATE AT MIT SLOAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT 

Courtney D. Sharpe is an urban planner and strategist dedicated to uplifting equity at the systems and organizational level. Most recently the Director of Cultural Planning for the City of Boston she is pursuing an MBA at MIT with plans to join the corporate sector to combat environmental justice abuses through improving business practice.

Panel Speaker in SESSION 3 on 09.24.20 

CHERYL D. MILLER

FOUNDER OF CHERYL D. MILLER DESIGN, THE CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS DESIGN FIRM THAT DEFINED THE CIVIL RIGHTS ERA. BASED IN NEW YORK, NY.

Creator of Cheryl D. Miller Design, Inc. she serviced corporate communications to Fortune 500 clientele. She is best known for her D&I advocacy for Black graphic designers and her social impact graphic and corporate communications. Renowned in her field, she is the recipient of Awards of Excellence from the PIA Awards, Neenah Paper Awards, Art Directors Club Awards, Desi Awards, Peabody Awards, Ceba Award, and Broadcast Design Awards.

Panel Speaker in SESSION 3 on 09.24.20 

DENISE GHARTEY

HARVARD LAW '20, JUSTICE CATALYST FELLOW AND ATTORNEY WITH THE COMMUNITY JUSTICE PROJECT

BASED IN MIAMI, FL

Denise Ghartey is a Justice Catalyst Fellow focusing on climate gentrification, community displacement, and racial justice work. Denise believes in liberation movements that are driven by the community and is deeply passionate about working with those who are directly impacted. Denise works to promote equitable development through the representation of tenants and community organizations in eviction and land use hearings, strategic litigation, policy advocacy, and the development of community land trusts. Before attending Harvard Law School where she was a member of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau and Harvard Defenders, Denise worked as a case manager, homelessness prevention advocate, and paralegal in Boston, MA.

Panel Moderator in SESSION 1 on 12.3.20 

EDWARD MÜLLER

FOUNDER, UNIVERSITY FOR INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION

BASED IN COSTA RICA

An environmentalist, scientist, activist and founder of the University for International Cooperation. He is a global leader in the promotion and advocacy of regenerative development and design, the next level of innovative solutions that elevate the progression needed to end damaging global patterns.

Panel Speaker in SESSION 2 on 09.24.20 

HANAN SCRAPPER

REGIONAL DIRECTOR OF PATH SAN DIEGO 

BASED IN SAN DIEGO, CA

Hanan Scrapper is the Regional Director of PATH (People Assisting the Homeless) – San Diego. Driven by the desire to help others and the community, she has extensive experience in helping our most vulnerable populations overcome extreme adversities caused by homelessness, domestic violence, political torture, and human trafficking. With fourteen years of leadership experience for various non-profit entities, she currently leads a team of over 100 employees at PATH San Diego working towards a vision of a world where everyone has a home. Previously, she spent several years as the Program Director at Veterans Villages of San Diego, leading both their Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) and Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD) programs.

Panel Speaker in SESSION 2 on 12.3.20

HEIDI MARSTON

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, LOS ANGELES HOMELESS SERVICES AUTHORITY (LAHSA) 

BASED IN LOS ANGELES, CA

Heidi Marston was selected as the Executive Director of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) in June 2020, after serving as the Interim Executive Director since January 2020. She is entrusted to serve as a leader in the effort to reduce homelessness across Greater Los Angeles. She also sits on the Leadership Council for the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Heidi joined LAHSA in February 2019 as Chief Program Officer after serving at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in several roles, including Director of Community Engagement and Reintegration Services and Special Assistant to the VA Secretary under President Obama.

Panel Speaker in SESSION 2 on 12.3.20 

IN​ÊS MAGALHÃES

FORMER NATIONAL HOUSING SECRETARY AND MINISTER OF CITIES, SENIOR HOUSING EXPERT

BASED IN SAO PAULO, BRAZIL

A sociologist and senior consultant for UN-Habitat and the World Bank. National Housing Secretary and Minister of Cities in Brazil between 2003 - 2016. She restructured the housing sector with the largest slum upgrading and housing programs in the world.

