The Urban Design Forum is excited to announce our 2020 Class of Forum Fellows! Our 82 new Fellows are civic leaders shaping dynamic, equitable, and resilient cities around the world. As we build a community of experts wrestling with today’s complex urban challenges, we strive to highlight their creative solutions and exemplary projects across our yearly programming.

Our 2020 Class of Forum Fellows are confronting many urgent issues in New York City, from forming a network of designers in service of the public good to designing “recharge rooms” in hospitals to support the health and resilience of frontline workers. They are planning a resilient transit-oriented development on Governors Island and organizing the stakeholder engagement process for NYSERDA’s offshore wind projects. They are reimagining the streetscape in a vision plan for Union Square and championing community and economic development in the South Bronx.

Our Fellows are also working in cities around the world from San Juan to Copenhagen. They are designing new public podiums in Seoul and natural history museums in Shenzhen. From promoting mobile app literacy through interactive outdoor classroom infrastructure in Dakar to forming a national coalition of urban forestry researchers to promote climate action in U.S. cities, our Fellows’ work is tackling some of the most pressing urban issues here and abroad.

We welcome the 2020 Class of Forum Fellows and look forward to sharing their ideas for the future of the city!

Learn more about becoming a Fellow of the Urban Design Forum.

Meet the 2020 Class of Fellows

Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, Urban Strategist, Living Future

Matthew Acer, Architectural Designer, MOS

Anam Ahmed

Shane Algiere, Project Manager, LTL

Rebecca Amato, Director of Teaching & Learning, Illinois Humanities

Alexandra Barker, Architect, Barker Associates Architecture Office

Michele Busiri-Vici, Co–Founder, Space 4 Architecture

Benjamin Cadena, Founder, Studio Cadena

Tei Carpenter, Founder, Agency-Agency

Maria Antonieta Castro-Cosio, PhD, Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization

Brendan Cavender, Senior Vice President, CBRE

Kathleen Cayetano, Designer, Kohn Pedersen Fox

Sarah Charlop-Powers, Executive Director, Natural Areas Conservancy

Michael Chen, Founder and Principal, Michael K. Chen Architecture

Dana Chermesh, Founder, inCitu

Runit Chhaya, Principal, Grain Collective

John D’Onofrio, Staff Architect, FCA

Betsy Daniel, Associate Urban Designer, HOK

Leslie Davol, Co-Founder/Executive Director, Street Lab

Mark Dicus, Executive Director, SoHo Broadway Initiative

Jake Elghanayan, Senior Vice President, TF Cornerstone

Nels Erickson, Designer, Kohn Pedersen Fox

Ana Fisyak, Deputy Director of Planning and Development, Rockaway Initiative for Sustainability & Equity

Neil Gagliardi, Director of Urban Design, NYC Department of Transportation

Julia Gamolina, Directory of Strategy, Trahan Architects

Farzana Gandhi, Principal, FG Design Studio

Esteban Girón, Member, Crown Heights Tenant Union

Andrea Goldwyn, Director of Public Policy, New York Landmarks Conservancy

Amalia Gonzales Dahl, Director of Business Development, Henning Larsen

Terese Gonzalez, Principal, DalyGonzalez

Kiki Goti, Founder, SomePeople

Bernell Grier, Executive Director, IMPACCT Brooklyn

Kei Hayashi, Partner, BJH Advisors

Bill Heinzen, Deputy Commissioner, NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission

Mimi Hoang, Co-Founding Partner, nArchitects

Ijeoma Iheanacho, Senior Project Designer, Urbahn Architects

Priyanka Jain, Principal and Founder, 3×3 Design

David Karnovsky, Partner, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP

Vanessa Kassabian, Principal, DLR Group

Cali Kay Williams, Principal, Karp Strategies

Musa Klebnikov, Consultant, OneL

Daniel Kuehn, Architect, ARO

Ellen Lehman, Associate, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP

Christopher Leong, Co-Founder, Leong Leong

Nadine Maleh, Executive Director, Capital Projects, Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice 

Patrick McAffrey, Project Architect, Dattner

Deirdre McDermott, Co- Founder, FUTURE EXPANSION

Nick McDermott, Co- Founder, FUTURE EXPANSION

James Mettham, Executive Director, Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership

Jenna Miller, Principal-in-Charge, RUEd’ ARCH LLC

Ankita Nalavade, Assistant Urban Designer, NYC Department of Design and Construction

Megan Nesbeth, Strategist, frog design

Tiasia O’Brien, Founder, Head of Strategy co:census

Eamon O’Connor, Urban Designer, Gehl

Mirelle Phillips, Founder and Principal, Studio Elsewhere

Zach Postone, Urban Planner, Arup

Christopher Riale, Principal and Founder, Local Form Studio

Yadiel Rivera, Architectural & Landscape Designer, Marvel Architects

Laylee Salek, Co-Founder, MA-MA

Traci Sanders, Founder and Principal, Pax Design Lab

Harris Schaer, Director, Energy and Sustainability, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs

Samuel Schwartz, President & CEO, Sam Schwartz Engineering

Daniel Serviansky, Mediator, DSSADR LLC

Peggy Shepard,  Co-Founder and Executive Director, WE ACT

Joe Smith, Co-Founder, Smith & Sauer

Gary Sorge, Vice President of Communtiy Development, Stantec

Julie Stein, Senior Vice President, Asset Management, NYC Economic Development Corporation

Lorena Galvao, Business Development Manager, Scape Studio

Richard Chou, Urban Design Technologist, Kohn Pedersen Fox

Marquise Stillwell, Founder and Principal, Openbox

Jen Switala, Associate, Dattner

Ben Carlos Thypin, Co-Founder, Quantierra

Lexi Tsien-Shiang, Partner, Soft-Firm

Allison van Hee, Director of Asset Management, Joint Ownership Entity NYC

Geraldine Vargas, Project Designer, T+E+A+M

Lindsay Weiss, Director, Weiss Turkus Projects

Nicholas Williams, Associate, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP

Laura Wolf-Powers, Associate Professor, CUNY Hunter

Michael Yarinsky, Founder, Office of Tangible Space

Lianyuan Ye, Junior Architect, Obra Architects

Lourdes Zapata, President & CEO, South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation

Pablo Zevallos, Excelsior Service Fellow, NYS Homes & Community Renewal