Who I Am
In Brief:
I am an architect and city designer who redirected my career over the past four years to become the founder of two consulting & technology start-ups focused on urban & regional-scale climate resilience. In the process I have become an energetic and trustworthy leader capable of inspiring global experts to join me in pursuing ambitious, visionary work.
Having founded and led two companies aimed at solving complex global challenges, I have a demonstrated track record of leadership, mission dedication and I know what it takes to balance competing tasks, adapt to shifting priorities, and proactively address emerging issues.
I wish to grow as an innovator and consultant and move into the next stage of my career with a company that can maximize my real-world impact.
Reach out to me about:
Innovation, Design Thinking & Creative Development
Climate Risk Management & Resilience Strategies
Urban, Architectural & Infrastructure Design Consulting
Technology Application, Integration & Design
Artificial Intelligence, Data Analysis & Insights
Strategic Business Development
Global Project Management
Multi-disciplinary Team Leadership
My Story
As an architect and urban designer, I have worked with urban scale developers and municipal clients globally designing buildings, neighborhoods and whole cities. And I have worked with major companies such as Google, Meta and Lyft on innovative projects ranging from campus design to automated vehicles future visioning. Between designing cities and designing for the companies that drive their economies, my early career taught me extraordinary lessons about how the world is made - and where to seek opportunity for positive, achievable change.
I founded my first startup, Myriad Futures LLC, with a colleague while living in San Francisco. It was born of a desire to see greater regional action on sea level rise. In honing the idea for this company, I recognized an essential component of climate risk calculation for urban areas is digital twin technology. I would later base my second startup on this discovery.
In 2022, I wound down Myriad Futures and moved to Chicago. But my passion for climate and sense of urgency moved to Chicago with me, and that same year I founded EllisCities LLC. This second company focused specifically on helping existing cities become “smart cities” by leveraging AI-powered GIS risk models - custom urban digital twins.
To this end, I designed a unique architecture for urban, climate-risk oriented digital twins – The Human Centered Digital Twin for Smart Cities (Described in Portfolio) - and partnered with two world-class companies who could help me create such models at regional scale. I also worked with local Cook County Leadership and the Chicago Public Building Commission to define a regional dynamic climate masterplan project that would make use of the twin. Modeled after Burnham & Bennett’s 1909 plan, we proposed a public-private partnership titled “Burnham & Bennett 2100 Digital Plan for Chicago.”
In pursuing my passion for high-impact climate work over the past several years, I have demonstrated leadership in driving business development, securing potential high-value contracts across private/public sectors, and forming strategic alliances with key industry leaders. I discovered that I am uniquely proficient in integrating knowledge across sectors to deliver innovative, tailored solutions in diverse industries, conveying complex ideas through sketches, diagrams, and metaphors, enhancing ideation and client engagement – all skills born from design that deliver value in any context.
