Who We Are
Open Architecture Collaborative, Inc. (OAC) is a global learning community mobilizing architects, designers, and a diverse range of professionals who shape the built environment with technical skills to build capacity with communities experiencing systemic racism and marginalization.
We believe in cultivating new models of design practice that challenge traditional architecture, planning, and design practices.
We prioritize:
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We advance racial justice in our professions by offering trainings focused on systems thinking: understanding the structures, policies, and cultures in place that uphold racial inequity. And cultivate shared learning and practice community, knowing that change happens with support, care, and accountability with your peers.
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We believe that investing in our wellness, physically and mentally, enables us to be intentional and thoughtful in our community engagement and design practice. In our trainings and programs, we incorporate grounding exercises and meditations as well as share trauma-informed approaches to community engagement and how to navigate conflict.
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We ensure land and climate justice are on the forefront of our programming, understanding the interconnectedness of racial and environmental justice. Our programming shares skills and strategies for design practitioners to incorporate climate driven design solutions across scale in their design solutions. And to practice “rematriation,” a term used by Native American women of Turtle Island. It is a practice of restoring a people to their rightful place in sacred relationship with their ancestral land.
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Co-Director (they/he/she)
Almas Haider is an architectural designer, community organizer, and storyteller. For over a decade, Almas has supported the existence and just alignment of South Asian, queer, trans, and non-binary Muslim collectives in the movement for the liberation of Black, Indigenous, and people of color. They have worked most extensively in social justice campaigns related to immigrant rights, detention and deportation, and state surveillance.
They have worked most extensively in the non-profit sector, including South Asian Network, South Asian Americans Leading Together, and the International Rescue Committee. Almas has also worked in the federal government in the U.S. Department of State’s Educational and Cultural Affairs Bureau. And as chaired committees and boards, including the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance, Satrang-LA, KhushDC, and API Equality-LA.
This informs his understanding and relationship to the built environment, inspiring Almas to pursue a career in architecture. She practices a land and design based strategy for liberation, primarily working with queer and trans land stewards across the U.S.
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Co-Director (she/her)
Shalini Agrawal is trained as an architect and has over 25 years of experience creating and facilitating community workshops between participants of all ethnicities, and socio-economic statuses in Chicago, Oakland and San Francisco. She is founder of Public Design for Equity that centers equity in outcomes, co-founder and director of Pathways to Equity, a leadership experience that brings self-reflective practice to support responsible social impact design practice. Pathways to Equity was a recipient of the 2020 NOMA NAACP SEED Award for Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in community-based work. Shalini’s work in equity consulting is shaping the national conversation of equitable practices in architecture, planning and land use development, and is at the forefront of bringing equity and anti-racism pedagogy to architectural practice and education.
Shalini is Associate Professor in Critical Ethnic Studies, Interdisciplinary Studio and the Decolonial School at California College of the Arts. Her research and practice focuses on revealing the historical legacies of colonization in architecture and design and dismantling its lasting impacts. She has been recognized for her teaching and facilitation with the AIA SF Community Alliance Award for Education and the Interior Design Education Council's award for Community Service. Shalini is a Core Organizer for Dark Matter University, and contributing author to Design for Democracy: Techniques for Collective Creativity and Public Interest Design Education Guidebook.
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he/him
Garrett is the founding director of the Open Architecture Collaborative and previously led programs and national networks at Code for America and Architecture for Humanity. He has produced creative placemaking and leadership programs in the Bay Area, piloting Pathways to Equity.
Garrett serves as Director of Research & Evaluation for Designing Justice Designing Spaces where he leads the discovery of project outcomes and manages projects and business development. He has an M. Arch from Tulane University, was selected as a 2016 Next City Vanguard.
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An experienced storyteller in the arts, architecture, and design, Karen cultivates a holistic approach to strategic communications and leadership development. Serving as a creative leader for award-winning campaigns and projects of multiple scales, Karen brings broad perspective to her work. She is skilled at articulating design excellence, having developed successful submissions for several AIA programs such as Firm Award, COTE Top Ten, Young Architect, and AIA Fellowship. Karen is a frequent speaker at industry conferences; she also speaks at architecture schools regarding professional practice.
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Allan is a licensed architect and community development professional with nearly fifteen years of deep experience in architecture and development. His career has centered on implementing and managing community-engaged design and urban development projects that focus on racial and economic inequality through affordable housing, public space, and community planning work. Allan brings expertise in delivering high-quality projects by leveraging inclusive community engagement strategies to drive local buy-in while meeting financial, programming, and design goals by layering financial tools with best practices and innovation in architecture and construction management.
Allan has served as the Senior Project Manager at Hester Street and Project Manager of Design and Construction at Breaking Ground. From 2016 to 2018, Allan was awarded an Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship for work in community engagement and affordable housing development and was named a 2020 Next City Vanguard.
Allan holds a Master of Science in Architecture History and Theory from the University of Washington and a Bachelor of Architecture from Rice University.
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Ashrita believes the built environment is a powerful vehicle to advance community resilience, environmental regeneration, and spatial justice. At Gehl, she helps clients create impactful places that balance human experience, business priorities, and public interest. As a strategist and designer, she explored a breadth of interests professionally not limited to future of work, climate responsive design, and participatory design, before finding a home at Gehl. Raised and educated in the U.S. and abroad, she is attuned to the socio-cultural, economic and regulatory forces that influence the production and use of public space. She is committed to furthering equitable outcomes in the built environment and sits on the board of directors of Open Architecture Collaborative, a non-profit advancing equity in practice through training, resources and grants for design professionals. As a lifelong learner, outside of work, you can find her participating in neighborhood initiatives, enjoying music and art shows, and exploring Brooklyn and beyond.
