2024 Board of Directors
ROBERTO PAZ
President
Roberto is an architect and founder of Paz Navas Architecture. His work focuses on a progressive approach to house design. He believes that a thoughtful, innovative approach to house design can provide solutions for the challenges of housing availability, environmental impact, and quality of life.
EL LARSON
Vice President
El is a wellness designer and sound practitioner who helps to balance internal and external environments. After 20+ years of holistic practice, she sought to apply concepts of well-being to built spaces. She is certified in Feng Shui, accredited in WELL and Fitwel, and is a realtor.
MANDI ROBERTS
Executive Committee
Mandi is an architect and the Senior Educational Facilities Planner at HMC Architects. Her work focuses on design for spaces for learning and student environments and is a thought leader in Education and Interior Architecture, leading the design of sustainable and award-winning projects that shape the way students learn and engage.
JOSE HERRASTI
Minister of Finance
Jose is an architect and the founder of Mutuo, an LA based architecture design studio. He is the 2022 John G. Williams Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas.
RYAN CONROY
Finance Committee
Ryan Conroy is a practicing architect and Director of Architecture at cityLAB UCLA. In collaboration with Kevin Daly Architects, he has been recognized for his work designing new models of multifamily housing and climate-adaptive, net-zero construction. Ryan has taught at UCLA and UC Berkeley, and has contributed to research publications at Los Angeles City Planning. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from UCLA and holds a Master of Architecture from UC Berkeley.
BEN HIDALGO
Vice President of INFO Committee
Ben is an architect and project manager at Koning Eizenberg Architecture, focusing on affordable housing projects around Los Angeles. Ben has worked on a number of award winning projects throughout the US. Whether it is through architecture or photography, Ben takes pleasure in bringing joy to people’s lives.
MARISSA GLUCK
INFO Committee
Marissa Gluck is a digital experience strategist who has spanned the agency and publisher worlds working with companies as diverse as Spotify, Nike, and Disney. She’s also an urbanism and architecture writer and a former principal of the design-cum-civic engagement non-profit Design East of La Brea.
ANNE SWETT-PREDOCK
INFO Committee
Anne has over 25 years of experience in brand strategy and development, graphic design, illustration, and website design working with clients in the cultural, higher education, and environmentally focused sectors. Currently, she is Creative Director at architecture and design firm NBBJ, where she oversees the firm’s visual brand and identity.
RAFFY MARDIROSSIAN
INFO Committee
Raffy is an architect and the co-founder of the LA-based architecture practice, DOMM, where he works on projects ranging from single and multi-family residences, to spaces for learning and exhibition. Raffy is also a founding member of the architecture publication PAX Monographs.
DANIELLE RAGO
INFO Committee
Danielle is an enthusiastic supporter and advocate for good architecture. She has made it her mission to bring architecture and design to a wider public. Trained as an architect herself, Danielle has built her career around supporting emerging architects by providing building, development, PR/marketing, curatorial and writing services.
MONICA LAMELA BLAZQUEZ
Co-Vice President of Grants Committee
Monica is an architect and founder of There There, an architecture studio that fluctuates between research and practice, and between LA, Mexico City, and Madrid. Through architectures, counternarratives, and fictions, her practice challenges dominant worldviews, materializes alternative imaginaries, and catalyzes meaningful experiences.
KATE HOLMQUIST
Grants Committee
Kate is a multi-disciplinary Urban Planner and Landscape Architect with bi-coastal and international experience across all sectors and on all sides of sustainable development. They are a Planner at the Port of Long Beach, founder of the urban planning consultancy WerkSTADT, and are passionate about supporting and celebrating equitable, resilient, and human-centered cities and communities.
LORENA GARCIA
Co-Vice President of Grants Committee
Lorena is a landscape architect and founder of PuenteAlameda, a studio with bases in Madrid and Los Angeles, which explores creatives and collaborative designs that address the complexity of the nature processes. She is a lecturer at Cal Poly Pomona and Madrid School of Design.
NATE COLE
Vice President of Membership Committee
Nate came to California by way of Madison, Wisconsin, and has nearly 20 years of experience working with architecturally significant real estate. He specializes in the representation of buyers and sellers of unique and historic homes.
DONATELLA CUSMA
Vice President of Fundraising Committee
Donatella is an architect and educator. She grew up in Sicily where history influenced her appreciation of the cultural palimpsest and fostered a curiosity for foreign cultures and local oddities. She is co-founder of Claret-Cup, and a Board member of the Research Institute for Experimental Architecture.
QUYNH NGUYEN
Membership Committee
Co-Producer & Copy Editor of the FIVE PLACES L.A. podcast
Quynh is a writer specializing in brand identity and content strategy. She hones authentic and nuanced narratives in lieu of traditional PR/branding practices and creates messaging tailored for target audiences. Her practice includes coaching clients--architects, designers, artists, and entrepreneurs, on how to talk about themselves and their work.
JEMMA BALLANTYNE
Fundraising Committee
Jemma Ballantyne was born in Scotland, raised in Spain, and spent years in London before landing in L.A. via Silicon Valley. Her experience combines brand marketing, live events and cultural programming, spanning music, hospitality, and tech. Committed to fostering creativity and human connection, her work reflects a passion for meaningful engagement.
KELLY MORRISON
Fundraising Committee
Kelly is the Director of Marketing at HMC Architects. She is dedicated to making a positive impact for all in the built environment. A fifth-generation Californian, she believes there is no better place to help shape skylines or celebrate communities than LA.
LOUIE WEISS
Fundraising Committee
Louie Weiss splits his time working at Taalman Architecture and on his own architectural projects for residential clients. In his work, he is wholeheartedly committed to producing healthy and sustainable architecture while also a steadfast believer in beauty as a form of sustainability in and of itself.
ALEXANDER BATTISTI
Vice President of Operations Committee
Alexander Battisti is an East Coast native and avid art collector with experience in finance, technology, and entrepreneurship. He is a 2018 graduate of Lafayette College who received his MBA from UCLA Anderson in 2023. A lifelong lover of architecture and design, he relocated to Los Angeles in 2021.
FARNOOSH FARMER
Operations Committee
Farnoosh Farmer is an architectural and urban designer based in L.A. Her concentration is on cultural intersections and the ways in which obliterated histories can evolve and integrate into contemporary practices.
ROMAN JASTER
Operations Committee
Roman is a graphic designer and web developer. He is the principal of the design studio Yay Brigade and teaches at CalArts. Roman finds delight in baking hearty loaves of bread, contemplating the etymology of English and German words, and finding a printed newspaper by his front door every morning.