Panel Speaker in SESSION 1 on 09.24.20 

IVAN SHUMKOV

FOUNDER, BUILD ACADEMY

PRINCIPAL, IVAN SHUMKOV ARCHITECTS

BASED IN NEW YORK, NY

An entrepreneur, architect, professor and the founder of Build Academy - an organization dedicated to providing professional solutions and education for the built environment. He is also the principal of Ivan Shumkov Architects, operating at the intersection of architecture, design, urbanism and technology.

Panel Speaker in SESSION 2 on 09.24.20 

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JACQUELYN IYAMAH

USER EXPERIENCE DESIGNER

BASED IN CALIFORNIA

Jacquelyn Iyamah is a User Experience Designer who is passionate about health and wellness. She has a degree in Social Welfare from the University of California, Berkeley, and a degree in User Experience Design from the University of Baltimore. She uses the skills from both industries to design digital and physical spaces that center the well-being of marginalized communities such as women, and Black, Indigenous and people of color.

Panel Speaker in SESSION 3 on 09.24.20 

JEFA GREENWAY

RAIA MDIA KNOWLEDGE BROKER

LECTURER - INDIGENOUS CURRICULUM,  UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE

BASED IN MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

Jefa Greenaway is currently Knowledge Broker | Lecturer at the University of Melbourne. He’s championed Indigenous led design thinking for over 25 years as a registered architect in NSW and VIC, including as co-founder of the not-for-profit advocacy group Indigenous Architecture + Design Victoria, as co-author of the International Indigenous Design Charter, and as Regional Ambassador (Oceania) of INDIGO (International Indigenous Design Network).

Panel Speaker in SESSION 3 on 09.24.20 

JENNIFER MUSISI

FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, KAMPALA CITY LEADER IN RESIDENCE, BLOOMBERG HARVARD CITY LEADERSHIP INITIATIVE

BASED IN CAMBRIDGE, MA

The City Leader in Residence at the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative. She previously served as the Executive Director for Kampala City Capital Authority leading the development of the capital of Uganda. Committed to cause compliance and for fighting corruption.

Panel Speaker in SESSION 1 on 09.24.20 

JOHN FRIEDMAN

PRINCIPAL, JOHN FRIEDMAN ALICE KIMM ARCHITECTS, BOARD CHAIR, OPEN SOURCE HOMELESSNESS INITIATIVE (OSHI)

BASED IN LOS ANGELES, CA

John Friedman co-founded John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects (JFAK) in 1996, an interdisciplinary design firm that creates sustainable and joyful social spaces at all scales and for all people. John co-founded Open Source Homelessness Initiative, was one of The Architectural League of New York’s Emerging Voices in 2004, and was elevated to AIA Fellowship in 2007. He has taught design studios at USC, SCI-Arc, and University of Texas at Austin, and holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Architecture from MIT and Harvard, respectively, as well as a Master of Arts degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Balliol College, Oxford University.

Volume 2 Event Curator on 12.3.20 

JORGE MARIO JAUREGUI​

ARCHITECT AND URBAN PLANNER, FAVELA-BAIRRO PROGRAM

BASED IN RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL

An architect and urban planner worked on urban transformation in more than 20 favelas. He was awarded the Veronica Rudge Green Prize from Harvard GSD; and he is a finalist of the Mies van der Rohe architecture Prize Latin America.

Panel Speaker in SESSION 1 on 09.24.20 

KEVIN HIRAI

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER OF FLYAWAYHOMES

BASED IN LOS ANGELES, CA

Kevin Hirai is Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of FlyawayHomes, which is working with its partners - The People Concern, Gensler, and CBRE - to establish and scale an integrated production model of supportive housing delivery from land acquisition to master leasing and tenanting. The organization recently won a $1 million grant from LA County's Housing Innovation Challenge and has been allocated $19.5 million from the City of Los Angeles' HHH Bond Measure to advance its efforts to end chronic homelessness in Los Angeles. Kevin is a graduate of USC, holds an MBA in finance, and graduated from Harvard University Graduate School of Design’s AMDP in 2018.

