Chair: Claire Dickey, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C is a Senior Associate at Perkins Eastman DC, where she has focused on senior living environments for the last seven years. Prior to joining Perkins Eastman, Claire worked at several firms on a variety of project types, from single family residential to adaptive reuse to community centers. For two years she owned her own residential design company, but ultimately she returned to an established firm in order to work on larger, more complex projects.  

In addition to her design work, Claire enjoys research and has won two firm scholarships to complete self-driven passion projects. The first project explored the future of whole-person wellness facilities for older adults, and the resulting white paper was awarded a Certificate of Research Excellence from the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA). Her current research project is about the benefits of intergenerational communities, and she plans to travel to Singapore later this fall to explore whether recently-completed international models might inform future developments in the United States. 

Claire participated in the Christopher Kelley program as a scholar in 2017, and in 2018 she was the program’s scholarship advisor. She is honored to serve in the role of chair for the coming year. 

Co-Founder: Sean Stadler, AIA, LEED AP, is a Design Principal and partner of WDG where he focuses on elevating the firm’s stature in design, with particular emphasis on enhancing the civic realm.  Mr. Stadler takes a strong leadership role and his commitment to design excellence and innovative thinking influences the projects he is involved with.  He believes that design is a process and that this process begins not with a brief, program, or even a charette, but rather with the people from which ideas flow.  His example shows that leadership is a two-way street; it involves the ability to influence others and be receptive to the needs of those you lead.  In his worldview, design excellence is not the application of certain techniques or the realization of inborn talent, so much as the development of a latent understanding for the negotiations that are at the heart of architecture; negotiations between site and program, client and designer, architect and engineer.

Mr. Stadler has been honored with an AIA President’s Award for his service to the profession and was recognized as one of the “rising stars of the AEC industry” by Building Design + Construction Magazine in 2009.  He is the recipient of the 2011 AIA Young Architects award where the jury noted that “he is a unique individual of outstanding talent and clear commitment.”

Co-Founder: Ryan McEnroe, AIA, ASLA, LEED AP, as both an architect and landscape architect, Ryan is a diverse and accomplished professional. Through his family background in organic farming, he recognizes the need to address land, food, and water resources and is a passionate advocate for sustainable strategies. He finds true value in a collaborative team approach that imparts a variety of perspectives into successful designs that stand the test of time and are as sustainable as possible. Ryan is an ardent volunteer to professional associations and forums promoting leadership, educational, and development opportunities for emerging professionals. As a past board member on the National Architectural Accrediting Board, he actively serves on visiting teams annually and is the youngest member to Chair such visits. Ryan is the Co-Founder of the AIA|DC Christopher Kelley Leadership Development Program, and currently serves the AIA Young Architects Forum as the Knowledge Director. He has received numerous design awards for both building and landscape architecture, and in 2014 was recognized with the prestigious AIA|DC Emerging Architect Award.

Past Chair: Teri Coates, AIA, NCARB, Teri is the founder and owner of CANVAS, an architecture and development company focused on enhancing urban communities through mixed-use and multi-family development.

Her practice of architecture includes a variety of project types in over twenty cities across the nation. Experience working within multiple firms has informed her approach to both design and the business of architecture. In each area, she believes success is found where process and innovation collide.

Teri’s love for architecture is rooted in how the built environment influences people. Exposure to the diverse ways in which people live constantly challenges her design approach. She is passionate about design for active living and views every project as an opportunity to confront global health issues head-on.

Teri holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Design from Texas A&M University and a Master of Architecture from the University of Oklahoma. Highlights about her path to becoming a licensed architect and starting her own firm are featured on the AIAS Ask an Architect and Young Architect podcasts.  She engages as a guest juror for architecture schools in the D.M.V., participated in the 2017 YAF Practice Innovation Lab, serves on the Emerging Architects Committee for AIA|DC, was a 2017-2018 Christopher Kelley Leadership Development Program scholar and is the 2018-2019 Chair of the Christopher Kelley Leadership Development Program.

