Innovation + Justice in Urban Planning

We’ll explore the ways that design has a critical but often overlooked role in shaping inclusion, justice, and equity across the public realm. Because it engages in the intersections of environmental and urban systems, the design disciplines are well-equipped to to address inequity, injustice, and challenges to inclusivity. The practice of design, however, is not. Relying on an outdated framework that pairs a paying client with a licensed design professional, the prevailing business model works within a system that perpetuates injustice by responding to those priorities set forth by those with access to capital. Chelina’s goal has been to practice differently. Rather than just responding to briefs, she started KDI with the belief that another mode of practice was possible, one that everyday people could identify challenges where they live—particularly at the intersection of environmental and social justice—and design practitioners could assemble the teams and processes to plan, design, and deliver projects.

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Chelina earned a Master of Urban Planning from Harvard Graduate School of Design and a Bachelor of Arts with High Honors from Claremont McKenna College.