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.
ANA PINTO DA SILVA
MDES '05, DESIGNER LEADER, TECHNOLOGIST AND COMMUNITY SERVANT
Ana Pinto da Silva is a designer leader, technologist and community servant dedicated to creating products that define new landscapes of opportunity for people world-wide. As co-founder & CEO of Minka, she creates homes and communities that provide a radical alternative to traditional senior housing, building intergenerational communities that seek to strengthen connections, improve health and increase wellbeing.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 1 on 09.23.21
WALTER HOOD
LANDSCAPE DESIGNER AND PUBLIC ARTIST
Walter Hood is the Creative Director and Founder of Hood Design Studio in Oakland, California. Hood Design Studio is a cultural practice, working across art, fabrication, design, landscape, research and urbanism. He is also the David K. Woo Chair and the Professor of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning at the University of California, Berkeley. He lectures on and exhibits professional and theoretical projects nationally and internationally. He was recently the Spring 2020 Diana Balmori Visiting Professor at the Yale School of Architecture and the Spring 2021 Senior Loeb Scholar for the Harvard GSD Loeb Fellowship.
Walter creates urban spaces that resonate with and enrich the lives of current residents while also honoring communal histories. Hood melds architectural and fine arts expertise with a commitment to designing ecologically sustainable public spaces that empower marginalized communities. Over his career, he has transformed traffic islands, vacant lots, and freeway underpasses into spaces that challenge the legacy of neglect of urban neighborhoods. Through engagement with community members, he teases out the natural and social histories as well as current residents’ shared patterns and practices of use and aspirations for a place.
The Studio’s award-winning work has been featured in publications including Dwell, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Fast Company, Architectural Digest, Places Journal, and Landscape Architecture Magazine. Walter Hood is also a recipient of the 2017 Academy of Arts and Letters Architecture Award, 2019 Knight Foundation Public Spaces Fellowship, 2019 MacArthur Fellowship, 2019 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize and most recently, the 2021 United States Artists Fellowship. Hood is also a Fellow at the American Academy of Rome and one of the 2021 elected members of the Academy of Arts and Letters. Hood Design Studio has also been featured in the 2021 AD 100 list.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 1 on 09.23.21
VICTOR PINEDA
PRESIDENT, WORLD ENABLED; FOUNDER, CITIES4ALL
Dr. Victor Santiago Pineda is a human rights expert, a leading scholar on inclusive and accessible smart cities, and a serial social impact entrepreneur. A two-time presidential appointee on the US Access Board, a senior Fellow at the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government in Dubai, and the founder of Pineda Foundation / World ENABLED, a global non-profit promoting the rights of people with disabilities. Dr. Pineda's work focuses on urban resilience, inclusion, and sustainability.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 2 on 09.23.21
MAITREYI BORDIA DAS
PRACTICE MANAGER IN THE URBAN, RESILIENCE AND LAND GLOBAL PRACTICE OF THE WORLD BANK
Maitreyi Bordia Das is Practice Manager in the Urban, Resilience and Land Global Practice of the World Bank. She oversees several global programs, including the Global Partnership for Results Based Approaches (formerly, GBOPA) and the Tokyo Development Learning Center. Previously, she was the Bank’s first Global Lead on Social Inclusion. Dr. Das leads a talented group of professionals who work on urban development, resilience, and inclusion. She has long-standing research and policy experience in human development and infrastructure-related sectors. Of these, urban development, demography, health, social protection, and social development, stand out.
Having started her career as a lecturer in St Stephen's College, Dr. Das has also been a MacArthur Fellow at the Harvard Center of Population and Development Studies and an advisor to the United Nations Development Program. She has a PhD in Sociology (Demography) from the University of Maryland. Before joining the World Bank, Dr. Das was in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).
Panel Speaker in SESSION 2 on 09.23.21
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KAREN L. BRAITMAYER
PRINCIAL, STUDIO PACIFICA, SEATTLE WA
Architect Karen L. Braitmayer, FAIA, is the founding principal of Studio Pacifica, an accessibility consulting firm based in Seattle, Washington. Her “good fight” has consistently focused on supporting equity and full inclusion for persons with disabilities. In 2019, she was chosen as the national winner of the AIA Whitney M. Young, Jr. award—a prestigious award given to an architect who “embodies social responsibility and actively addresses a relevant issue”. In the award’s 48-year history, she was the first recipient honored for their work in the area of civil rights for persons with disabilities. Braitmayer was also appointed by President Barack Obama to the United States Access Board, a position she retains today.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 2 on 09.23.21
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SINEAD BURKE
DISABILITY ACTIVITY AND CEO, TILTING THE LENS
Sinéad is CEO of Tilting the Lens, a consultancy that continually asks, ‘is this accessible?’Through an education, advocacy, and design approach, Tilting the Lens works to create more accessible practices, products, and places, building a more equitable world.