Emerging Architects Committee Liaison: Betsy (Nolen) Petrusic is an Architect at Fentress Architects in Washington, DC and a Lecturer at the University of Maryland School of Architecture, Planning &Preservation. She is the 2019 Vice Chair / 2020 Chair of the AIA DC Emerging Architects Committee and the former AIA National Associates Committee Mid-Atlantic Regional Associate Director. Through her involvement with AIA, Betsy has fine-tuned an interestin mentorship within our industry and believes that having a community mindset is essential to the progression of our field as a whole.

She has continued a research passion which began in graduate school on a topic very close to heart, titled “Architecture Without Vision” and has presented at various conferences including one at the Salk Institute at the biennial Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture Conference in 2016. Betsy believes strongly in the power and impact of meaningful design.

When not immersed in the world of architecture, you can find Betsy hiking, looking for cheap flight deals to anywhere in the world, or attempting to buy even MORE plants.

Advisory Committee

Communications Adviser: Daniel Blair, AIA, NCARB is a Senior Architect at BELL Architects, PC where he has focused on business development and being the lead design puzzle solver for the last four years. Prior to joining BELL, Dan worked at Blackburn Architects, focusing on residential and equestrian design. While at Blackburn, Dan led teams throughout a two-year process to generate 15-year master plans for the historic horse racing properties: Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, NY; Belmont Park in Elmont, NY; and Kevin Plank’s Sagamore Farm located outside of Baltimore in Glyndon, MD. Dan participated in the Christopher Kelley program as a scholar in 2018.

Website Adviser: Ruben Antonio Quesada, Assoc. AIA, brings extensive experience in the design and construction of large-scale and sustainable projects for commercial, corporate, and government clients. He has found inspiration in the ability to create enriching spaces for users while simultaneously enhancing a client’s culture. While at ZGF, Ruben has been responsible for the design, documentation, construction administration, and sustainable coordination for a broad range of projects. His projects for clients, including Amazon, Hensel Phelps, the University of Virginia, JBG Smith, and Microsoft, clearly reflect his commitment to creating appropriate architecture that balances function with form, meets the expectations and aspirations of the users, and provides maximum flexibility for unknown future requirements. He also serves as a member of So Others Might Eat’s Young Professionals Board, in which they’ve been able to raise over $750,000 in the past two years. These donations will aid the homeless and their families within the District of Columbia. 

Sponsorship Adviser: Katie Selis AIA. Over the course of eight years, Katie’s work at Studio Twenty Seven Architecture has been a mix of transforming both old and new architecture, each response determined through critical study of its ability to serve the needs of its present and future users, the environmental and socio-economic contributions it will make over the span of its life, and a fundamental acknowledgment of the context of place.  With five years of experience working with mission driven clients as a member of a studio designing impactful architecture throughout the City and beyond, Katie left Washington, DC to pursue a Master of Architecture degree with a fortitude to continue such work.  The focus of her graduate studies while at UC Berkeley was resiliency – developing and designing ways in which the natural environment and the built architecture can become more symbiotic in at-risk urban coastal communities that continue to be devastated by hurricanes and major storm events. Her research in this is ongoing and continues to influence her professional work.  She strives to create architecture that enriches the lives of those with whom it comes into contact and makes a positive impact on its surroundings. Many of the projects she has worked on cross demographic, economic, and political barriers to provide high quality design to those often needing it the most. 

Graphics Adviser: Nicole Keroack, AIA, Has over 7 years of professional experience as a Project Architect on a variety of projects in and around the DC Metro area and beyond, including but not limited to single- and multi-family residential, commercial interiors, and larger institutional projects. Most recently, Nicole has been involved in two projects at her alma mater, UVA’s Ivy Mountain Musculoskeletal Center, an outpatient care clinic, and UVA’s new Athletics Complex.  Nicole also has expertise through all project design phases from initial meetings and approval processes, through construction documentation and administration. Nicole believes that a successful project can only be designed through effective communication between the clients, stakeholders, and design team.  

Nicole was a 2018 CKLDP Scholar, is chair of the ZGF Policy Advisory committee, and is extremely active in the local volleyball community.