At the heart of Architecture for Humanity is a core group of people who have generously donated their time and efforts to keep us running. With advocates around the world, Architecture for Humanity is truly becoming a global organization that encourages designers to make a difference.
Main Office | Design Fellows | Hall of Fame
Main Office
Barb Alvarado: Development Director (bio)
Marvin Cabrera: Accountant (bio)
Joyce Engebretsen: Director of Operations (bio)
Satu Jackson: Program Coordinator (bio)
Michael Jones: Program Manager (bio)
Melody Mason: Marketing Manager (bio)
Mike McCaffrey: Web Development Manager (bio)
Steven Meier: General Counsel
Gretchen Mokry: Program Manager (bio)
Kelsey Ochs: Program Administrator (bio)
Kimberley O'Dowd: Program Manager (bio)
Cameron Sinclair: Executive Director/Chief Eternal Optimist (bio | where is Cameron?)
Kate Stohr: Managing Director (bio)
Ana Vasconcellos: Web Developer (bio)
Frederika Zipp: Program Manager (bio)
Design Fellows
Main Office: Alec Hawley, Molly Stack, Carlene Ho, Erin Terry, Lizzie Cohn-Martin, Amanda Bensel, Renee Bissell, Alix Ogilvie, Eric Kostegan, Karl Johnson, Andrew Ma, Wyanne Tsang, Kathryn Carovano, Michelle Nelson, Nicole Melas, Meghan Dorrian
Hyderabad, India: Sandhya Janardhan
Bamako, Mali: Mike Heublein
Nairobi and Mahiga, Kenya: Isaac Mugumbule and Greg Elsner
San Francisco, California: Sumita Mukherjee
Cape Town South Africa: Eugene da Silva, Killian Doherty, Kevin Gannon, Axel Stelter, Tommy Calhoun
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Daniel Feldman
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame: Learn about staff, volunteers and fellows who have worked with us in the past.
Staff Bios
Barb Alvarado, Development Director
Barb is involved in everything from planning events to tracking donations to developing programs. She is an architectural graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Her previous nonprofit work experience includes work with UNIDOS Against Domestic Violence and SERRV International. Ms. Alvarado’s volunteer experience includes working with the Madison-Arcatao Sister City Project, and as Grants Allocation Committee Member for the Wisconsin Community Fund.
Marvin Cabrera, Accountant
Marvin Cabrera joined the Architecture For Humanity team as a Project Accountant in 2009. He brings with him over 6 years of experience in the accounting field, specifically in the construction industry. Prior to that, he had over 4 years of work experience overseas in the business sector where he administered in the over-all operations and sales of the company’s Telecommunications, Information Technology, Chemicals, and Warehousing Department.
Marvin graduated with a B.A. Economics and a minor in Political Science from De La Salle University, Philippines. In 2000, as the Chairman of the Youth Leadership and Excellence Award, a Manila Jaycees Organization project, he led a team that sent 10 outstanding leaders from government schools nationwide in the Philippines to a full college scholarship program. He is proud to say that he highly considers this as one of his life achievements. Another one that he may probably put in the same category, is when he boldly ran with the raging bulls in Pamplona, Spain. Marvin loves the outdoors and truly misses the tropical waters. Whenever he can, he makes sure to get the leisure of traveling.
Joyce Engebretsen, Director of Operations
Joyce Engebretsen joined Architecture for Humanity as the Operations Manager in 2008. In this role she oversees the internal operations of this rapidly growing organization. In addition, she acts as project lead and manager on projects around the world from schools in Liberia to orphanages in India.
Joyce is a registered Professional Engineer and was formerly the Director of Operations for Hinman Consulting Engineers, a leading specialist structural engineering firm. At Hinman, Joyce was project manager on numerous award-winning international design and construction projects (from embassies to corporate facilities including the San Francisco Federal Building and Eugene Federal Courthouse and the US Embassy in Beijing) as well as manager of the resources, business development and financial operations of the firm.
Joyce has also served as a Board Member and Art Programming Director of 18 Reasons Gallery, a non-profit art space in San Francisco's Mission District that promotes community through neighborhood-based art and food programs.
