Brie Hensold is an urban planner, co-founder and principal of Agency Landscape + Planning. With a passion for understanding and improving communities and places, Brie brings a systems-based approach that celebrates diverse perspectives. She has extensive experience developing creative and meaningful community engagement processes. Brie’s work encompasses multiple scales, from downtown plans to citywide park systems to resilience strategies. Her work has received awards from the American Society of Landscape Architects, the American Planning Association and the American Institute of Architects, among others. She is a Design Critic in the Department of Urban Planning and Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design where she also leads an executive education class in resilient cities. Download CV. 

Kate Tooke, a landscape architect and principal of Agency Landscape + Planning, has focused her career on the intersection of community and public space. She leverages a diverse background as an educator, an engineer and a landscape architect into a practice unabashedly passionate about connecting people to the urban environment. Kate’s listening-oriented approach to project leadership as well as her strategic thinking, design eye, and technical acumen have been instrumental in the success of diverse projects ranging from master planning to site-scale work and extending coast to coast. She is a prominent national voice in the movement towards contextual adventure playgrounds.

Jill Allen Dixon is a planner with a focus on the intersection of park/landscape planning, climate resilience, and public engagement. She has a passion for collaborating with communities to implement strategies that increase equitable access to parks and that grow greener, more resilient cities. Common to her work is a focus on bringing together diverse constituents to identify shared visions for places and open spaces. Jill believes that asking meaningful questions, providing accessible information, and listening carefully to responses will lead to creative ideas that advance multiple objectives.

Steve Woods is a landscape architect with nearly three decades of creative design practice in both public and private landscapes of varying scales. Named by the ASLA Professional Practice Network in 2017 as one of “Landscape Architecture’s greatest unknown landscape architects”, his passion rests in the merging of art, history, community, and function, especially in urban landscapes. Steve has provided award winning collaborative leadership in the unique design and visioning for a wide variety of clients and communities. Areas of experience include design leadership for corporate headquarters, Middle Eastern new city planning, hospitality and entertainment venues, and mixed-use urban developments. In his free time, you might find him baking, painting, playing disc golf, or relaxing on or near Seneca Lake.

Allen Penniman is a Senior Urban Planner at Agency and a Lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design. He specializes in Community Economic Development (CED), working within the disciplines of urban policy and urban design to realize equitable revitalization in distressed urban communities. Allen previously served as Planning Director of Detroit’s east side, where he oversaw the deployment of a transformative neighborhood reinvestment program that is fueling the comeback of long-languished neighborhoods while growing community wealth and ownership. Allen endeavors to see America’s urban communities thrive through action-oriented and impactful planning. On Saturdays, you'll find Allen either neck deep in a DIY project or rooting for his obscure and floundering, but beloved, English soccer club.

Jamaica Reese-Julien is a senior urban planner and designer working in Philadelphia. She holds a dual degree in City Planning and Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania, with a concentration in Housing, Community, and Economic Development. Jamaica is passionate about designing spaces and systems that center community expertise. Her volunteer work with community organizations in Philadelphia focuses on housing stability and grassroots governance over public space. Before joining Agency, she worked as an architectural designer on several public libraries throughout New England. On the weekends, Jamaica can be found exploring the city with her dog, Junie, and attempting to finish craft projects.

Justina Cheng is an urban planner specializing in spatial data analysis and technical communication. Holding a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering and a Master of Science in Sustainability, both from Tufts University, she is passionate about exploring the power of data to tell human stories that help solve urban and environmental problems. Justina strives to make technical information accessible to non-expert, and believes that relationship-building across disciplines and communities is key to inclusive and equitable planning. When Justina isn't fiddling with maps or coding in Python, she loves crafting, photography, and spending time outside.

Melita Schmeckpeper (she/they) is an associate landscape architect with experience across multiple scales of design, from large parks to rooftop gardens. She values collaborating with communities to cultivate meaningful, engaging spaces that support both human and ecosystem health. Educated as a plant biologist as well as a landscape architect, Melita’s design work is enriched by her experience in science communication and sustainability-focused research. Outside of Agency, Melita finds inspiration by visiting art museums, going hiking, and reading science fiction.

Elsa Mark-Ng is the studio manager at Agency and an honors graduate of Oberlin College's Environmental Studies program. At Oberlin College, Elsa did research on how public environmental art can increase a community’s sense of place. At Agency, she supports the studio with marketing, business, and graphic design and leads communication and social media. Elsa enjoys crafting unique proposals that speak to the communities and clients that Agency aims to work for. She has also served as the communications lead for WxLA, an advocacy initiative for gender justice in landscape architecture. In her free time, you can find her making art, reading about trees, and biking around Cambridge.