Panel Speaker in SESSION 3 on 12.3.20 

KOFI AKAKPO

CO-CHAIR OF AFRICA GSD

BASED IN PROVIDENCE, RI

Kofi Akakpo is a designer and writer based in Providence, Rhode Island. He is currently a final-year Master of Architecture candidate at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture from Ohio State University. Kofi has worked for Architecture firms both in his native Ghana and the US, contributing to several projects on four continents.

Panel Moderator in SESSION 3 on 12.3.20 

LEILANI FARHA

FORMER UN SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON THE RIGHT TO ADEQUATE HOUSING, GLOBAL DIRECTOR OF THE SHIFT

BASED IN TORONTO, ON

A lawyer by training, Leilani Farha has tirelessly advocated for the realization of the right to housing throughout her career. She is the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing; in that capacity she traveled to Serbia and Kosovo, India, and Chile to investigate and comment on the state of the right to housing. In addition, Leilani started The Shift, a global movement that calls for everyone to approach housing as a human right. She is the current executive director of the NGO Canada Without Poverty and previously served as Executive Director of the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation, where she helped launch a historic challenge to government inaction in the face of rising homelessness. She was a founding member of ESCR-Net, an international network of actors committed to economic, social and cultural rights.

Panel Speaker in SESSION 1 on 12.3.20 

MAREN COSTA

FOUNDING MEMBER, AMAZON EMPLOYEES FOR

CLIMATE CHANGE

BASED IN SEATTLE, WA

 A design leader with over 25 years of experience at tech companies including Adobe and Amazon. She is also a founding member and leader of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice. Currently focused on projects centered at the intersection of design, technology, justice, and a sustainable future.

Panel Speaker in SESSION 2 on 09.24.20 

NITHYA RAMAN

COUNCILMEMBER-ELECT, LA CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 4

BASED IN LOS ANGELES, CA

Nithya Raman is Councilmember-elect to LA City Council, District 4, after running an historic 15-month, volunteer-powered campaign. Nithya has a master’s degree in urban planning from MIT and founded separate nonprofit organizations in India and Los Angeles focused on urban poverty issues. In 2019, Nithya served as Executive Director of Time's Up Entertainment. Nithya lives in Silver Lake with her husband and twin preschoolers.

Panel Speaker in SESSION 2 on 12.3.20 

RICHARD SENNETT

CHAIR, UNITED NATIONS HABITAT URBAN INITIATIVES GROUP

BASED IN LONDON, U.K.

Richard Sennett grew up in the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago. He attended the Juilliard School and then Harvard, where he worked with David Riesman and Hannah Arendt. Professor Sennett currently serves as Chair of the UN Habitat Urban Initiatives Group, is a Senior Fellow at the Center on Capitalism and Society at Columbia University, and a Visiting Professor of Urban Studies at MIT. Previously, he founded the New York Institute for the Humanities, taught at New York University and at the London School of Economics, and served as President of the American Council on Work. His books on social life in cities, changes in labour, and social theory include The Fall of Public Man, The Corrosion of Character, The Craftsman, and Building and Dwelling. Among other awards, he has received the Hegel Prize, the Spinoza Prize, and the Centennial Medal from Harvard University. 

Panel Speaker in SESSION 1 on 12.3.20 

ROSANNE HAGGERTY

FOUNDER OF COMMON GROUND COMMUNITY AND COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS

BASED IN NEW YORK, NY

Rosanne Haggerty is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Community Solutions. She is an internationally recognized leader in developing innovative strategies to end homelessness and strengthen communities. Community Solutions’ large-scale change initiatives include the 100,000 Homes and Built for Zero Campaigns to end chronic and veteran homelessness, and neighborhood partnerships that bring together local residents and institutions to change the conditions that produce homelessness. Earlier, she founded Common Ground Community, a pioneer in the design and development of supportive housing and research-based practices that end homelessness. Ms. Haggerty is a MacArthur Foundation Fellow, Ashoka Senior Fellow, Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur, and the recipient of honors including the Jane Jacobs Medal for New Ideas and Activism from the Rockefeller Foundation, Cooper Hewitt/Smithsonian Design Museum’s National Design Award and Independent Sector’s John W. Gardner Leadership Award.