Sinéad is one of Fast Company's 'Most Creative People in Business' and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders. Appointed by the President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, she is a member of the Council of State and sits at Ireland's Future of Media Commission and Gucci's Global Equity Board.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 2 on 09.23.21
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SHAINA YANG
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGNER, LOS ANGELES, CA
Shaina Yang is an American architectural designer who hails in equal part from Seattle, Shanghai, and London. Her diverse background includes degrees in philosophy and politics, years working in data analysis and insights consultancy, and more recently architectural practice in the US and China. She received her Master of Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 2021, where her thesis project “Cripping Architecture” was jointly awarded both the James Templeton Kelley Prize for best final design project and the Clifford Wong Prize for best housing design project. In 2011, Shaina began to use full-time mobility tools including the wheelchair; surgeries in 2014 resulted in her once again being able-passing for the majority of the time. Those formative years of full-time alternative mobility as well as her ongoing experiences with disability continue to make a profound impact on her design thinking.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 2 on 09.23.21
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CATHY DEINO BLAKE
DIRECTOR OF CAMPUS PLANNING AND DESIGN, STANFORD UNIVERSITY, STANFORD, CA
Cathy Blake, FASLA, has been active in Landscape Architecture for 40 years, the past 25 as Stanford’s University Landscape Architect and Director of Campus Planning. The white paper Blake wrote is the guiding philosophy for landscape within University’s central campus. She is responsible for bridging the campus’s F.L Olmsted and Thomas Church heritages with modern designers, environmental concerns and significant circulation and infrastructure improvements. The campus, landscape and infrastructure have received awardsin all arenas including Platinum Stars (Sustainability for Higher Education), Platinum U.S. Bike Friendly University, ASLA, AIA and SCUP. Blake is a Fellow of the ASLA, LEED Accredited, a Harvard GSD MLA graduate and Past Vice-Chair of the HGSD Alumni Council.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 3 on 09.23.21
COCO TIN
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGNER AND RESEARCHER
CoCo Tin is an architectural designer and researcher based between the US and Hong Kong. She holds a Bachelor of Architecture and a minor in Art History from Cornell University, where her thesis was awarded the Charles Goodwin Sands Medal. She was also the 2019-20 KPF Traveling Fellowship recipient for her research on sanatoriums, and has been transforming that work into a forthcoming publication. Having worked for various architectural offices in Hong Kong, New York, and Rotterdam, she is currently pursuing an MDes degree at Harvard GSD, focusing on expanding the narratives of our intertwined ecologies.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 3 on 09.23.21
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WALTER MEYER
MLAUD '03, LANDSCAPE AND URBAN DESIGNER, EDUCATOR AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZER
Walter Rodriguez Meyer is a landscape and urban designer, educator, and community organizer for climate justice. He is co-founder of Local Office Landscape and Urban Design, teaches at The New School for Design and holds a BLA from the University of Florida and MLAUD at Harvard Graduate School of Design. His work is helping to shape local and national policy. President Obama named Walter a White House Champion of Change.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 2 on 03.31.21
MARTHA SCHWARTZ
PROFESSOR IN PRACTICE OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE, HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN
Martha Schwartz, FASLA, is a tenured Professor at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. She is a landscape architect, urbanist, and climate activist. Her work and teaching focuses on the urban public realm landscape and its importance in making cities “climate ready”. For more than 40 years, she and the firm, Martha Schwartz Partners, have completed projects around the globe, from site-specific art installations to public spaces, parks, master-planning, and reclamation.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 3 on 09.23.21
KEITH PEZZOLI
TEACHING PROFESSOR IN THE DEPARTMENT OF URBAN STUDIES AND PLANNING, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO.
Dr. Keith Pezzoli is a Teaching Professor in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the University of California, San Diego. Pezzoli directs the Bioregional Center for Sustainability Science, Planning and Design. His teaching and civically-engaged research integrate planning and design with health science, data science, sustainability science, and the power of storytelling—focusing, for instance, on urban-rural resilience, green infrastructure, food justice, and nature-based solutions to climate change. Much of his work is aimed at improving environmental health, coupled cyber-physical-civic infrastructures, community science, and justice in the San Diego-Tijuana binational bioregion spanning the US-Mexico border. He has published studies on planning for sustainable human settlements, bioregionalism, urban agriculture, convergence research, and local solutions to climate change, among other topics.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 5 on 09.23.21
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CARLOS MANUEL RODRIGUEZ
CEO & CHAIRPERSON, GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL FACILITY
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Panel Speaker in SESSION 4 on 09.23.21
WALTER MEYER
MLAUD '03, LANDSCAPE AND URBAN DESIGNER, EDUCATOR AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZER
Walter Rodriguez Meyer is a landscape and urban designer, educator, and community organizer for climate justice. He is co-founder of Local Office Landscape and Urban Design, teaches at The New School for Design and holds a BLA from the University of Florida and MLAUD at Harvard Graduate School of Design. His work is helping to shape local and national policy. President Obama named Walter a White House Champion of Change.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 4 on 09.23.21
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AMANDA STURGON
Coming soon...
