Meet the 2021 Virtual Conference Keynote Speakers
Despite the challenges we have all faced, the COVID-19 pandemic has provided new opportunities for Landscape Architects to play key roles in developing solutions. That’s why we are thrilled to have Nette Compton and Sara Zewde as our 2021 Virtual Conference Keynote Speakers.
Sara Zewde
Ecologies of Memory
Sara Zewde is founding principal of Studio Zewde, a design firm in New York City practicing landscape architecture, urbanism, and public art. The studio is devoted to creating enduring places where people belong. Named a 2021 Emerging Voice by the Architectural League of New York, the firm is lauded for its distinct design methodology syncing culture, ecology, and craft. In parallel with practice, Sara serves as Assistant Professor of Practice at Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Sara was named the 2014 National Olmsted Scholar by the Landscape Architecture Foundation, a 2016 Artist-in-Residence at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, and in 2018, was named to the National Trust for Historic Preservation's inaugural "40 Under 40" list. Most recently, she was named a 2020 United States Artists Fellow. Sara holds a master’s of landscape architecture from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, a master’s of city planning from MIT, and a BA in sociology and statistics from Boston University.
Nette Compton
Fostering Inclusive Communities: People, Place and Partnerships
Nette Compton is the Trust for Public Land’s director of strategy, where she leads the organization’s strategic plan implementation focused on delivering health, equity, and climate impacts to communities across the country. During her tenure, she has guided growth in creative placemaking, climate & green infrastructure, and equitable development. She is a licensed landscape architect who got her start researching green roof performance at Cornell University and setting green infrastructure standards and policies at the New York City Parks Department. She loves to bike and get outside with her husband and two kids, garden, bake, and craft, especially over the past year.
