Announcing the Loeb Fellowship Class of 2027
The Harvard Graduate School of Design is pleased to announce the Loeb Fellowship class of 2027. These 10 visionary practitioners and advocates are driving progress on food access, housing, and health equity; preservation and adaptive reuse; stewardship of cultural and natural landscapes; and support for vulnerable communities in the U.S. and around the world.
- Kamal Bell, Food Systems Architect and Founder of Sankofa Farms, Durham, North Carolina
- Julia Campbell, Former Deputy Chief of Streets for Infrastructure and Design, City of Boston, Massachusetts
- Marci Clark, Adaptive Reuse Specialist and Managing Director for Strategy and Development at JDS Development Group, New York City, New York
- Edgar Garcia, Interim General Manager and Assistant General Manager of El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, Los Angeles, California
- Becky Katz, Manager for Operations and Maintenance, Department of Transportation, Toronto, Canada
- Dena Kennett, Project Manager and Landscape Architect at the National Park Service, Santa Fe, New Mexico
- Bonnie McDonald, President of Landmarks Illinois, Chicago, Illinois
- Kelsey Nocket, Emergency Response and Humanitarian Assistance Consultant, Alexandria, Virginia
- Emily Roush-Elliott, Founding Partner of the Delta Design Build Workshop, Greenwood, Mississippi
- Yvette Vasourkova, Cofounder of Centre for Central European Architecture and MOBA architecture practice, Prague, Czech Republic
“In addition to being exceptional practitioners in their respective fields, Loeb Fellows are inspiring individuals. Each year, Fellows bring their unique experiences to the GSD community, sparking new conversations and challenging us all to consider how design can address global challenges,” says Sarah M. Whiting, Dean and Josep Lluís Sert Professor of Architecture at Harvard GSD. “It is my pleasure to welcome the class of 2027 to campus next fall, and I look forward to what they accomplish during their time at Harvard.”
Last week also saw the appointment of a new curator for the Loeb Fellowship. Jamie Blosser, a member of the Loeb Class of 2015, was announced as the fellowship’s new curator on May 8 and will begin in her new role this fall. “Jamie will provide energetic and wise leadership for the Fellows of the Class of 2027 and for many classes to come,” says Interim Curator Jim Stockard (LF’78). “Her background and her insights will nurture and support the Fellows as they build their skills and expand their area of influence. I’m so pleased with her selection as the next leader of the Loeb Fellowship.”
During their ten-month residency at Harvard GSD, Loeb Fellows audit courses at Harvard and MIT, exchange insights, and expand professional networks. They engage with GSD students and faculty, take part as speakers and panelists in public events, and convene workshops and other activities. Throughout the year, Fellows consider how they might refocus their careers and broaden the impact of their work.
After their year in residence at Harvard GSD, Loeb Fellows join a worldwide network of more than 450 Loeb Fellowship alumni, including Pilar Viladas (’96), Rick Lowe (’02), John Zeisel (’71), Mpho Matsipa (’22), Mary Means (’82), Eleni Myrivili (’20), Alejandro Echeverri (’16), Henry Grabar (’24), Mathew Mazzotta (’18), and Alessandro Petti (’17).
The Loeb Fellowship traces its roots to the late 1960s, when John L. Loeb directed a Harvard GSD capital campaign based on the theme of “Crisis.” Loeb saw the American city in disarray and believed Harvard could help. He and founding Curator Bill Doebele imagined bringing promising innovators concerned with the built and natural environment to Harvard GSD for a year, challenging them to do more and do better, convinced they would return to their work with new ideas and energy. Interim Curator Jim Stockard (LF’78) says, “The Class of 2027 continues this legacy. Their interests are diverse, their roles are different and their backgrounds are from many fields. But the one thing they share is a passion to make our cities and our green spaces more beautiful, more accessible, and more just. This year at the GSD and the broader Harvard community will fuel their growth and their capacity to be even more successful in their efforts.”
About the 2026–2027 Loeb Fellows
Kamal Bell is the founder of Sankofa Farms, a regenerative agriculture and education organization in North Carolina, encompassing food production, youth education, pollinator stewardship, affordable housing, and community economic development. Since 2016, Kamal has led farm operations incorporating crop and livestock production, land stewardship, and distribution. Through key community partnerships, he has grown distribution to more than 15 thousand pounds of fresh food, now reaching over 1,100 food-insecure children weekly. His children’s book Akeem Keeps Bees advances early literacy, STEM learning, and environmental education.
