Olivia Knott is a project manager and designer at it’s not corporate architecture (INCA) based in New York City. She graduated with an M. Arch from Parsons, The New School and a BS in Architecture from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is an adjunct assistant professor at Pratt Institute’s School of Interior Design where she teaches graphic representation and construction. Her interests are in improving the energy efficiency of the built environment in its assembly and materiality. She completed her Passive House training through PHIUS in 2020 and is a Certified Passive House Consultant
Norissa Alexander is currently a Graduate Architect at krM Architects in Indiana. Originating from Chicago, Illinois, where she developed her childhood dream of becoming an architect, she has continued to grow in her passion for architecture and is in the process of taking exams to become officially licensed.
Norissa moved to Indiana in 2018, after graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign where she earned both her Bachelors of Science in Architectural Studies and her Masters of Architecture.
With four years of professional work experience following graduation, she has worked in several firms in the area of varying scales and project types. Over these years she has honed her skills, and exercised a good work ethic. She deeply enjoys delivering good design to clients, collaborating with her team to meet deadlines, and promoting good communication. She loves learning more about the construction industry through work and involvement in professional organizations such as AIA and NAWIC. Her current goal is to become a licensed architect in the near future.
Me’osha Solsberry is a Chicago native, with a passion for community service and impactful design. Me’osha received her Bachelor of Design in Architecture through the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities and her Master of Architecture and Master of Sustainable Real Estate Development through Tulane University. While at Tulane University, Me’osha was highly involved in the School of Architecture newly formed NOMAs-TU chapter. It was through her leadership and involvement with NOMAs-TU, that she received the Graduate Leadership award at commencement.
Me’osha currently works for FitzGerald Associates Architects as an Associate. She has practiced in Architecture for 4 years. Professionally she has been a member of the Tulane Task Force on Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and served as the Historian for the I-NOMA Chapter. She is currently a member of the I-NOMA, Tulane Alumni Counsel, CSI-Chicago Chapter, and serves as a professional bridge for the Tulane University’s NOMAs Chapter and Tulane University’s Women in Architecture student chapters.
Me’osha believes that her greatest contribution to this field of architecture will be to expose, educate, and advocate for those that follow her. Her goal is to continue to push to change the narrative that makes architecture a more inclusive path.
Courtney Prentiss is an emerging professional on the path to architectural licensure with an affinity for complex project coordination and team management. She sees architecture as a means of making solutions tangible and finds success in the process of turning two-dimensional documents into four-dimensional experiences. An avid problem-solver, Courtney finds innovative ways to create moments of meaning and opportunity in the spaces she designs.
Courtney has a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from the University of Chicago and two master’s degrees in Architecture and Construction Management from Washington University in St. Louis. She served on the inaugural executive board for Washington University’s AIAS chapter and has since been involved in AIA at the local, regional, and national levels. She has been equally as involved in NOMA, currently volunteering on the policy outreach committee within the BosNOMA chapter. Courtney is passionate about turning plans into action, especially involving the betterment of her communities or pushing the industry forward.
Currently based in Boston, Courtney is a Project Coordinator at Moody Nolan. She finds it essential to work in an environment of diverse backgrounds, interests, geographies, and market pursuits. Within the company, she focuses on major corporate, hospitality, and retail/mixed-use projects.
Cassius Palacio (he/him) is a proud Chicagoan and a former “Navy brat”. He works primarily in architecture, photography, and mixed media. He has been featured within many online publications centered around student civic engagement and architecture.
He is intrigued by emergent and innovative art born from underrepresented people and communities. Additionally, Palacio has always invested his time within student civic engagement. It’s critical that every young adult understands the power they have when they use their voice and gain confidence. Cassius has previously worked with the Chicago Public Schools Student Advisory Council as a student council member during high school. Still fulfilling his passion, he now serves as the Lead External Outreach Coordinator for the Architecture + Advocacy (student organization of undergraduate/graduate students). Architecture + Advocacy is an organization that empowers South LA high school students as change-makers in their physical environments through architecture and design workshops. Architecture + Advocacy blends Palacio’s passion for architecture with student civic engagement to proactively design a symphony of social change.
Palacio is an alumnus and big advocate of ACE Mentor Chicago, Mikva Challenge, Future Founders, and University of Chicago STEM Initiative.
Fionn Hui is an incoming freshman to Illinois Institute of Technology’s architecture program. Fionn has delved into her passion for art and design through her school’s graphic design club, the Chicago Architecture Center, and the ACE mentorship program. She is also involved in advocating for AAPI communities through her leadership roles at her high school’s Asian American Club and the Asian Pacific Islander Teen Alliance of Chicago. Combining her interest in design and activism, Fionn strives to explore the various facets of architecture such as social justice, sustainable design, and combatting hostile architecture. She strongly believes in improving the architecture field to encompass the voices of local communities. In her spare time, Fionn enjoys photography and gouache painting.
My name is Roberto Arroyo as you may already know. I am Mexican-American and was born and raised in Chicago. I have one younger brother (15) who is in high school, a mother, and a father. I will be graduating from ITW David Speer Academy and will be attending IIT in the fall.
My interest in architecture sparked when I joined the Chicago Architecture Center Teen Fellows; I was intrigued by the work and dedication that architects would put in to their design and thought process. I enjoy learning about architecture and have since then pursued architecture as a career.
I was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois and attended Chicago public school for my entire educational career. I am a first generation immigrant on my father’s side and second on my mother’s. My interests have varied and changed as I’ve grown up, but I’ve always been really interested in the visual arts, whatever form that may be. I’ve taken studio classes in high school for all four years and before those were available to me I took summer camps and experimented in my own home. In addition to the arts I’ve always been a fairly active individual, playing varsity sports for all fours year of high school and everything I could in elementary school. While I don’t plan on playing D1 sports in college I am still interested in keeping active and playing pickup soccer games for fun. I am very invested in my city and everything that goes on in it. For the last two summers I’ve taken a summer course at UIC for their architecture program, and recently, from the fall through spring, I participated in the ACE Mentorship Chicago which is an interdisciplinary weekly course that helped me get in contact with working individuals from the architecture, constructions and engineering field. to work on a design competition. The one criteria I had for my college experience was that I had to live in a city. I didn’t want the small college town type of experience because I want to explore. I love the art that cities bring and the type of community that you can’t find anywhere else. I am really interested in landscape architecture and environmental sciences. It is really important to me to realize our impact on the world and look to connect our system and the natural systems that already exist and create new works that don’t harm environment and in turn, ourselves. I will be attending the College of Media, Art, and Design and pursuing a M.Arch at Northeastern University in the fall and while it is definitely nerve wracking moving from Chicago to Boston, it’s something I am really looking forward to with an open mind.