Panel Speaker in SESSION 3 on 12.3.20 

SAMUEL GREENBERG

AB ’14, CO-FOUNDER OF Y2Y NETWORK

BASED IN NEW HAVEN, CT

Sam Greenberg is Co-Founder of Y2Y Network, an organization that is partnering with students, community based organizations, and youth experiencing homelessness to interrupt the cycle of homelessness for a generation of young adults. Y2Y Network operates Y2Y Harvard Square, the nation's first student run homeless shelter for young adults, and is currently working to launch its second site, Y2Y New Haven. Sam has been named Forbes 30 Under 30, one of The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s 15 leaders changing the nonprofit world, and honorable mention for the Boston Globe Magazine’s Bostonian of the Year.

Panel Moderator in SESSION 2 on 12.3.20 

SAM KLEIN

CO-FOUNDER OF UNDERLAY, A PROJECT OF THE KNOWLEDGE FUTURES GROUP

BASED IN SOMERVILLE, MA

Samuel Klein (AB ’00) is co-founder of the Underlay Project. His work includes the Innovation Information Initiative, which extends the knowledge graph of patents and scholarship. He served as a Trustee of the Wikimedia Foundation and a Director of One Laptop per Child, pursuing free universal access to knowledge and tools, and the development of an Internet-in-a-Box. He has a background in physics and engineering.

Panel Speaker in SESSION 3 on 12.3.20 

SAMEH WAHBA​

GLOBAL DIRECTOR, WORLD BANK'S URBAN

DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT

RESILIENCE AND LAND GLOBAL PRACTICE

BASED IN WASHINGTON, D.C. 

Global Director for the World Bank’s Urban, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience and Land Global Practice with a $30 billion in lending commitments. Prior, he worked for the Institute of Housing and Urban Development Studies and the Harvard Center for Urban Development Studies.

Panel Speaker in SESSION 1 on 09.24.20 

SHAUN DONOVAN 

AB '87, MArch '95, MPA ’95, NYC MAYORAL CANDIDATE, FORMER SECRETARY OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE U.S. OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET

BASED IN NEW YORK, NEW YORK

NYC Mayoral Candidate Shaun Donovan was born and grew up in New York City. He holds a B.A. as well as Master’s degrees in Public Administration and Architecture from Harvard University. Deeply affected by the crisis of housing he saw around him as a youth, he volunteered in a homeless shelter during college and upon graduation interned for the National Coalition for the Homeless. After studying housing in graduate school, he returned to NYC to work for the nonprofit Community Preservation Corporation. 

A dedicated public servant, Donovan is currently working with residents and community organizations to deliver restaurant meals to families affected by COVID, revitalize public housing, and to ensure that every New Yorker is counted in the 2020 Census. He is a Trustee of the Urban Institute and serves on the Advisory Board of Opportunity Insights. Previously, he served in President Barack Obama’s Cabinet – first as the 15th Secretary of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and then as the 40th Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB). There, he increased investment in key domestic and national security priorities that resulted in the expansion of our national economy and increased opportunity. His work reduced inequality, expanded health care, improved education, and fought climate change. Prior to becoming a member of the Obama Administration, Donovan served as Commissioner of the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and under President Clinton was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multifamily Housing at HUD and acting FHA Commissioner.

Panel Keynote and Panel Speaker in SESSION 2 on 12.03.20 

SHEELA PATEL

DIRECTOR OF SOCIETY FOR PROMOTION OF AREA RESOURCE CENTRES (SPARC)

CHAIRPERSON, SLUM/SHACK DWELLER INTERNATIONAL

BASED IN MUMBAI, INDIA

Director of the Society for Promotion of Area Resource Centres (SPARC) recognized for seeking urgent attention to issues of urban poverty, housing and infrastructure onto the radar of governments, international agencies, foundations, etc.  Founding member of Slum/Shack Dwellers International (SDI).

Panel Speaker in SESSION 1 on 09.24.20 

SUSAN JONES

FOUNDER, ATELIERJONES

BASED IN SEATTLE, WA

A practicing architect and founder of atelierjones in 2003. Her work entwines design, research, and community engagement to create sustainable urban projects: of sites, buildings, materials, waste, and ways of living. The firm’s current research focuses on Cross Laminated Timber and its applications.

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