Satu Jackson, Program Coordinator
Originally from Germany, Satu contributes an international perspective and a background as an architectural designer to Architecture for Humanity. Satu manages the Curry Stone Design Prize and spearheads the editorial team for Design Like You Give a Damn II. She also acts as the liason for the 2009 Open Architecture Challenge-related classroom construction projects in Nakaseeta, Uganda; Hyderabad, India; and Victor, Idaho.
Satu holds a master's degree in Architecture from Montana State University, is LEED accredited and is pursuing licensure as an Architect. She is fluent in French, German and Spanish. Previously, Satu worked for five years for the high-end residential design firm, JLF & Associates; was a project designer with Access Consulting, a structural engineering firm in Missoula, Montana; and, most recently, worked for Gensler, Los Angeles. At Gensler, Satu was part of the design and production team for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Port of Long Beach Administrative Headquarters.
Michael Jones, Program Manager
Michael has been a volunteer and Design Fellow with Architecture For Humanity since 2008. He has worked with Nathaniel Corum on cabin design for the Plastiki Expedition, straw bale housing for Navajo Elders in Arizona, and the domestic beta for the Alternative Masonry Unit.
He is currently working on the SIDAREC Technology and Media Lab and the Game Changers initiative including the Mahiga High Rainwater Court.
Michael has a Bachelors of Architecture degree from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and spent a year studying at DIS in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is a LEED Accredited Professional and California Registered Architect. His work aims to instill environmental awareness while nurturing social justice, ecological balance, and community integration through design.
Melody Mason, Marketing Manager
Melody Mason brought her marketing and design experience to the Architecture for Humanity Development team in 2009 as a Marketing Manager and Design Fellow. She has extensive experience gained from her travels and work as an international architect in Chicago, London, San Francisco and Southeast Asia. After settling down in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2001, her work for the American Institute of Architects, Heath Ceramics, and the Ferry Building Marketplace & Farmer’s Market, amongst others, joined her interests and passions for architecture, design, food and sustainable causes into a new career: supporting the passionate causes she cares so much about by marketing design-related businesses and organizations.
She currently serves on the Board of the Center for Architecture and Design, won a 2008 Presidential Commendation for her work in Sponsorship for the AIA and the Architecture + the City Festival. Melody holds 2 degrees in architecture: a Bachelor of Science in Architecture (Ohio State University) and a Master of Architecture (University of Illinois, Chicago)
Currently in the Bay Area, she works as the Marketing Manager for Architecture for Humanity and builds relationships for the 10 Year Campaign. She continues her support at Heath Ceramics on the weekends, with factory tours and occasional events that promote design.
Mike McCaffrey, Web Development Manager
Mike McCaffrey is responsible for the technical development and maintenance of the Architecture for Humanity website and other online resources. He was informally involved with the organization for over a year before becoming the Web Development Manager in November 2008.
Mike has over ten years of experience developing websites, the last three of which have been concentrated on building sites with Drupal, an open-source content management system.
Gretchen Mokry, Program Manager
Gretchen brings over 15 years of experience in the private sector of architecture to Architecture for Humanity. Her focus on the management and design of civic and educational buildings reflects her interest in developing buildings that serve and bolster the community.
With experience in all phases, she adds new design and construction administration knowledge to AfH. Her current focus here is on the Football for Hope projects in Africa, and a school in Uganda.
She earned her Bachelors at Parsons School of Design and a Masters at the Architectural Association in London. When not in the office, she can be found volunteering at an elementary school teaching garden or on the yoga mat.
Kelsey Ochs, Program Administrator
Kelsey joined Architecture for Humanity in 2008. She helps coordinate volunteers, tackles systems administration and IT issues around the office, and works with project managers to provide support and organize information related to projects around the world.
An aspiring Architect originally from the Pacific Northwest, Kelsey earned a BA in studio art from Whitman College. Prior to joining the Architecture for Humanity team, Kelsey worked with Volunteermatch.org. She enjoys traveling, climbing, hiking, and art-making in her free time, and is interested in design activism.
Kimberley O'Dowd, Program Manager
Kimberley moved from Philadelphia to join Architecture for Humanity in 2008 as a Program Manager. She is currently involved in several projects including Football for Hope and the Open Architecture Challenge.
