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. Almas has also taught a design at the University of Maryland, College Park, on the intersections of community organizing, archiving, U.S. bathroom legislation and design, and social justice.

This informs his understanding and relationship to the built environment, inspiring Almas to pursue a career in architecture. As co-founder of Rooted Design, Almas offers architectural design visioning, archiving, and community engagement. And as the Trainings and Consulting Manager of Open Architecture Collaborative, they support sustainable infrastructure development for architects to build a just future.

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.