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Panel Speaker in SESSION 4 on 09.23.21
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SYLVANIE BURTON
MINISTRY OF YOUTH DEVELOPMENT AND EMPOWERMENT, YOUTH AT RISK, GENDER AFFAIRS, SENIORS' SECURITY AND DOMINICANS WITH DISABILITIES
Sylvanie Burton (Kalinago) is the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth Development and Empowerment for the Commonwealth of Dominica. She has previously worked as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Kalinago Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs, and the Ministry of Trade, Energy and Employment.
Mrs. Burton is a Kalinago indigenous leader who has also worked extensively in the development of her Kalinago People and has served as Secretary to the Kalinago Council, and Development Officer in the Ministry of Kalinago Affairs. She has also worked as Civil Society Resource Officer for the EU funded Dominica Social Investment Programme.
Sylvanie is also a member of the Karifuna Cultural group, the oldest cultural group in the Kalinago Territory reviving and assisting with the preservation of the Cultural Heritage of the Kalinago People. She has represented the Kalinago People at numerous Indigenous conferences in Latin and North America.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 4 on 09.23.21
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ADRIANA ROJAS
ARCHITECT, URBAN DESIGNER, CONSULTANT, MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
Architect-Urban Designer (MAUD ´01). Lead consultant for “Financing Metropolitan Development” for the Valley of Toluca´s Metropolitan Area Program. Project Designer and Architect for a sustainable beach house in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca. She has practiced both in private and public sectors focusing, in the latter, on local government´s technical, financial, and governance capabilities centering on efforts towards more sustainable practices, both in urban and green infrastructure initiatives based on social demands. She´s currently pursuing her certification as an Envision Sustainable Professional, in Urban Nature, Sustainable Food Security: the value of Systems Thinking, and Agricultural Water Management: water, society and technology innovations. Presently an Alumni Council Member of Harvard´s Graduate School of Design, former Vice President of Legislation and Governance at the Mexican Association of Urban Planners (AMU), and former President of the Harvard Club of Mexico.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 5 on 09.23.21
RAFAEL MARENGONI
URBAN DESIGNER AT SASAKI, SAO PAULO, BRAZIL
Rafael Marengoni is an architect and urbanist from Sao Jose dos Campos, SP, graduated from the University of Campinas. His research project and Master's thesis "Extrametropolis" (2020) investigated design strategies of applying current urbanistic instruments in Sao Paulo as a regional framework for the development of the State of Sao Paulo's "Trem Intercidades" regional rail vision. The framework explores the relationship between urban form and transportation, looking towards models for sustainable urbanization. Rafael is a part of Sasaki's Planning and Urban Design practice in Boston, MA.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 5 on 09.23.21
SOLEDAD PATINO
ARCHITECT AND URBAN DESIGNER, CONSULTANT AT IADB, CORDOBA, ARGENTINA
Soledad Patiño, MAUD ´20, Architect and Urban Designer, based in Argentina Soledad Patiño is an architect, urban designer, and researcher working as consultant for the IADB in the Division of Housing and Urban Development in Argentina and Chile. Awarded in numerous national and international competitions, her research and practice focus on projects that involve housing, vulnerable neighborhoods improvement, sustainable infrastructures, and environmental issues at multiple scales. She has been Fulbright Scholar by the Argentine Ministry of Education.​
Panel Speaker in SESSION 5 on 09.23.21
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BARBARA SCHMIDT RAHMER
PRESIDENT, REDE VENCER JUNTOS, SALVADOR, BAHIA, BRAZIL
Barbara Schmidt Rahmer, President, Rede Vencer Juntos, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Barbara is a social entrepreneur who founded and leads Vencer Juntos, a not-for-profit microbusiness incubator that promotes entrepreneurship and community revolving funds in territories of the interior of Brazil’s semiarid Northeast, one of the poorest regions of the country. Barbara is an expert on grassroots community development strategies. She has held positions with PricewaterhouseCoopers, UNICEF and the Ford Foundation in Boston Frankfurt, Brazil and Mexico and holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and MA in International Relations from Yale University.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 4 on 09.23.21
FÉLIX FRANCISCO JAMIE VACA
DIRECTOR OF LAND MANAGEMENT AND URBAN PLANNING AT THE PORTOVIEJO MUNICIPALITY, PORTOVIEJO, ECUADOR
Architect from the Universidad Católica de Santiago de Guayaquil with a master's degree in Spatial Design from the Barlett School of Architecture at UCL (University College London). He is currently Director of Land Management and Urban Planning at the Portoviejo Municipality. His role is to lead the technical team in the formulation of the multi-scale city proposal for urban development and risk management called “Plan Portoviejo 2035”, a planning instrument with emphasis in the development of new human scale city that is also responsible with the climate.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 5 on 09.23.21
CAROLINA ZAMBRANO-BARRAGAN
CLIMATE JUSTICE GLOBAL LEAD AT HIVOS. QUITO, ECUADOR.
