At the heart of Architecture for Humanity is a core group of people who have generously donated their time and efforts to support the organizations growth and operations. With advocates around the world, Architecture for Humanity is truly becoming a global organization that encourages designers to make a difference.
Staff | Design Fellows | Volunteers | Consulting Partners | Hall of Fame
Staff
Natassia Academia: Accounting Manager (Learn more)
Tomika Anderson, Volunteer Coordinator (Learn more)
Sarah Bush Brady: Associate Development Director (Learn more)
Marvin Cabrera: Program Financial Manager (Learn more)
Eric Cesal: Regional Program Manager (Learn more)
Bridget Dodd: Executive Assistant (Learn more)
Kevin Gannon: Regional Program Manager (Learn more)
Darren Gill: Program Coordinator (Learn more)
Dylan Gold: Technical Architect / Manager of Salesforce (Learn more)
Elizabeth Han: New Program Development Manager (Learn more)
Sandhya Naidu Janardhan: Program Manager (Learn more)
Karl Johnson: Communications Associate (Learn more)
Gretchen Mokry, LEED AP: Design Director (Learn more)
Alix Ogilvie: Program Coordinator (Learn more)
Jason Olson: Office Manager (Learn more)
Twyla Parks: Human Resources Manager (Learn more)
Cameron Sinclair: Executive Director/Chief Eternal Optimist (Learn more | where is Cameron?)
Kate Stohr: Managing Director (Learn more)
Hiromi Tabei: Program Coordinator (Learn more)
Jonathan Thomson: Senior Construction Program Manager (Learn more)
Ana Vasconcellos: Web Developer (Learn more)
Gaurav Vashist: Finance Director(Learn more)
T. Luke Young: Program Coordinator (Learn more)
Frederika Zipp: Chapters Coordinator (Learn more)
Haiti Rebuilding Center
For a complete list of Rebuilding Center staff, please visit the Haiti Staff page
Consulting Partners
Thao Nguyen, Creative Artists Agency (Learn more)
Diana Bianchini, Di Moda Public Relations (Learn more)
Steven Meier, Jenner& Block, General Counsel (Learn more)
2012 Design Fellows
San Francisco, CA, USA: Audrey Galo, Delphine Luboz, Ken Smith, Zac Taylor, Daniel Viliesid (based in Mexico City)
New York, NY, USA: Preeti Sodhi
Orissa, India: Sarika Jhawar
Hyderabad, India: Matt Hughes
Education Outreach, International Design Studios: Nathaniel Corum
Cape Town, South Africa: Unathi Mkonto, Mark Warren,
QwaQwa, South Africa: George Kinuthia
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa: Luvuyo Mfungula
Cape Coast, Ghana: David Pound
Kigali, Rwanda: Killian Doherty
Cameroon: Nathan Jones
Iringa, Tanzania: Alma Ruiz
Maneca, Mozambique:Paolo Fernandez and Alina Jeronimo
Sao Paulo, Brazil: Carla Dal Mas
Port-au-Prince, Haiti: Natalie Desrosiers, Nancy Doran, Henri Dupont, Kate Evarts, Sergine Francoeur, Darren Gill, Burtland Granvil, Stanley Joseph, Jean-Rene Lafontant, Jacques Nixon, Ulrick Pierre, Gerard Reilly, Lisa Smyth, Olivia Stinson, Frederique Siegel, Martine Theodore Haiti Staff page
Pisco, Peru: Diego Collazos
2012 Volunteers
San Francisco, CA, USA: Je’Nen Chastain (Learn more), Stephanie Easton, Jason Ennis, Ibby Hartley, Jane Irwin (Learn more), Mari Krakenes, Zsofia Marton, Angus McNaughton (Learn more), Bisi Obateru, Miriam Fernandez Ruiz (Learn more), Kristen Schlott
Cape Town, South Africa: Andrew McCreary, James Stewart
Alego, Kenya: Matthew Hughes
Ramotswa, Botswana: Ray Rice
Staff Profiles
Natassia Academia, Accounting Manager
Natassia joined Architecture for Humanity in November of 2010. She has a finance background, with experience in project accounting for a San Francisco based advertising agency and loans analysis in the mortgage-lending field. She has also served as a volunteer for Urban Table, a nonprofit group which connects local farmers to urban communities. She graduated with a B.A. from CSU East Bay and currently pursuing CPA accreditation.