From 2023 to 2026, Julia Campbell was Boston’s first deputy chief of streets for infrastructure and design and acts as the city engineer. The team she created, comprising planners, engineers, and construction managers from both Public Works and Transportation Departments, designs and constructs capital improvements and maintenance for sidewalks, roads, and bridges. Prior to Boston, Julia contributed a decade of public service in transportation for LA Metro and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, where she advanced safe, multi-modal travel and sustainability. Her experience spans both policy and implementation across the fields of planning, engineering, and governance.
Marci Clark is a real estate developer, architectural historian, and educator dedicated to shaping the financial, policy, and design frameworks that make renewal by adaptive reuse both equitable and achievable. Over the last decade, she has repositioned historic telecommunications hubs, banks, and commercial buildings in New York into vibrant spaces for housing and commerce. As managing director of strategy and development at JDS Development Group, Marci has overseen more than 10 million square feet of development, including over 2,400 residential units and hundreds of affordable apartments, advancing integrated strategies to address urban renewal and housing challenges at scale.
Edgar Garcia is a leader in cultural policy, arts administration, historic preservation, and urban planning in the City of Los Angeles, where he recently served as director of El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument. During his previous tenure as arts and culture deputy and executive officer to the mayor, he oversaw all city cultural municipal agencies. Edgar began his public service as preservation planner for the Office of Historic Resources, designating nearly 200 landmarks reflecting underrepresented groups, and led architectural survey projects for a U.S.–sponsored International Council on Monuments and Sites exchange.
Becky Katz is a municipal transportation leader, reshaping streets and elevating maintenance into a civic design practice. As Toronto’s manager of transportation operations and maintenance, she leads the stewardship of the city’s public right of way. Through the essential work of street repairs, snow clearing, and the implementation of green infrastructure and public realm enhancements, she advances a transportation system that is more reliable and equitable. Previously, Becky led Toronto’s Cycling and Pedestrian Projects unit, delivering the largest cycling network expansion in the city’s history.
Dena Kennett leads major capital projects for the National Park Service. Her work incorporates cultural landscape stewardship and long-term sustainability across some of the country’s most visited and historically significant public lands. These include tornado recovery at Chickasaw National Recreation Area, utility modernization at Bandelier National Monument, and rehabilitation of Arlington Memorial Bridge. Dena has been president of the Potomac Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and program director for the Landscape Architecture Foundation’s New Landscape Declaration Summit. She is currently serving on ASLA’s 2026 National Awards Jury.
Bonnie McDonald advances building reuse as a systems level response to climate change, housing, public health and spatial injustice. Since 2005, she has been reframing preservation from a practice of regulation and materials to one centering on people and social needs. Her 2023 publication “The Relevancy Guidebook: How We Can Transform the Future of Preservation” is shaping practice and policy conversations nationwide. Bonnie has led initiatives including the National Preservation Partners Network and Chicago’s mayoral–appointed Monuments Project and currently serves on the Illinois Route 66 Centennial Commission and National Council on Public History Labor Task Force.
Kelsey Nocket is an emergency response consultant, advising nonprofit organizations in more effective reaction to natural disasters, conflict, and chronic systemic inequities in Indigenous and underserved communities. Her work in housing, emergency response, and public systems design advances more accountable and dignified support for people experiencing displacement. Kelsey was a foreign service officer with the U.S. Agency for International Development, where she managed humanitarian assistance programs in El Salvador, Ukraine, and Somalia. Previously she was San Luis Obispo’s first homelessness response manager, and a refugee officer with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Emily Roush-Elliott is a national leader in rural housing justice and preservation. She is a founding partner of the Delta Design Build Workshop (Delta DB), advancing equitable housing, municipal capacity, and community-driven development in the Deep South. An Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship brought her to Mississippi in 2013, and she has since led over $14 million in impactful projects. Emily serves on AIA’s Housing and Community Development Knowledge Community and AIA Mississippi’s Committee on the Environment, and she chairs the Greenwood Housing Authority Board.
Yvette Vašourková is the cofounder of the Centre for Central European Architecture (CCEA)and MOBA studio, empowering local communities and improving the built environment through research and education, urban revitalization projects, and design competitions. Over the past 15 years, CCEA MOBA has prepared more than 100 international competitions. The CCEA’s research has focused on privately owned public spaces in Central Europe and transport infrastructure and the areas around it. Yvette has taught at L’ESA Paris, was a Fulbright Scholar at Pratt Institute in New York, and currently teaches at the Architectural Institute in Prague. She is a nominating expert for the EU Mies Award.