Carolina Zambrano-Barragán is the Climate Justice Global Lead at Hivos. She has over 12 years of experience promoting climate action, innovation and human rights within the public, philanthropic and civil society sectors. She was previously director of Hivos’ All Eyes on the Amazon and Amazon Indigenous Health Route programs. Before joining Hivos, Carolina held leadership positions at the national and local levels in Ecuador, including Vice Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation; Undersecretary of Climate Change, and Director of Environmental Policy of the city of Quito. For five years, she was also in charge of Avina Foundation’s Sustainable Cities program in Latin America. Since 2008, Carolina has combined her professional work with academia as a lecturer in the Climate Change and the Environmental Negotiations master’s programs at the Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar. She is a biologist and has a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from Harvard University and a Master of Environmental Management from Yale University.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 5 on 09.23.21
JUAN VILLALON
MA IN URBAN DESIGN CANDIDATE, HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN
Juan Villalon is a Master of Architecture in Urban design candidate at the Harvard GSD. He is an architect and urbanist interested in the intersection of public infrastructure and urban ecology. He has previously worked in infrastructural and urban planning projects with the Peruvian government and the French Development Agency and has been awarded in national and international competitions. At Harvard, he it’s a Research Assistant in the Landscape Department, is co-leading the Climate Leaders Program for Professional Students and is a recipient of both a Fulbright and Real Colegio Complutense Scholarships.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 5 on 09.23.21
DR. JOHN SALK
ASSISTANT CLINICAL PROFESSOR OF PSYCHIATRY AT THE UCLA DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, SENIOR FELLOW OF THE DESIGN FUTURES COUNCIL, BOARD OF ADVISORS, POPULATION MEDIA CENTRE
Jonathan Salk is co-author with Jonas Salk of A New Reality: Human Evolution for a Sustainable Future. He is a practicing psychiatrist with an interest in early child development, Assistant Clinical Professor at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and a Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 6 on 09.23.21
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AAKRITY MADHAN
GRADUATE STUDENT, MDES ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN
Aakrity sees design as an opportunity for equity. She is currently investigating the blueprint of equitable, healthy, and environmentally responsive humanitarian habitat interventions at Harvard Graduate School of Design as an MDes Energy and Environment student.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 6 on 09.23.21
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DR. SARA CANDIRACCI
ARUP, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR INCLUSIVE AND RESILIENT CITIES LEAD
Dr Sara Candiracci is an Associate Director at Arup - International Development Group, where she leads the work on Inclusive and Resilient Cities, including the Designing for Urban Childhoods portfolio, which won the 2020 Management Consultancies Association (MCA) Award for “Best Use of Thought Leadership”. Sara is an urban planning and development professional specialised in inclusive and resilient urban planning, urban regeneration, social inclusion and urban governance, with 19 years’ experience in designing and managing programmes in Africa, Asia & Latin America. Sara holds a PhD in urban planning, with a thesis on the role of cultural heritage in place-making and sustainable development.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 6 on 09.23.21
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CECILA VACA JONES
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE BERNARD VAN LEER FOUNDATION
Cecilia has over 20 years of experience managing social development policies and programmes. Prior to becoming the Executive Director of the Bernard van Leer Foundation, she was the Minister of Social Development of Ecuador from 2013 to 2016. She championed policies to improve the conditions of children, women and indigenous communities, including a cross-sectoral policy for ECD. Cecilia has also worked for several civil society organizations, the Organisation of American States, UNDP and has been a university professor. She holds a Master’s degree in Social Policies for Sustainable Development from the University of Bologna, a BA in International Relations from the Pontifical Catholic University in Ecuador, and an executive Master’s degree in cities from the London School of Economics.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 6 on 09.23.21
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LOUIS THOMAS
ADJUNCT LECTURER, URBAN & REGIONAL PLANNING PROGRAM GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY
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Panel Speaker in SESSION 6 on 09.23.21
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SHANNA KOHN
SENIOR EDUCATION MANAGER OF HUMANITARIAN PROGRAMS AT SESAME WORKSHOP, BROOKLYN NY USA
Shanna Kohn is Senior Education Manager of Humanitarian Programs at Sesame Workshop. She leads curriculum development and design of multimedia teaching and learning materials for Ahlan Simsim and Play to Learn, two early childhood development initiatives serving the needs of children affected by conflict and crisis in the Middle East and Bangladesh.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 6 on 09.23.21
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NINARI CHIMBA
ACTIVIST AND ROLE MODEL
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Panel Speaker in SESSION 6 on 09.23.21
DR. ZEUPAREE KARUTJAIVA
KATUTURA INTERMEDIATE HOSPITAL, WINDKOEK, NAMIBIA
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Panel Speaker in SESSION 6 on 09.23.21
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C. BRIAN ROSE
JAMES B. PRITCHARD PROFESSOR OF ARCHAEOLOGY, PROFESSOR OF CLASSICAL STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