Tomika Anderson, Volunteer Coordinator
Tomika joined Architecture for Humanity in November 2011. As Volunteer Coordinator, she is responsible for managing a vast group of professional and student volunteers and interns to ensure project completion and support. She has dedicated the past 10 years to the nonprofit sector and served it in a variety of ways, including working with at-risk youth in the juvenile court system, educating undergraduate and graduate students in nonprofit leadership and management skills, and managing both youth and adult volunteers on a national level.
Ms. Anderson has a passion for National Service and has completed two years of service with AmeriCorps: one with the Student Conservation Association as a wild land fire educator and fire fighter in Southern California, and the other as a volunteer manager with the Youth Volunteer Corps of Greater Kansas City. She holds a Masters in Public Administration with an emphasis in Nonprofit Management and is a Certified Nonprofit Professional.
Sarah Bush Brady, Associate Development Director
Sarah Bush Brady joined Architecture for Humanity in April 2010. She spearheads advocacy events, helps manage fundraising efforts, and leads communication with constituents and major donors.
Brady has a background in journalism and international development. She produced and reported for NPR in Boston Massachusetts and Austin Texas. Her stories took her to the Massachusetts Statehouse, the Texas-Mexico border and El Salvadorean jails. She also served with the Peace Corps in Bolivia where she developed small business in a rural indigenous community of 300 people.
Brady earned her bachelor’s degree from Emory University and a dual master’s degree in Journalism and Latin American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin.
Marvin Cabrera, Program Financial Manager
Marvin Cabrera joined the Architecture For Humanity team as the Project Accountant in 2009. He brings with him over 6 years of work experience in the finance and accounting department, particularly in the general construction industry. Prior to that, Cabrera's worked overseas in the business sector where he administered the over-all operations and sales of his past employer's telecommunications, information technology, chemicals, and warehousing department.
Cabrera graduated with a B.A. Economics and a minor in Political Science from De La Salle University. In 2000, as the Chairman of the Youth Leadership and Excellence Award, a 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 serves as the Treasurer/Board Member of Childhelp SF/Bay Area Chapter, a leading national non-profit organization dedicated to helping victims of child abuse and neglect.
Eric Cesal, Regional Program Manager
Eric is a designer, builder, analyst and writer. A native of Washington, D.C., Eric completed his undergraduate studies at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island and achieved a Masters in Architecture, a Masters in Construction Management and an MBA (Masters in Business Administration) from Washington University in St. Louis. In between he practiced in Washington, D.C., working primarily on educational and institutional projects.
Eric first joined Architecture for Humanity in 2006 as a volunteer in Biloxi, Mississippi. He followed up that work the following year with another stint in the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans, Louisiana, before joining Architecture for Humanity full time in 2010.
He now oversees ground operations for the Architecture for Humanity Haiti Rebuilding Center, and spends his free time learning Creole and writing, occasionally.
Bridget Dodd, Executive Assistant
Bridget joined Architecture for Humanity as a Design Fellow in August 2011 and as of January 2012 started as the Executive Assistant to both Kate Stohr and Cameron Sinclair. Bridget brings to the position many years of managing projects and working on site as an AmeriCorps construction volunteer lead with Habitat for Humanity. Bridget holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from The Catholic University of America and a Masters of Architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Kevin Gannon, Regional Program Manager
Kevin Gannon joined Architecture for Humanity in December 2009 as Regional Program Manager-Africa primarily focusing on the ’20 Centres for 2010’ projects. This series of community centers being built throughout sub-Saharan Africa, are dedicated to programs that integrate youth development, health and education with sport. His role is management of the design and construction with the Architecture for Humanity team in Africa from the Cape Town studio.
Gannon is a registered architect with 22 years of experience that has afforded him the opportunity to be involved in architecture as a designer, builder and educator. Prior to joining Architecture for Humanity, he was the co-founder, and Design Principal of Forty-Eighty Architecture providing services to non-profit, community and private clients resulting in published and award winning projects, including a ‘AIA COTE Top Ten Green Building Award 2005. He is an Adjunct Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, teaching design and advanced construction studios there since 1993. Kevin has been a US Green Building Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional since 2000.
Gannon earned his Bachelor of Environmental Design from Miami University in (Oxford Ohio) 1983 and his Master of Architecture from Yale University 1988. Gannon has served on the Board of Trustees for Waldorf School of Pittsburgh, NMRWSA (an Urban Watershed organization), the Pittsburgh City Planning Design Review committee and Green Schools Advocacy Committee for the Green Building Alliance.
Darren Gill, Program Coordinator
Darren comes to the Haiti team following a design fellowship with Architecture for Humanity building the earth block-based Nakaseeta Academy in rural Uganda. Previously, Darren has worked on a wide variety of projects in Haiti and India, including the design and construction of homes and schools, and environmental conservation work. He now oversees design and construction for the Rebuilding Center.
