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. She believes that asking meaningful questions, providing accessible information, and listening carefully to responses will lead to creative ideas that advance multiple objectives.

Xi is a landscape architect with experience designing urban landscapes at multiple scales. A firm believer in the influences our built environment has on society and the individual psyche, Xi strives to create ecologically sensitive design that enhances physical and mental well-being, flexibility and diversity of uses. She’s also passionate about promoting equality in access to public landscapes across social subgroups and future generations. Originally from China, Xi holds a Master of Landscape Architecture degree from RISD and spends her free time reading about psychology and space.

Abigail Fiala is a landscape architect from St. Louis by way of Chicago. She holds a Master's of Landscape Architecture from Kansas State University and has worked on a wide range of public and private projects at all scales. Abigail's passion lies in the transformative power of landscape and creating spaces that foster mental and physical healing. She strives to create spaces that provide equitable, accessible experiences with nature that soothe the body and mind. Outside the office Abigail spends her time teaching group fitness classes, enjoying live music, and reading as many novels as she can.

Estello is a landscape designer who was born in the Philippines, grew up in Las Vegas, and has lived in the northeast for the past decade. His relationship to these vastly different landscapes has informed his deep interest in landscape architecture’s role in forging links between place and memory. Prior to receiving his Masters in Landscape Architecture from Harvard Graduate School of Design in 2019, where he was the University Olmsted Scholar in 2018, Estello studied biology and minored in English (race and ethnic studies focus) at Vassar College. Estello loves cake, enjoys reading and cooking, and is very much a Leo.

Laura Brusson is a landscape designer passionate about the interconnectivity of human experience, environmental health, and the magic of place. Laura has worn many hats before finding landscape architecture, including conducting research in evolutionary biology and working in ecological restoration. Originally from France, Laura holds a Masters in Landscape Architecture from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was awarded the ASLA Certificate of Honor. Outside of work, Laura spends her free time re-learning to play piano, birdwatching, and playing with her dog Teagan.

Leigh is a landscape designer with a background in environmental science, energy efficiency, and horticulture. She delights in unearthing hidden narratives and demystifying the complex processes at the intersection of design and policy. Leigh holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Vermont and a Master of Landscape Architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design, where she was named the 2022 University Olmsted Scholar. Outside of Agency, Leigh enjoys working with her hands and learning new skills from old books.

Elsa is a recent honors graduate of Oberlin College's Environmental Studies program with interests in urban planning and design, landscape architecture, art history, the visual arts, and urban sustainability. At Oberlin College, Elsa did research on how public environmental art can increase a community’s sense of place. At Agency, she assists the studio with office, business and marketing support and leads our communication and social media. You can find her making art, reading about trees, and biking around Cambridge.