C. Brian Rose is an American archaeologist, classical scholar, and author. He is the James B. Pritchard Professor of Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania and Peter C. Ferry Curator-in-Charge of the Mediterranean Section of the Penn Museum. He has served as the President of the Archaeological Institute of America, and is currently President of the American Research Institute in Turkey. He directs the Gordion excavations in central Turkey, and co-directed excavations at Troy for 25 years. He served on the Board of Trustees of the American Academy in Rome from 2001-2019, and received the Gold Medal of the Archaeological Institute of America in 2015.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 7 on 09.23.21
JUSTIN GARRETT MOORE
PROGRAM OFFICER, HUMANITIES IN PLACE AT THE ANDREW W. MELLON FOUNDATION
Justin Garrett Moore is the inaugural program officer for the Humanities in Place program at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. His work focuses on advancing equity, inclusion, and social justice through place-based initiatives and programs, built environments, cultural heritage projects, and commemorative spaces and landscapes. He has extensive experience in architecture, planning, and design—from urban systems, policies, and building projects to grassroots and community-focused planning, design, preservation, public realm, and arts initiatives.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 7 on 09.23.21
DELL UPTON
PROFESSOR EMERITUS OF ARCHITECTURE, UC BERKLEY AND PROFESSOR AND CHAIR OF ART HISTORY AT UCLA
Dell is Distinguished Research Professor of Architectural History at UCLA and Professor Emeritus of Architecture, UC Berkeley. He earned his Ph.D. and M.A. in American Civilization, at Brown University and a B.A. in History and English at Colgate University. His books include Another City: Urban Life and Urban Spaces in the New American Republic (2008; winner, Society of Architectural Historians Spiro Kostof Book Prize); What Can and Can’t Be Said: Race, Uplift, and Monument Building in the Contemporary South (2015) and American Architecture: A Thematic History (2019). He has been a 2019 Resident of the American Academy in Rome and 2020-2021 Kress-Beinecke Professor at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 7 on 09.23.21
DAVID A. RUBIN
PLA, FASLA, FAAR / FOUNDING PRINCIPAL
David A. Rubin, PLA, FASLA, FAAR is the founding principal of DAVID RUBIN Land Collective, a landscape architecture, urban design, and planning studio committed to practicing with an emphasis on socially-purposeful design strategies. David’s visionary contribution to the field in “empathy-driven design” is a hallmark of the studio, earning increasing renown for fusing issues of social justice in cities with excellence in the design of public spaces. Educated at Connecticut College and Harvard University, he has taught and lectured at a number of institutions, including Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, the University of Pennsylvania School of Design, and Southern California Institute of Architecture. David is a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome and a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects. David was recently appointed by the State Department to The Bureau of Overseas Building Operations (OBO) Industry Advisory Group to advise the U.S. government on best practices in landscape architecture. His projects have received awards and honors from the American Society of Landscape Architects and the American Institute of Architects, among others. David is a leader amongst the GSD Alumni Council. His leadership spans all areas of service from ambassadorship committee, student alumni exchange events and this year’s planning and implementation of Design Impact events, as well as other alumni outreach globally.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 7 on 09.23.21
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KRISTINA YU
AIA, DBIA, LEED GA, NCARB, PRINCIPAL WITH MCCLAIN+YU, FACULTY WITH UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO
Kristina is active co chairing the Ambassadorship Committee within the GSD Alumni Council. She is active in the Alumni Award programming. Kristina is a principal with the office of McCLAIN+YU Architecture & Design in Albuquerque, NM. McCLAIN + YU has architectural specialization primarily in institutional projects, particularly in laboratories, classrooms, research and administrative facilities, transportation buildings. She is Associate Dean of University College at the University of New Mexico, and faculty with the School of Architecture and Planning. These overlap in education, practice and outreach in areas of student success are areas of conversation she leads across multiple platforms. Her research centralizes the role of memorial architecture in the context of our global contested histories of place.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 7 on 09.24.21
MIRANDA COOMBE
SCHOLAR AND PRACTITIONER IN THE INTERSECTION OF ART, THEORY AND LAW
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Panel Speaker in SESSION 7 on 09.24.21
THOMAS LUEBKE
FAIA
Thomas is an active guide in GSD Alumni Council. His leadership centers around Alumni Awards programming, Ambassadorship outreach and integration of teaching at the GSD with student alumni exchange programming. His guidance of discourse of national representation and identity shape our collective conversation as an alumni body. Thomas Luebke has served since 2005 as Secretary of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, the federal design review agency for the nation’s capital. As the executive director of the agency, he initiated and guided the National Capital Framework Plan (2009), a major federal planning effort to extend the commemorative core of the National Mall. He administers the multi-million-dollar National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs grant program for arts institutions in Washington, DC. Luebke also represents the Commission of Fine Arts on the Federal Council for the Arts and on the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission to guide the authorization, location, and design of national memorials in Washington, DC, under the Commemorative Works Act.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 7 on 09.24.21
