Cierra is a native of Kansas City, MO, and recently graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with her dual Masters in Architecture and Masters in Urban Design. Shortly after graduation, she was awarded the E. Todd Wheeler Health Fellowship with Perkins and Will, and is now based in their Seattle office. With this fellowship, she is afforded the opportunity to further explore her research in public health as it pertains to mental health and overall wellness within marginalized communities. During her final year at Washington University in St. Louis, she studied how communities stricken with blight, poverty, crime, and lack of resources can affect the mental fortitude and wellness of its residents, particularly as it pertains to anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Moving forward, she is currently seeking to correlate that research within this global pandemic, and to better understand how many marginalized communities are especially vulnerable to its physical, economical, and environmental effects.

Scott Archer is an Architect, Urban Designer, and Certified Planner in Beyer Blinder Belle’s Washington, DC office. With a diversity of experience in architecture, planning, and urban design, he brings a spirit of both rationality and ingenuity to his project teams. Scott collaborates with varied clients, including governmental, institutional, and private organizations, to create strategies that express their missions within their city, campus, or building. He holds a Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Architecture from Mississippi State University. Scott is a founding member and past chair of the AIA|DC Urban Design Committee, an adjunct faculty member at Virginia Tech’s Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center, and the recipient of a 2021 AIA|DC Emerging Architect Award and the 2022 DCCEAS Young Architect of the Year Award. Scott joined BBB in 2013.

Dr. Erika Eitland is the Director of the Human Experience Lab at Perkins&Will where she focuses on the public health impact of affordable housing, K-12 schools and urban resilience. She received her doctorate from the Harvard Chan School of Public Health in Environmental Health. Dr. Eitland has presented internationally including the World Bank, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, American Society of Interior Design and U.S. Green Building Council. She also holds a Master of Public Health in Climate and Health from Columbia University.

Margaret is a licensed architect at Seattle-based Runberg Architecture Group, a past member of AIA Seattle’s Board of Directors, and a recent chair of AIA Seattle’s Diversity Roundtable where she works to encourage and promote diversity within the architectural profession. 

She is passionate about the role community engagement can play in the design process, especially for communities facing challenges. Following her graduation from Cornell University, Margaret worked to conduct participatory design workshops outside of Nairobi with the goal of creating productive public spaces. While at Seattle-based Schemata Workshop, Margaret has worked on several affordable housing projects throughout Washington state. Most notably she has been engaged with Seattle’s historically Black community in the Central Area and Seattle’s Chinatown International District communities to help them develop neighborhood-specific design guidelines through a series of workshops and outreach events.

Anna Lake-Smith, Project Manager at Foundation Communities, works with the real estate development team of a non-profit affordable housing developer in Austin, Texas, to take projects through feasibility, design and construction. Anna brings a wide range of design experience at many scales, from residential interiors to city planning, and is particularly interested in land use, designing for longevity and exploring new housing typologies. Anna holds a dual MS in Urban Design and MS in Community/Regional Planning from UT Austin, and a BA in Architecture from Wellesley College.