Jiaqi Wang is a landscape designer who is passionate about creating inviting, functional, and sustainable public spaces. A graduate of the University of Virginia’s Master of Landscape Architecture program, Jiaqi believes that landscape design is a socio-ecological practice that closely relates to community engagement. Before joining Agency, he worked on several award-winning residential projects in Virginia and contributed to the success of various public realm projects in Missouri, including institutional landscapes, playscapes, botanical gardens, and waterfront parks. Outside of work, Jiaqi enjoys hiking, biking, watching old movies, and spending time with friends.

Aanchal Chopra is an urban planner and policy strategist based in Cambridge, MA. She holds a Master’s degree in Urban Planning from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, with a concentration in Housing, Community, and Economic Development. Aanchal brings experience as a strategy consultant and DE&I practitioner with Boston Consulting Group were she worked with public sector clients on policy and programmatic challenges such as disaster recovery and economic development. Across her work, Aanchal believes in unravelling complexity and advancing equity using qualitative and quantitative methods, and community-engaged design processes. Outside of work, Aanchal enjoys running and finding delicious coffee and baked treats afterwards.

Mia Abulaf is a studio coordinator who thrives behind the scenes, keeping operations organized and running smoothly. With a background in project management across fields like political science and information technology, she brings a versatile skill set to support the team in a variety of ways. Outside the office, she enjoys going on long scenic hikes, trying out new recipes, and talking about the Tour de France. She can often be found deep in reality TV marathons or crafting vision boards to map out her next big idea.

Karthik Girish is an urban planner with a mission to break down intricate issues into consumable information for the meaningful progress of communities and cities. He uses his skillset in information design and GIS to create visually sensible and engaging data. With a bachelor’s degree in planning from the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, and a master’s degree in urban planning from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, he intends to expand his knowledge in the intersection of placemaking, natural environment, and infrastructure. In his free time, he plays percussion instruments, enjoys making people laugh, and occasionally voices characters online.

Mabelle Zhang is an urban planner and received her Master of City Planning at MIT with a certificate in Urban Design and a development focus. With a background in policy, housing, and real estate development, she has worked across government agencies and nonprofits. Mabelle focuses on creating resilient and vibrant public spaces and neighborhoods by blending systems thinking with a deep understanding of local context. Her work explores the intersection of climate resiliency, economic development, and long-term community outcomes. In her free time, Mabelle enjoys cultivating her yoga practice and searching for the perfect cup of coffee.

Archie Ryan is a graphic designer and graduate of Rhode Island School of Design where they majored in graphic design and minored in Nature, Culture, and Sustainability Studies. Their degree project at RISD focused on wetland environments of Rhode Island and creating a safeguard against rising water levels in a shifting climate. Archie's nature-inspired and engagement-centered design work addresses community needs through the lens of sustainable land use and stewardship. In their free time, they enjoy painting and sewing, and they often can be seen scootering around the streets of Boston.

Kazia Rodrigo is a landscape designer and urban planner with a passion for approaching complex technical problems with solutions rooted in values of interconnectedness and mutual respect between human and non-human communities. With a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning from Toronto Metropolitan University, Kazia leverages her background to collaborate meaningfully with diverse communities and foster inclusive decision-making processes. Her personal research focuses on the exploration of language and stories as tools for opposing predominant colonial narratives of landscapes, rooted in the traditional ecological knowledge of Indigenous Filipino communities. Kazia also enjoys cooking complex meals, reading, and exploring her new city on foot.

Olivia Gardner-Parlow is a marketing coordinator and nature and wildlife photographer dedicated to using creative and visual mediums to communicate a variety of stories. A two-time graduate of the University of St Andrews, she received her Master of Arts (Honours) in Modern History and Master of Letters in Environmental History, specializing in polar and South Pacific exploration, whaling, and invasive species management. Olivia brings her passion for using data and analytics to create meaningful marketing campaigns and engage with diverse audiences to Agency. A supporter of Liverpool F.C., she can be found volunteering at film festivals, ice skating, playing guitar, and building custom mechanical keyboards in her free time.

Quinn Adam is a landscape design intern and an interdisciplinary designer currently pursuing Master of Architecture and Master of Landscape Architecture degrees at the Sam Fox School at Washington University in St. Louis. Raised in Colorado, their design work explores intersections between landscape, architecture, and infrastructure that promote environmental justice and ecological resilience. Quinn’s background in the humanities from Kenyon College, where they received a BA in Philosophy, grounds their design process in critical thinking and supports their exploration of the essential relationships between humans and the ecologies that sustain us. After work, you can find them watching soccer, exploring new parks and neighborhoods on their bike, or visiting with the neighborhood trees.

Kendal Eastwood is an urban planning intern and designer pursuing a Master in Urban Planning at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. His work is shaped by an upbringing in a rural town, informing his interest in community based design, housing ownership, and resilient development. Before urban planning, Kendal earned his Bachelor of Architecture from the New York Institute of Technology, with two minors in Energy Science, Technology & Policy and Equity & Innovation. Outside of work, Kendal enjoys exploring new cities, baking unique sourdough bread, and testing himself with puzzles of all kinds.