PETER COOMBE
AIA, LEED AP
Peter is the chair of the GSD Alumni Council. His leadership spans all areas of work and outreach related to the GSD alumni community. His Peter Coombe AIA, LEED AP is a founding partner of Sage and Coombe Architects WBE, where for over two decades, he has built a diverse portfolio focused on social infrastructure. Notable work includes the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex, a state of the art indoor track and field venue, the three phase renovation and reimagination of the Noguchi Museum, and Mulberry Commons, a transformational urban green space in Newark, NJ. His firm has been selected twice for Design Excellence initiatives at the NYC Department of Design and Construction and three times at the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation and has won numerous awards from the NYC Public Design Commission.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 7 on 09.24.21
EVERETT FLY
MLA '77
As the first African-American graduate of the Master in Landscape Architecture program, Everett Fly witnessed first-hand the lack of architectural scholarship centered on the African American experience. In response, Fly began the “Black Settlements in America Research Project,” setting in motion decades of groundbreaking design research focused on the history of black settlements across the United States. Fly is the recipient of the 2014 National Endowment for the Humanities National Humanities Medal and is recognized as a national leader whose work has transformed our collective understanding of the significance of black places and spaces across America.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 9 on 09.24.21
ANITA BERRIZBEITIA
PROFESSOR OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE, CHAIR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
Anita Berrizbeitia is Professor of Landscape Architecture and Chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture. Her research focuses on design theories of modern and contemporary landscape architecture, the productive aspects of landscapes, and Latin American cities and landscapes. She was awarded the 2005/2006 Prince Charitable Trusts Rome Prize Fellowship in Landscape Architecture. A native of Caracas, Venezuela, she studied architecture at the Universidad Simon Bolivar before receiving a BA from Wellesley College and an MLA from the GSD.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 9 on 09.24.21
KOTCHAKORN VORAAKHOM
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT, FOUNDER AND CEO AT LANDPROCESS AND POROUS CITY NETWORK, THAILAND
Kotchakorn Voraakhom is a landscape architect from Thailand who works on building productive green public spaces that tackle climate change in urban dense areas and vulnerable communities. Voraakhom was awarded from UN climate change for Winners of the 2020 UN Global Climate Action Awards, Women for Results. She was featured in the 2019 “TIME 100 Next” list, one of 15 leading women fighting against climate change from TIME Magazine, BBC 100 Women 2020, and the “Green 30 for 2020” by Bloomberg. She is Chairwoman of the Climate Change Working Group of the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA World). Voraakhom received her Master's in landscape architecture from Harvard University's Graduate School of Design and teach there as a design critic in Spring 2020. Currently, she is also a TED Fellow and an Echoing Green Fellow.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 9 on 09.24.21
ANTHONY ACCIAVATTI
ARCHITECT, CO-FOUNDER, SOMATIC COLLABORATIVE, DANIEL ROSE VISITING ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN URBAN STUDIES AT YALE UNIVERSITY
Anthony Acciavatti works at the intersection of architecture and the history of science and technology. He is interested in experimental forms of scholarship, pedagogy, and design afforded by humanistic inquiry. His most recent book, Ganges Water Machine: Designing New India’s Ancient River (Applied Research & Design, 2015), is the first comprehensive mapping and environmental history of the Ganges River Basin in over half a century. In 2016, the book was awarded the John Brinckerhoff Jackson Book Prize. He is currently completing the manuscript of his next book, Republic of Villages, which looks at the histories of science and design in South Asia since the late-nineteenth century. Trained in architecture at RISD and Harvard, in the history of science at Princeton University, and a Fulbright Scholar in the department of geography at the University of Allahabad, Acciavatti is currently the Daniel Rose (1951) Visiting Assistant Professor in Urban Studies at Yale University. His work has been supported by grants and fellowships from the National Science Foundation, Ford Foundation, and Mellon Foundation. He is a principal of Somatic Collaborative in New York and a founding director of Manifest—An Institute of the Americas. His work has been exhibited in Asia, South America, North America, and Europe.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 9 on 09.24.21
ROHIT AGGARWALA
SENIOR FELLOW AT THE URBAN TECH HUB AT THE JACOBS CORNELL-TECHNION INSTITUTE AT CORNELL TECH, NEW YORK
Rohit T. “Rit” Aggarwala is an executive-in-residence at Closed Loop Partners, an investment firm focused on the circular economy, and a Senior Fellow at the Urban Tech Hub at the Jacobs Cornell-Technion Institute at Cornell Tech. He also teaches urban policy at Columbia University, and recently chaired the Regional Plan Association’s Fourth Regional Plan for the New York metropolitan area. Until 2020, Rit was a member of the founding team at Sidewalk Labs, where he was Head of Urban Systems and led its mobility and sustainability work. Prior to that, Rit spent five years at Bloomberg Philanthropies, where started the foundation’s environmental grantmaking program, served as President of the Board of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, and led the sustainability practice at Bloomberg Associates. From 2006 to 2010, Rit served as Director of New York City’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability where he led the creation and implementation of “PlaNYC: A Greener, Greater New York.” PlaNYC has been hailed as one of the world’s best urban sustainability plans, leading New York City to a 19% reduction in its carbon footprint since 2005. Prior to joining City Hall, he was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 9 on 09.24.21
