Jane Fisher, Executive Director, joined CCDC in March of 2007 with a strong environmental background. After working for nine years with environmental non-profits including the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in Virginia and Sustainable Conservation in San Francisco, Jane joined a newly founded graduate program at the Bainbridge Graduate Institute in Washington State. After receiving her MBA in Sustainable Business Practice, she worked for the Wildlife Conservation Society in three different countries in Africa, researching alternative financing options for National Parks.

Mandy Burbage joined CCDC as a Project Manager in October 2007. After receiving her masters degree in urban and environmental planning from the University of Virginia in 2004, Mandy worked for three years providing planning and design assistance to communities in central Pennsylvania. Mandy’s previous work experience ranges from community organizing and environmental advocacy to sustainable product design. Her roles at CCDC include managing monthly gallery exhibits and collaborating on a wide variety of planning and design projects in and around Charlottesville.

Eric Gilchrist, Program Coordinator for SPARK!, joined CCDC in the summer of 2008. Eric has had a variety of life experiences working for environmental non-profits, corporations and as an eco-entrepreneur. He received an MBA in Finance and a BS degree in Man-Environmental Relations from the Pennsylvania State University. Eric intends to use SPARK! to help empower the residents, organizations and businesses in the Charlottesville area to be more energy efficient.

Katie Swenson is Founder of the Charlottesville Community Design Center. The co-author of the soon-to-be-released Growing Urban Habitats, she holds a Master of Architecture from the University of Virginia and a Bachelor of Art from the University of California, Berkeley. Katie’s numerous awards include the Eldon Field Woods Design Professional of the Year Award (2005) from the Charlottesville Planning Commission, a Commonwealth Environmental Leadership Award (2006) from the Charlottesville Waldorf Foundation and the Sara McArthur Nix Fellowship for Travel and Research in France. A former member of the Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review, she currently serves on the boards of the Association for Community Design and the Village School. As of September 2006, Katie has become the new Director of the Rose Fellowship Program.

From 2001 to 2004 Katie was a Rose Fellow with the Piedmont Housing Alliance (PHA), where her work included taking on one of the PHA’s most ambitious projects ever. Katie managed the design and construction of the 10th and Page Street Neighborhood Revitalization Project, adding 30 new and restored, affordable homes to a rapidly changing neighborhood sandwiched between the University of Virginia and downtown Charlottesville. Katie continued to make a difference for the Page Street area during her fellowship, most notably initiating a collaborative design process with residents, non-profits and local schools for the Hope Community Center.