Irina Schneid, impact wrkshp founder
Irina Schneid, AIA, NCARB, is an architect, educator, and principal of SCH+ARC Studio L.L.C. With over a decade of experience in the design industry, Irina has lectured and taught internationally. An Adjunct Assistant Professor at Pratt Institute, Irina is deeply committed to expanding educational access, social-equity, and community outreach through her teaching and practice. She launched SCH+ARC Impact : WRKSHP to provide mentorship and project management for young female designers who seek to impact social change through design.
“Design has the capacity to impact change. Architecture houses, shelters, protects. It can empower, or it can hold back. It can include as easily as it can exclude. As designers we must harness this power and use it to better the lives of those affected by our work. Impact: WRKSHP equips emerging design practitioners with the tools, training, and mentorship to implement social advocacy projects in real time. They are empowered to give back, to reach out, and to use their training towards social good.”
Katie Tucker, Impact Adviser
Katie Tucker grew up surrounded by building plans, paint swatches, and construction sites. After living in 21 homes and through a dozen renovations Katie created her own design + construction team, Rooted Reno. Her natural ability to see the potential in a space coupled with a reignited passion for the process sent her into construction full-time as a licensed general contractor. She began Rooted Reno to bring affordable renovations to people looking to improve their homes without being taken advantage of. This passion led her to do the same by purchasing and rehabilitating dilapidated properties to allow more people to enjoy the best of both the vintage and the new in her refurbished properties. I am doing more than just restoring the history that makes houses unique. Through her work she hopes to improve the daily lives of the people who leave roots in the properties she touches.
“As a woman in business the best impact I can hope to make is being an inspiration to other young women to take chances on themselves. Part of my purpose has always been dedicated to encouraging girls to build businesses of their own by making meaningful work out of the passions they enjoy because that is exactly how I began as an entrepreneur 12 years ago.”
Ji Young Kim, Impact adviser
Ji Young Kim is a principal in the multidisciplinary architecture firm Praxes. Recognized for her design and public art work, Ji Young has built and exhibited projects in North America and Asia for private, institutional and public clients. Praxes’ speculative and built projects have been widely published in local and international media.
An Adjunct Professor of Architecture at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Visiting Assistant Professor of Interior Design at the Pratt Institute, Ji Young serves as a co-director, advisory board member, and editorial board member of d3: a New York-based organization committed to innovation in art, design, and architecture by providing collaborative opportunities for artists, architects, interior designers, urban designers, and students from around the world.
“I believe design can improve our everyday lives and transform them into something extraordinary. Through my practice, teaching and art collaborations, I address the social, technological, and experiential aspects of the built environment and seek to expand its influence.”
virginia black, Impact adviser
Virginia Black is an architect, indigenous rights advocate, and visual ethnographer whose research is sited at the intersection of bodies, the environment, and memory. Her current work is situated between New York and Ecuador, where she collaborates with AMUPAKIN, an indigenous women's midwifery. She is a founding principal of feminist architecture collaborative and has taught at Pratt, Parsons, Barnard, Columbia, and NYCCT. Her work and writing has been published by Avery Review, Due, Ed, e-flux, FLACSO, the Funambulist, Harvard Design Magazine, Real Review, and Rm1000 and has been exhibited at ViPer Gallery, the New School, the Swiss Institute, and the Morgan Library and Museum.
“Working with and for the women of @AMUPAKIN, @eff_arch, and a team of activists and anthropologists, we are operating to change who has the capacity to design and to be recognized as that kind of actor in the world.”
WALLEN + DAUB, DANEI CESARIO, IMPACT PARTNER
Danei Cesario, AIA, NCARB, NOMA is the 333rd black female licensed architect in American history. Danei’s passion for architecture and advocacy has led her to be a role model for emerging design professionals. She is Chair of AIA New York’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee and a contributor to national and international organizations such as the United Nations, the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation, Parlour, Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust and nycobaNOMA Executive Board. As a core member of these groups, Danei is dedicated to fostering Mentorship, Sponsorship and Leadership. She launched WALLEN + daub to provide informational and infrastructural support to people navigating careers within creative and STEM industries.
“We create a safe place in support of the brilliant contributors of architecture, STEM industries + design. It is a space to educate through shared information + experiences, share their diverse stories to empower others, help to retain talent through engagement + encourage cross-pollination for expansion across our creative industries.”
JEFF JORDAN ARCHITECTS, JEFF JORDAN, IMPACT PARTNER
Jeff Jordan Architects LLC is a full service architecture practice focused on design excellence and project execution. Their work is characterized by conceptual innovation, a commitment to sustainability, a strong understanding of the construction process and attention to detail. Every project is seen as an opportunity to provide dynamic and uplifting responses to the nuances of the site, program and client.
“Our work focuses primarily on modest residential and smaller scale commercial projects where rigorous design thinking is often the victim of tight budgets. We leverage our extensive design and construction experience in these areas to provide our clients with a product and level of service that is typically reserved for larger, more expensive projects and more affluent clients. In this way, we are trying to bring thoughtful architecture solutions to a larger slice of the population.”
mindful play yoga, jamie wilson-murray, IMPACT PARTNER
Jamie Wilson-Murray, yoga instructor and creator of Mindful Play Yoga is known for her insight, patience and ability to connect with each child by engaging them mindfully through play and yoga. Jamie’s passion is to share yoga with kids by offering them the tools to feel grounded, balanced, strong, flexible and learn body awareness to self-regulate emotions. Mindful Play Yoga is committed to inspiring children ages 3 to 15 and families to be curious and become lifelong learners. Life is playfulness.
“I strive to cultivate community wellness through public and civic engagement by partnering Mindful Play Yoga with local organizations.”