Dylan Gold, Technical Architect / Manager of Salesforce
Dylan Gold joined the Architecture for Humanity team as the Technical Architect/Manager of Salesforce in May 2011. He brings with him 5 years of experience in Non-Profit Technology. A certified Salesforce administrator, he worked with Network for Good and later worked as a Salesforce consultant focusing on non-profit organizations before joining Architecture for Humanity.
Dylan earned his BA in International Relations from San Francisco State University in 2007 with a focus on international development, non-profit administration and the South and Southeast Asian region.
Elizabeth Han, New Program Development Manager
Elizabeth brings nearly 10 years of marketing and communications experience in the architecture / engineering sector. Most recently Elizabeth served as a Marketing Manager at SOM San Francisco and previously worked at OWP/P (now OWP/P | Cannon Design). At OWP/P she helped develop The Third Teacher, a collaborative publication and conversation that explores the impact design has on the learning and teaching environment. It was during this time that Elizabeth first came across Architecture for Humanity’s Design Like You Give a Damn, which had just been published and used as a reference example for The Third Teacher.
Sandhya Naidu Janardhan, Program Manager
Sandhya Naidu Janardhan joined Architecture for Humanity as Program Coordinator in June 2010. Previously, she served as a Design Fellow with Architecture for Humanity from October 2008 – May 2010. During this time, she spent a year working on Razi Healthcare Pvt. Ltd, Hyderabad, India helping standardize and set up infrastructure for a chain of low-cost health clinics. Previously, she was involved in the 2009 Open Architecture Challenge. Her role in the Challenge included research and working with low-cost private schools in Hyderabad, India as well as schools in rural Uganda.
Prior to joining Architecture for Humanity, Naidu Janardhan graduated with a master’s degree from Columbia University in May 2008. Her work experience in India includes health care and education projects, while working with a local firm in Bangalore, India. Sandhya is a licensed architect with the Council of Architecture, India.
Karl Johnson, Communications Associate
Karl brings a background in architecture, interdisciplinary design and storytelling to assist the organization's communications needs.
Karl previously assisted program coordination, communications and outreach for the Haiti Rebuilding Center and Students Rebuild as a design fellow. Karl holds a certificate in interdisciplinary design from the Institute without Boundaries in Toronto and an architecture degree from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
Gretchen Mokry, AIA, LEED AP, Design Director
Gretchen is currently program lead for the Football for Hope Centres in Africa and the Happy Hearts Fund school initiative in South America. 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, Mokry brings with her a significant background in design and construction administration knowledge to Architecture for Humanity. She earned her Bachelors at Parsons School of Design and a Masters at the Architectural Association in London. Gretchen is a LEED Accredited Professional, and a California licensed architect.
Alix Ogilvie, Program Coordinator
Alix Ogilvie brings a strong background in community-based design and climate-related issues to her work with Architecture for Humanity. She is responsible for coordinating a range of program activities and provides competition and program support to the Open Architecture Network. In this role she has successfully managed design and construction grants on programs such as Nike GameChangers; developed design guides such as the Gaza Repair Strategies manual; and managed a number of online competitions including Safe Trestles.
Ogilvie joined Architecture for Humanity in February 2010 as a Design Fellow. Prior to joining Architecture for Humanity, Ogilvie worked in the private sector focusing on residential, mixed-use, and adaptive reuse urban in-fill development. She has an interest in organic farming, and is an active member of San Francisco Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT). Ogilvie is a LEED Accredited Professional, and a California licensed architect.
Jason Olson, Office Manager
Jason Olson joined Architecture for Humanity as the Office Manager in 2010. Olson manages the San Francisco Headquarters Office, supports offices in Haiti and South Africa, and is responsible for overseeing the on-boarding of design fellows on Architecture for Humanity projects worldwide.
Olson is a former environmental consultant, having managed investigation/remediation and brownfield redevelopment sites across the country. Olson has also managed and worked on sites at and adjacent to former military facilities, including the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard cleanup in San Francisco. In 2005, Olson changed career paths to manage a non-profit working to reform American politics and help expand a national youth development organization.
Twyla Parks, Human Resources Manager
Twyla Parks joined Architecture for Humanity in November 2011 as Human Resources Manager. She has held the position of Human Resources Director with several non-profits for many years and is experienced in employment law. Ms. Parks has received numerous awards including a Certificate of Appreciation for her recruiting efforts from the United States Air Force and a Certificate of Recognition from California State Senator Liz Figueroa in recognition as Secretary to the Executive Committee for the Board of Directions for the Tri-Cities area.
