Bastrop Blueprint

Sustainable Design Assessment Team (SDAT)

National Team Members

Listed below is our National A.I.A. team, these individuals are some of the best and brightest in their field.

Jane Jenkins – Team Leader

    Jane Jenkins is the new President and CEO of Downtown Oklahoma City, Incorporated.  Previously, Jane was Executive Director of the Downtown Boulder Business Improvement District in Boulder, CO. With over 23 years experience in downtown revitalization and management, Jane is an internationally recognized speaker and expert on urban issues. She currently serves as Chairman for the International Downtown Association Board of Directors.   As a former high school educator, Jane was named Teacher of the Year at Union High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

    Ms. Jenkins was born in Virginia and grew up in Charleston, SC. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Arts Education from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa and a Master of Public Administration from the University of North Texas in Denton. She taught secondary school in Chandler and Tulsa before beginning her downtown management career in Wagoner, OK as the Main Street Manager. After serving in the same capacity in Pawhuska, Jane moved to Denton, Texas where she managed the downtown development program there for eight years before joining the staff of the National Trust for Historic Preservation as the Regional Director of the Southwest Office in Fort Worth, TX. She accepted the position as the first director of the Downtown Boulder Business Improvement District in 2000. Jane has led and participated in design assistance teams in Petersburg, VA, Springfield, IL, Fort Worth, TX, Windsor, CA, and Los Angeles, CA.

Nathan Polanski- Green Infrastructure & Storm Water Management

Nathan, a dedicated bike commuter, has experience with planning and designing streetscape projects that focus on complete and green street principles. As project engineer, he has worked on a variety of sustainable projects that have focused on mobility and accessibility at local and regional scales to improve levels of service for all modes of transportation. These projects have leveraged sustainable storm water strategies, integrating low impact development (LID) and green infrastructure solutions, including bioretention and swale systems and permeable pavements. Nathan’s recent projects include:

•       Winslow Way Street Planning and Design, Bainbridge Island, WA

•       21st Street Complete Street Plan, Paso Robles, CA

•       Port Townsend Streetscapes, Port Townsend, WA

•       Central Coast Complete Green Streets Workshop, California

•       Burke-Gilman Trail - 11th Ave NW to the Ballard Locks, Seattle, WA

•       University of Washington and Sound Transit LINK Station – Montlake Triangle Improvements, Seattle WA

•       Sunnydale Master Plan, San Francisco, CA

•       Minneapolis Riverfront Design Competition Finalist, Minneapolis, MN

Tom von Schrader, PE, LEED® AP – Sustainable Design

    Tom brings 29 years of experience in implementing sustainable visions that balance community development needs, right-of-way demands, and environmental objectives in corridor, streetscape, and civic enhancement projects. His design experience focuses on establishing and meeting performance standards across the overlapping systems of mobility, water (drainage), community, habitat, energy and geology. Tom’s thoughtful leadership and collaborative management style help project teams implement cost-effective, sustainable solutions that meet our clients’ goals in Seattle and nationally.

    Tom’s projects include every aspect of roads, complete streets, parking, storm water and LID, integrated corridor treatments, green streets, and other infrastructure.  Tom has presented at numerous conferences and workshops on sustainable streets, green streets, and green infrastructure and has participated in coordinated numerous design charrettes.

    Tom has a BA in Biology from Kenyon College and a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Iowa.

Tom Laging, FAIA – Urban Design

    Professor Laging is a Graduate Fellow of Architecture with twenty-five years of teaching experience. He was honored in 1992 as the first James Elmore Visiting Professor in Urban Design at Arizona State University, Tempe. He received design awards for his work on the Nebraska State Capitol Environs and was a Fulbright Senior Lecturer at Simon Bolivar University in Caracas. Professor Laging’s service to Nebraska Communities has resulted in an interdisciplinary program with Architecture and Planning students which combines teaching with urban design assistance. As leader of design assistance teams for the AIA he has contributed to urban design efforts in cities throughout the country. He is a member of the Urban Design Committee of the American Institute of Architects.

Linda Donavan Harper – Downtown/Cultural Tourism

    Linda Donavan Harper is the Executive Director of Cultural Tourism DC. She has more than 20 years experience in community and economic development, as well as demonstrated performance in nonprofit management and fundraising. As principal at LHarper & Associates, she worked with more than 200 communities, state agencies, corporations, and nonprofits in 30 states and three countries, developing a national reputation as a visionary strategic planner, creative thinker, and meeting developer.

    Since 2000, Harper has also served as Chair of the Board to The Association for the Preservation of Historic Congressional Cemetery. With her broad, day-to-day duties, Harper worked as the de facto executive director of the organization. In this capacity, she was able to increase the organization’s budget from $60,000 in 2000 to $550,000 in 2007, recruit more than 500 volunteers, and develop a fundraising strategy that has generated $7 million between 2002 and 2006. Located in Capitol Hill, the Cemetery has been a member of Cultural Tourism DC since 2002.

    In addition, Harper worked as director for the professional exchange and community sustainability program at The Countryside Institute in New York. At the National Trust for Historic Preservation, she was a member of the management committee at the National Main Street Center, a widely recognized program.

    Paul is the Director of Planning and Zoning department and serves as the Zoning Administrator for Newport, Vermont. He works with Newport’s Planning Commission and Development Review board as well as owners of buildings and properties in Newport. He facilitated Newport’s Form Based Code implementation/adoption through community forums and outreach. He also serves as chair of the Newport City Renaissance Corporation’s Design Committee and was instrumental in coordinating efforts for the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Rural/Urban Design Assistance Team (R/UDAT) for Newport, VT that took place in March 2009. Recently, he has begun consulting in Damariscotta, ME, Huntington and Johnson, VT on grass roots Form Based Code initiatives. He received his MA, Master of Architecture from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He owns a full service architectural firm specializing in design, design development & renovations of residential, commercial & institutional structures/facilities, programming/feasibility studies, code analysis (BOCA, UBC, IBC) permitting, and historic renovation/tax credits.

Glenn Kellogg – Market Analysis

    Mr. Kellogg has over 10 years of experience in financial and urban planning services, working in neighborhoods of large cities and small towns.  During this experience, he has learned to listen to the concerns of communities and help de-mystify the economic conditions that surround them. Through an understanding of the local economy, he assists communities with feasible, market-based strategies for neighborhoods to achieve their vision.

    After graduating from the University of Virginia, Mr. Kellogg was a Lewis Mumford Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania where he studied real estate at Wharton and received a Master of City Planning from the Graduate School of Fine Arts (Penn Design). Mr. Kellogg has served as an Advisory Services Panelist for the Urban Land Institute,  a Juror for the Coalition for Smarter Growth, and was a 2005 Knight Fellow in Community Building through the University of Miami.

A.I.A. STAFF:

Erin Simmons

Joel Mills

    Joel Mills serves as Director of the American Institute for Architects’ Center for Communities by Design.  The Center is a leading provider of pro bono technical assistance and participatory planning for community sustainability. Through its design assistance programs, the Center has worked in over 55 communities across 32 states since 2005. In 2010, the Center was named Organization of the Year by the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) for its impact on communities and contributions to the field.