From Research to Conversation: Building Community-Centered Skills

On Friday, August 21, members of the 2026 AIA New York Civic Leadership Program in collaboration with Nycoba|NOMA came together for an interactive session exploring how we can move from research and community engagement to meaningful civic dialogue and action.

The skill-building workshop, "From Research to Conversation: Building Community-Centered Panel Discussions," brought together architects, designers, researchers, and civic leaders to explore how listening, research, and mindful storytelling can help us better understand the needs of the communities we serve.

Curated and moderated by Kedishia Joseph, the afternoon began with a conversation featuring Bryan C. Lee Jr., NOMA, FAIA, Founder/Principal at Colloqate Design and NOMA National President 2025-26 Nina Cooke John, AIA, Founding Principal of Studio Cooke John Architecture and Design and Ifeoma Ebo, Principal at Creative Urban Alchemy. The conversation was followed by a special guest spotlight with Elizabeth "Lizzie" MacWillie, Assistant Director at the J Max Bond Center for Urban Futures.

Lee Jr. focused on Design Justice, Community Engagement, and Turning Research into Civic Action, drawing from his work with Design as Protest, and NOMA. He encouraged the cohort to think of themselves as "soft disrupters" who can challenge the way things have always been done and help create spaces that are more nourishing for the people who use them. He emphasized the importance of centering community voices and leadership in the design process, reminding participants that change does not always have to be loud. Sometimes, it starts with simply asking a different question or bringing a different perspective to the table.

Cooke John explored Placemaking, Community Visioning, and Designing for Public Engagement, sharing insights from her practice at the intersection of architecture, public art, and community-engaged design. She emphasized the importance of knowing the communities we work with through research and hands-on connection before creating stories about a place. Understanding its history, people, experiences, and aspirations allows us to tell more honest stories and create work that actually reflects the people who call that place home.

Ebo brought a focus on Cultural Heritage, Urban Equity, and Community-Centered Research, emphasizing the importance of understanding the histories, stories, and lived experiences that shape a place. She shared examples from her current work, including the reimagining of the Enslaved African Burial Ground at Van Cortlandt Park, where she is part of a design team developing a community-informed vision for a future memorial, and Osisi Obodo, a community shade structure at Weeksville Heritage Center. Through these projects, she demonstrated how research, cultural preservation, and community engagement can help uncover histories that have been overlooked or erased and translate them into spaces that support memory, gathering, and connection.

MacWillie's spotlight centered on Research, Urban Futures, and Community-Centered Practice, bringing the conversation closer to home through her work with the J. Max Bond Center for Urban Futures and the effort to revive the legacy of Harlem Land. She highlighted the importance of research, history, and community as we think about Harlem's future and the role that design can play in that conversation. Sharing how research and data can help us better understand issues such as affordable housing, displacement, economic opportunity, and the ways development shapes communities.

The cohort then put these ideas into practice. Working in two groups, participants developed their own community-centered panel discussions around topics from the Civic Leadership Program's development sessions and presented their concepts for feedback from the panelists and special guest.

The session left the cohort with more than a set of tools. It offered a different way to think about leadership: listen before speaking, understand before designing, question what exists, and create room for communities to help shape what comes next.

That is civic leadership in action.