Ms. Parks holds a Bachelors of Science Degree in Organization Management from Patten University. Her previous background has been in the health care field with an emphasis on customer service. She has served as a Board of Director Member, Executive Committee Secretary, and as an Ambassador to the Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce.
Cameron Sinclair, co-founder and 'chief eternal optimist' (CEO)
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.
Sinclair and Architecture for Humanity co-founder Kate Stohr compiled a bestselling book Design Like You Give A Damn: Architectural Responses to Humanitarian Crises and are currently working on a second volume. He is heavily involved in bringing socially relevant building into academia and serves on advisory boards of the Acumen Fund, the Institute for State Effectiveness and the Ontario College of Art and Design.
Sinclair is a TED prize recipient and is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. In 2008 Architecture for Humanity and its co-founders Sinclair and Stohr were named as recipients of the Design Patron Award for the National Design Awards. The following year Sinclair and Stohr were jointly awarded the Bicentenary Medal by the Royal Society of Arts for increasing people’s resourcefulness.
As a result of the 2006 TED Prize, Architecture for Humanity launched the Open Architecture Network, the world's first open source community dedicated to improving living conditions through innovative and sustainable design. Every two years this network hosts a global challenge to tackle a systemic issue within the built environment.
Kate Stohr, co-founder and Managing Director
Kate Stohr is the co-founder and Managing Director of Architecture for Humanity. She has been instrumental in coordinating design services and raising more than $15 million in capital for design-centered community development.
In her role at Architecture for Humanity, she has led a number of the organization’s community development and reconstruction programs including: Football for Hope, Hurricane Katrina Reconstruction Programs, 2010 Haiti Earthquake Reconstruction, Open Architecture Network, and the acquisition of Worldchanging.
Prior to joining Architecture for Humanity she was a journalist and producer, receiving 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. She serves as an adviser to the Clinton Global Initiative. 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.
Hiromi Tabei, Program Coordinator
Hiromi joined Architecture for Humanity in June 2011 to coordinate the Tohoku Rebuilding Program. Originally from Japan, Hiromi came stateside to study cartography at the University of Oregon, and stayed at a U.S. company working on maps of all kinds. Her work stirred a curiosity in the human scale, and then architecture. Hiromi accumulated a Masters degree at the Architecture College in Boston, followed by several years' experience at a Boston design office, before the tsunami occurred.
Jonathan Thomson, Senior Construction Program Manager
Jonathan joined Architecture for Humanity in May, 2011. Jon’s career in Construction Project Management spans over twenty-five years with earlier experience as a General Contractor and Developer running his own business. Jon is a native Californian with work experience throughout all of California and, more recently, working overseas in United Arab Emirates.
Jon’s areas of expertise are broad including project management, site development, estimating, feasibility and budget analysis, risk and value engineering, scheduling, contracts, all forms of construction including specialization in all areas of concrete, tilt-up, wood and steel frame. On the job site, Jon’s focus is team building, training, supervising and mentoring with an emphasis on safety and compliance management. Jon has overseen construction from it’s initial design phase to completion of schools, commercial buildings, civic and municipal projects (Court House and Government Offices), public parks, medical buildings, hotels, luxury housing developments, manufacturing plants, retail shopping centers and a cinema, and government projects within the oil and gas industry.
Jon is credentialed as a Certified International Project Manager, as a member of the International Academy of Project Management, holds a General Contractor’s License in the State of California, is a Certified ACI Tilt-up Technician, and is OSHA Safety Certified.
Ana Vasconcellos, Web Development Manager
Vasconcellos 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.
Vasconcelos has a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from University of California at Berkeley, focusing on computer science and social theory.
Gaurav Vashist, Finance Director
Vashist joined Architecture for Humanity in August 2010, and in his role as Director of Finance is responsible for the accounting and financial operations of our global organization.
Prior to this, Vashist has spent 10 years in corporate, where he worked in the area of project finance for an international bank, and had a long career with Alcatel Lucent, a telecommunications multinational company. At Alcatel Lucent, Vashist did finance rotations with increasing responsibilities in customer finance, corporate finance, capital strategist, and as Chief Financial Officer of one of its start-up businesses, that grew to over $300 million. Taking a six month sabbatical, Gaurav went to work in the poorest villages in India in the area of rural/tribal education and community development. He returned to the U.S. to work for the non-profit Hesperian Foundation, publishers of Where There Is No Doctor. At Hesperian, Vashist transformed the accounting/finance operations and brought major improvements in donor reporting and overall cost optimization throughout the organization.