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Cesar is the Senior Business Transformation Consultant
at AECOM. Cesar brings a range of experience in public, community-based and academic approaches to design and architecture for equitable urban planning. He conducts mapping + zoning analyses, demographic and neighborhood research, as well as implements community engagement materials, tools and strategies. Last year, he researched development opportunities created by East Harlem’s most recent rezoning and the future development sites for the Second Avenue Subway. The basis of this research and recommendations was guided by the East Harlem Neighborhood Plan, an intensive multi-year community-based planning process done prior to the rezoning.Cesar holds a B.Arch. in Architecture from the City College of New York. Before Hester Street, he worked for NYC’s Department of Design and Construction overseeing cultural capital projects citywide and interned in non-profits such as The Van Alen Institute, J. Max Bond Center and In Our Own Back Yard (IOBY).
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Anita Cobb, MBA, is Mead & Hunt’s Market Leader for Aviation Equity Strategies. Though her title reflects the core of her work, she also has created equity-based programming and trained professionals in the Transportation, Architecture, and Water Resources fields, as well as many other service lines in the AEC industry. She has a passion for and specializes in matters related to environmental justice, community collaboration, youth education, family empowerment, and mentorship. She supports and shares creative strategies focused on advocacy, transparency, and resource literacy for individuals that are marginalized and facing undue hardship.
Anita’s recent activities include collaborating with academics to explore neurodiversity in planning and engineering, developing targeted universalism approaches for disadvantaged and underserved communities, creating a universal hub for aviation professionals focused on diversity and equity, and producing strategies to optimize DBE training, development, and significant project participation. She is also involved in the production of equity best practice documentation that addresses systemic inequalities in the aviation industry.
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Jenine Kotob, AIA, NOMA, is a public architect, community organizer, and thought leader with over 15 years of experience in the design industry. She serves as the Assistant Director of Capital Projects for the City of Alexandria, Virginia, overseeing design and construction projects for public facilities. Prior to joining the City, Jenine worked at The American Institute of Architects, focusing on policy and advocacy work to advance equity in the profession of architecture. Jenine spent most of career in the private sector designing safe, healthy, and community-driven education facilities. Her expertise has been featured in The Washington Post, Reuters, Congressional Quarterly, The New York Times, Slate Magazine, Education Week, ArchDaily, and Metropolis Magazine. She holds a master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in their Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, and a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Virginia Tech University. In addition to serving on the OAC board, she is a board of trustees member with the Arab American Association of Engineers and Architects.
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Tavia Stewart is a Bay Area writer, creative placemaker, and two-time literary nonprofit founder. She is the co-author of Ready, Set, Novel (Chronicle Books) and author of multiple novel-writing workbooks for kids and teens (NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers Program). Tavia worked at National Novel Writing Month as a founding staff member and COO for 10 years. In 2014, she co-founded Chapter 510, an 826-inspired writing, publishing, and bookmaking center in Oakland, CA where Black,brown, and queer youth are currently writing us all a more fantastic future. She is also the creator and Creative Director for Chapter 510’s magical bureaucracy (interactive retail storefront) the Dept. of Make / Believe.
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Christopher M. Schutte is an Anchorage-based community and economic development consultant focused on transformative infrastructure and commercial real estate across Alaska. As an expert owner’s representative, he provides strategic oversight in zoning, project management, financial planning, and rural economic growth.
In 2021, Chris transitioned to consulting after six years as the Director of Economic & Community Development for Anchorage, leading key initiatives under two mayors to enhance economic resilience and livability. He previously served as Executive Director of the Anchorage Downtown Partnership, where he improved safety, cleanliness, and vibrancy in the city’s Downtown Improvement District.
Chris holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Alaska Anchorage and an M.A. in American Politics from Claremont Graduate University. He lives in Anchorage with his wife, two kids, and two cats on the traditional lands of the Dena’ina people.
Board of Directors
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Jaryn is a leader of Inclusive Design in Healthcare. His work intentionally centers the wellness and joy of Black people as a grounding point to work towards the liberation of other oppressed communities.
As a design leader, author, board member, and founder; Jaryn has spent over 10 years developing services that bridge healthcare, technology, and the community. He’s made it easier for Veterans to access the care, helped telehealth teams adapt to a global pandemic, supported a billion dollar merger, distributed $80k in reparations, & developed a passion for maternal health. Most importantly he’s raising a really dope kid with his really dope partner.
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Susan Strom is an AEC industry leader with deep expertise in firm operations, communications, and learning. Her years of experience consulting with mid-size architecture and engineering firms enables her to bring a unique perspective on the "voice of the firm" to her role on OAC's Communications Committee.
Susan lives in the bay area with her wife and kiddo and enjoys helping firms evolve and grow via her day job at Knowledge Architecture and reading social science fiction.
Board Members Emeritus Ida Cheinman, Ricardo Daza, Maryam Eskandari, Audrey Galo, Christina Garmendia, Steve Jones, Geoff Malia, Sandy Mendler, Casius Pealer, Bryan Malong and Annie Ledbury
Advisors Shakira Ferrell, Allen Hunn, Ashley Hand, Katherine Darnstadt, Bob Sofman, Dr. Antwi Akom, Tessa Cruz, and Aekta Shah
Thanks to Our Funding Partners
Thanks to Our In-Kind Supporters
Legal Support – Melanie Ruthruaff at Mintz Levin
Branding – Eric Piper and Homestead Design & Branding
Design Support – Steve Jones, Plantain Studio
Branding Research – Mo Dhaliwal and Skyrocket
Business Model Research – verynice.
Software – Autodesk Foundation