She studied Architecture at Philadelphia University and studied abroad at both Temple University Japan in Tokyo and Ecole d’Architecture La Villette in Paris before receiving her Bachelors of Architecture. She is a registered architect and LEED Accredited Professional.
When not communicating with multiple time zones, she enjoys exploring San Francisco, sewing, following contemporary art, and staying connected to local architecture and green building organizations.
Cameron Sinclair, Executive Director/Chief Eternal Optimist
Cameron Sinclair was trained as an architect at the University of Westminster and at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London. During his studies Sinclair developed an interest in social, cultural and humanitarian design. His postgraduate thesis focused on providing shelter to New York's homeless through sustainable, transitional housing. After his studies, he moved to New York where he worked as a designer and project architect.
In 1999 Sinclair co-founded Architecture for Humanity, which seeks architectural solutions to humanitarian crises and brings design services to communities in need. Currently the organization is working in a dozen countries on projects ranging from health centers in Sub-Saharan Africa, community centers in Southeast Asia to low-income housing on the Gulf Coast of the United States. In 2007 Architecture for Humanity launched the Open Architecture Network, the worlds' first online community dedicated to improving living conditions through innovative and sustainable design.
He has spoken at a number of international business and design conferences on sustainable development and post-disaster reconstruction, including guest appearances on BBC World Service and CNN International, National Public Radio and PBS.
In 2003 Sinclair was named a Nice Moderist by Dwell Magazine. He is a recipient of the ASID Design for Humanity award and the Lewis Mumford Award for Peace. In 2004 Fortune Magazine named him as one of the Aspen Seven, seven people changing the world for the better, and in 2006 Sinclair was named one of three winners of the TED Prize, which honors visionaries from any field who have shown they can "positively impact life on this planet." Together with co-founder Kate Stohr he accepted the 2008 Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian National Design Patron Award in honor of the work of Architecture for Humanity, its chapters, volunteers and design fellows.
Kate Stohr, Managing Director
Kate Stohr is the Co-founder and Managing Director of Architecture for Humanity where she has been instrumental in leading the organization's community development and reconstruction programs. Stohr has also led the development of the organization's online platforms, including the Open Architecture Network (www.openarchitecturenetwork.org), and edited the book Design Like You Give a Damn. Her work with Architecture for Humanity has been profiled on NPR, CNN and Frontline/World, and she has served as a panel moderator and guest speaker at the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting, "Live from the New York Public Library," the Aspen Ideas Festival, and many other design conferences and events.
Stohr brings a background in project management, website development and a strong understanding of urban planning issues to the organization. Prior to co-founding Architecture for Humanity, she was a journalist and producer. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Business Week, U.S. News and World Report and on MSNBC, A&E, and PBS. She developed a number of websites for Time Inc., Gruner+Jahr and other clients.
Stohr received her bachelor's degree magna cum laude from New York University and her master's degree in Journalism from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. She is the recipient of Wired magazine's 2006 Rave Award for Architecture and was awarded the Royal Society of Arts Bicentenary Medal in 2009. Together with co-founder, Cameron Sinclair she accepted the 2008 Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian National Design Patron Award in honor of the work of Architecture for Humanity, its chapters, volunteers and design fellows.
Ana Vasconcellos, Web Developer
Ana works behind the scenes, using her years of experience developing drupal-based community sites, to implement new features and improve the code of the Open Architecture Network.
Ana has a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from University of California at Berkeley, focusing on computer science and social theory.
Frederika Zipp, Program Manager
Frederika Zipp joined Architecture for Humanity in 2009, and is primarily responsible for managing the network of AfH chapters throughout the world. In this role she provides guidance, training and support to chapter members, design fellows and grantees. Frederika travels to various AfH project site locations around the world to monitor and evaluate specific engineering and design project needs.
Frederika is a registered Professional Engineer, and has worked for some of the largest engineering and construction companies in the world, including Bechtel and MW Kellogg. Her experience includes design, specification and procurement for industrial projects. She also worked for a time in civil engineering, focusing on residential projects.
Frederika was born in Morocco, raised in Africa, Brazil and France, and educated in the United States. She holds a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University and is fluent in French. When not working, she enjoys open water swimming and skiing. Frederika is also a Children Docent volunteer at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