Vashist, has a MBA in Finance from Loyola University Chicago, and a Bachelor from Delhi University. He is an instructor of breath and meditation, and teaches the Art of Living Course that provides techniques to eliminate stress and tension.
T. Luke Young, Program Coordinator
T. Luke Young brings to the organization more than 13 years of experience in architecture, urban planning, and social infrastructure design. He has worked primarily in Latin America, Asia and the U.S. Through his work he has integrated participatory planning, vernacular architecture and innovative design concepts to foster urban settlement initiatives that include residents, are sensitive to their culture and needs, and respect the natural and built environment. He has worked with Architecture for Humanity since 2009 when in partnership with two collaborators was awarded the Founder’s Prize in the 2009 Open Architecture Challenge and again in 2010 as a volunteer in Port-au-Prince.
He earned a Bachelor degree in Historic Preservation from Roger Williams University, a Master in Architectural Studies and a Master in Urban Planning, both from MIT. T. Luke has volunteered his time in marginalized neighborhoods in Colombia and Haiti to promote more equitable spaces.
Frederika Zipp, Program Manager
Frederika Zipp is primarily responsible for managing the network of Architecture for Humanity chapters throughout the world. In this role she provides guidance, training and support to chapter members, design fellows and grantees.
Zipp 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.
Zipp 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. Zipp serves as a Children Docent volunteer at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Volunteer Profiles
Je’Nen Chastain, HQ Volunteer
Je'Nen M. Chastain, Assoc. AIA graduated in 2009 with a professional architecture degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. After extensive involvement throughout school with the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS), she was elected to serve as national president of the organization. In this one-year, full-time staff position (more appropriately deemed a crash course into association management) Je'Nen gained a wide breadth of exposure into the profession of architecture and the nonprofit world. Serving 7,000 members, the AIAS is primarily focused on helping architecture students begin their careers, while building skill sets in the areas of education, service, and leadership. Following the conclusion of her term she moved to California.
Je’Nen is serving as an Administration Volunteer through the support of a variety programs.
Jane Irwin, HQ Volunteer
Jane grew up in Orinda, CA, a town about 20 minutes East of San Francisco. While she loves the Bay Area, she has always been interested in exploring new places and cultures. Her interest in economic development began in high school when she spent two consecutive summers living with families in Latin America facilitating small-scale community projects. After high school, she journeyed across the country to Bucknell University in Pennsylvania where she studied International Relations, Spanish, and Economics. Her interest in traveling and Spanish continued as she worked with a refugee community in Nicaragua, interned in Barcelona, and studied for 6 months in Buenos Aires. After graduating in May 2011, she participated in UC Berkeley's [IN]City Summer Institute, after which she began an internship with Kiva Microfunds. She is excited about the wonderful work that Architecture for Humanity does and is proud to be a part of it. In her free time, Jane enjoys drawing and Bikram yoga.
Jane is supporting the Volunteer Services Program and helps manage and maintain our large database of dedicated volunteers.
Angus McNaughton, HQ Volunteer
Angus is from Wellington, New Zealand. His childhood was split between living in New Zealand, Japan and Fiji. He obtained his degree in Architecture from Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand, upon graduating he spent a further 3 years working in the city before moving to London. He moved to San Francisco last year where he is now based. His work experience includes residental new build and alterations, transportation, arts and commercial projects. He is interested in new concepts of sustainability in architecture and how they might impact and shape building form in the 21st century.
Angus is supporting the Architecture for Humanity Chapter Network through being a volunteer writer and editor.
Miriam Fernandez Ruiz, HQ Volunteer
Originally from Spain, Miriam studied Architecture and Urban Planning in Madrid. Thanks to student/intern exchange programs she spent this last few years between Bogota, Rotterdam and Paris. She enjoys travelling and is specially interested in cinema, classic/contemporary dance and psychology.
While volunteering with Architecture for Humanity, Miriam is working on the Open Architecture Challenge and the Haiti program.
Consulting Partners
Thao Nguyen, Creative Artists Agency
Creative Artists Agency represents Architecture for Humanity in managing speaking events and opportunities. To inquire about speaking appearances and other engagements, please contact us.
Diana Bianchini, Di Moda Public Relations
Di Moda Public Relations provides outreach and manages public relations for Architecture for Humanity. For press requests, please contact us.
Steven Meier, Jener&Block
Jenner & Block generously provides pro bono legal counsel to Architecture for Humanity. In this capacity, Steven Meier serves as Architecture for Humanity's General Counsel
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame: Learn about staff, volunteers and fellows who have worked with us in the past.