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DULITH HERATH
SERIAL ENTREPRENEUR, FOUNDER OF KAPRUKA.COM, SRI LANKA
Dulith Herath is a well-known, highly successful Sri Lankan serial entrepreneur. He is known as the King of E-commerce in Sri Lanka as he is the Founder and Chairman of Sri Lanka's largest e-commerce organization, Kapruka.com. Over the years he has been instrumental in exploring further opportunities by founding Kapruka Global Shop and setting up the largest coffee house chain in Sri Lanka named Java Lounge. He also co-founded Grasshoppers, an e-commerce logistics enterprise to underpin all e-commerce ventures in the country.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 9 on 09.24.21
KALPANA VISWANATH
FOUNDER, SAFETIPIN, NEW DELHI INDIA
Kalpana Viswanath is a researcher and practitioner on gender inclusive urbanisation. She is the co-founder and CEO of Safetipin, a social enterprise that uses technology and data to advocate for safe urban spaces with partnerships in more than 25 cities in India and globally. She is a member of the Women’s Safety Committee of Delhi government and the mission on Safe City Indicators of the Indian Bureau of Police Research and Development. She is a member of the Advisory Group on Gender Issues (AGGI) at UN Habitat, Board member of SLOCAT (a global network on sustainable mobility), the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime (ICPC), and the Chair of Jagori, a women’s NGO in India. She has published widely in newspapers, magazines and journals and has co-edited a book on Building Gender Inclusive Cities. She wrote a weekly column on inclusive urban spaces for Hindustan Times.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 9 on 09.24.21
ROSHAN SHANKAR
A RESEARCHER AT PRINCETON UNIVERSITY AND ADVISOR TO THE DELHI GOVERNMENT
Roshan Shankar is a PhD candidate in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Princeton University working on sustainable, resilient and healthy cities through the lens of scale, culture and speed. He is also Convenor of the Technology and Innovation Working Group in the Health Department of the Delhi Government. He has been Advisor to various Ministers including the Chief Minister of Delhi across key departments and special projects between 2015 to 2021.
. He led the team that drafted the manifesto for the Aam Aadmi Party for the Delhi State Elections 2015 under "Delhi Dialogue", a consultative, citizen-centric, participatory and progressive political manifesto for the Aam Aadmi Party. He holds a double Masters degree in Engineering and Public Policy from Stanford University, has worked with US GAO, MIT JPAL and former US Secretary of Defense William J. Perry, and also holds a Bachelors degree in Computer Science from the University of Delhi.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 9 on 09.24.21
ROSANNE HAGGERTY
PRESIDENT AND CEO OF COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS, NEW YORK NY
Rosanne Haggerty, President and Chief Executive Officer of Community Solutions, is an internationally recognized leader in developing innovative strategies to end homelessness. Community Solutions assists communities throughout the US and internationally in implementing systems that measurably end homelessness and change the conditions that produce it. Their large-scale initiatives include the 100,000 Homes Campaign and Built for Zero. Earlier Rosanne founded and led Common Ground Community, a pioneer in the development of supportive housing models and other research based practices that end homelessness. Among numerous awards and honors, Rosanne was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2001, and more recently, Community Solutions received a $100M grant from the MacArthur Foundation to accelerate its work. She is a graduate of Amherst College and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture and Planning.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 10 on 09.24.21
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NEIL MUNSLOW
HOUSING SERVICES MANAGER AT NEWCASTLE CITY COUNCIL, NEWCASTLE UNITED KINGDOM
Neil Munslow is the Manager of Housing Services for the Newcastle City Council in the UK, where he plans long-term programs and oversees day-to-day operations to serve the homeless population in the City. Neil holds a BA in sociology from the London School of Economics.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 10 on 09.24.21
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SHAWN PLEASANTS
INDEPENDENT ADVOCATE FOR THE UNHOUSED IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY
A former banker and entrepreneur with an economics degree from Yale, Shawn lived unhoused in Los Angeles for ten years. Currently, Shawn is a sought after speaker, sharing first-hand experiences and offering advice to effectuate meaningful, sustainable policy changes for the unhoused and the housing-insecure residents of Los Angeles County. Recently, he’s been the subject of features by CNN and the Los Angeles Times, as well as a speaker on several popular radio and internet programs. He serves on a number of boards and advisory committees, including: Lafayette - A Bridge Home Advisory Council; St. James Episcopal Church Soup Kitchen Dreaming Council; Ktown For All; The Legal Needs Assessment for People Living with HIV-AIDS Community Advisory Committee; and LA Older Adults System Modeling Stakeholders Group.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 10 on 09.24.21
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DR. RICHARD CHO
SENIOR ADVISOR FOR HOUSING AND SERVICES AT US DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT (HUD) WASHINGTON, DC
