Our People

As executive director of DesignAlabama, Gina handles fundraising, PR and administrative duties. She has an undergraduate degree and MA in public administration from Auburn University.

Chris’s professional experience comes from healthcare and corporate architecture, and product design industries. In addition, he is principle of DesignForesight, a consulting firm that he established in 2002.

Jeremy serves as the director of the Government & Economic Development Institute at Auburn University. He serves as the chief administrative executive responsible for the total operations of the organization that provides guidance, training, professional development, leadership, community development, research, and civic engagement endeavors across the State of Alabama.

For 25 years, Carrie served as the Communications Director for the Alabama League of Municipalities where she oversaw the communications, marketing and strategic planning efforts for ALM and its affiliated organizations and worked closely with ALM’s community partners. As a consultant, she continues to engage with people and organizations to connect resources, craft narratives, educate audiences, and offer guidance in branding, strategic planning, and leadership development.

Brandon serves as a certified Community and Regional Planner for GMC. His background includes a wide range of experience with proven expertise in master planning that has an emphasis on place-based design, ecological processes, regional dynamics and smart growth principles. He is grounded by his passion for the unique assets of the communities in which he serves.

Jim Byard, Jr. is the founder of Byard Associates, LLC a firm specializing in business development, community development as well as local government strategy.

Callan Childs is the Director of Design and Development for Sloss Real Estate Company. Callan is also an urban planner and licensed architect.

Tammy is an architect and designer with Cohen Carnaggio Reynolds focusing on urban development in City Centers across the southeast.

Founder & Chairman, Alabama Civil Rights Tourism Association and the Center for Conservation and Community. Steve is the visionary and co-founder of International Expeditions, one of the first ecotourism companies in the world at its inception in 1980. In 2010, Steve began initiatives to apply the same concepts practiced in ecotourism and sustainable travel to benefit his home state of Alabama, home to some of our nation’s richest Civil Rights history.

Sulynn Creswell is the Executive Director at Black Belt Treasures Cultural Arts Center, serving since April, 2007, having previously served as the Assistant Director/Gallery Manager.

Jeremy Cutts is an Associate with Williams Blackstock Architects in Birmingham, Alabama. There he lends his thoughtful design approach to a variety of project types.

Chris is President of Dunn Real Estate and is a director and member of the fifth-generation family ownership group of Dunn Investment Company.

With a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from Alabama A&M University, Michelle serves as Top of Alabama Regional Council of Governments (TARCOG) Executive Director.

With 40 years of work and study in city and regional planning, Jeffrey formed Cedar Mountain Associates to provide community planning and research services leading to better human/environmental health.

Merrill Stewart co-founded the general contracting firm Stewart/Perry in 1984 and has watched the company grow into a regional firm built on relationships. These days, Merrill goes beyond his duties as CEO, taking a hands-on approach to operations and personally heading the company’s customer relations and new business efforts. He is a regular speaker at multiple industry conferences, including the ICSC.

Managing Principal and Creative Director of the creative consultancy/brand management firm, Copperwing Design, Angela earned a BFA in visual communications from Auburn University.

Ben Wieseman is the founder of Place Associates, a multi-disciplinary firm with expertise in Planning, Landscape Architecture and Real Estate Development.

Former Director of Landscape Architecture for Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood, Cathy taught landscape architecture at Auburn University and worked in Charleston, SC’s revitalization office.

Nancy taught art at Auburn University for 35 years, including four as interim department head. Her work has won numerous awards in regional and national juried shows.

Darrell Meyer, professor/chairman emeritus of the Graduate Program in Planning in Auburn’s School of Architecture, was director of planning at Birmingham’s KPS Group, 1996 -2013.