Richard Cho, Ph.D., serves as Senior Advisor for Housing and Services in the Office of the Secretary. In this role, Richard advises the Secretary on HUD’s efforts to end homelessness, protect HUD-assisted households from COVID-19, advance the community integration of people with disabilities, connect housing with health care, and create housing options for returning citizens. Richard brings to this role two decades of experience at the community, state, and federal levels building collaboration between the housing, health care, social services, and criminal justice sectors to address the housing and services needs of vulnerable Americans.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 10 on 09.24.21
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SAM GREENBERG
FOUNDER OF Y2Y NETWORK
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 has broken ground on 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 Speaker in SESSION 10 on 09.24.21
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FELIPE CORREA
VINCENT AND ELEANOR SHEA PROFESSOR AND THE CHAIR OF ARCHITECTURE AT UVA SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
Felipe Correa is a New York-based architect, urbanist, author, and professor. He is the founder and managing partner of the design practice Somatic Collaborative. Correa is currently the Vincent and Eleanor Shea Professor and the Chair of Architecture at the University of Virginia School of Architecture. Previously, he served as faculty at Harvard Graduate School of Design as an assistant professor (2008-2012), associate professor (2012–2018), and as director of the Master of Architecture in Urban Design (MAUD) program (2009-2018). Correa's writing, research, and design work have been widely published and exhibited.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 11 on 09.24.21
FRANCISCO BROWN
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATION AT SAGE AND COOMBE
Francisco “Pancho” Brown is the Director of Communications at Sage and Coombe Architects and Co founder of MICROPOLITAN Studios in New York. wRecently selected as a fellow by the New Museum’s Ideas City, and as a resident for their New Inc Art incubattor. Pancho was also a Fellow for the Latin Leadership Center at the Harvard Kennedy School. Prior to joining Sage and Coombe, Pancho worked as an architectural designer for Workshop/APD and as an international architect for the United Nations in Afghanistan. Originally from Nicaragua, he holds a Master in Design Studies from the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, and a Master in Architecture from the Center for Architecture, Science and Ecology (CASE) at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 11 on 09.24.21
RIKI NISHIMURA
MAUD '03, GSD ALUMNI COUNCIL MEMBER
DISHI GUATAN
Riki is the Vice-chair of the Harvard GSD Alumni Council and a Principal at Populous, a global architectural design firm specializing in creating environments and venues that draw communities and people together. He is an architect and urban designer/strategist specializing in the future of cities with a focus on the psychology of spaces, repairing cities, future-proofing, and solving complex intertwined design issues through urban strategies.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 11 on 09.24.21
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MASTER IN DESIGN ENGINEERING CANDIDATE AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Dishi is a mechanical engineer turned industrial designer with a keen interest in accessibility in commercial design. In 2018, she co-founded an IoT company that focused on driver safety and hard-tech. Soon after, she worked as a product designer in the aviation industry, designing commercial aircraft interiors. Here, she designed a Red Dot Award winning economy class seats and worked on developing expanding lavatories for people with reduced mobility to be able to have a dignified experience in-flight. She is actively involved with the World Design Organization as a pioneer member of the Young Designers Circle, where she designs to advocate for gender equity in the design industry.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 11 on 09.24.21
MELI HARVEY
SENIOR COMPUTATIONAL DESIGNER AT SIDEWALK LABS
Meli is a Senior Computational Designer at Sidewalk Labs where she builds software that helps cities and real estate developers achieve a balanced set of outcomes for new development projects. She also recently used New York City's open data to create an interactive map of the city's sidewalk widths showing where social distancing is possible (www.sidewalkwidths.nyc). The project influenced the city's "open streets" legislation and inspired similar sidewalk width maps around the world. She has a Master in City Planning from MIT and a Bachelor of Architecture from Syracuse University.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 11 on 09.24.21
CLINTON JOHNSON
LEAD, ESRI'S RACIAL EQUITY & SOCIAL JUSTICE UNIFIED TEAM, FOUNDER& EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NORTHSTAR
Clinton leads Esri's Racial Equity & Social Justice team and he also founded and leads the NorthStar of GIS, a community organization that focuses on racial justice and works to advance equity and belonging for people Black / African diaspora in GIS. Clinton advocates for justice, representation, and belonging for Black people and other people from underrepresented groups in GIS and STEM more broadly.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 11 on 09.24.21
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MAZRIA
FOUNDER AND CEO ARCHITECTURE 2030
Edward Mazria FAIA is founder and CEO of the nonprofit Architecture 2030 and is an internationally recognized architect, author, researcher and educator. Over the past four decades, his research into the sustainability, resilience, energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of the built environment has helped redefine the role of architecture, planning, design, and building in reshaping our world. He was awarded the 2021 AIA Gold Medal for his "unwavering voice and leadership" in the fight against climate change.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 12 on 09.24.21
KATHLYN KAO
MARCH II '22, ARCHITECT, BASED IN CAMBRIDGE
Kathlyn Kao is a licensed architect and currently a student at Harvard Graduate School of Design. She has practiced in New York and Boston, focused primarily on academic institutional work. Her design interests lie at the intersection of domesticity, identity, land, and migration
Panel Speaker in SESSION 12 on 09.24.21