Six Architects Selected for Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship Class of 2014-2016

COLUMBIA, Md., Dec. 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. (Enterprise) selected Michael Chavez, James Lewis, Erick Rodriguez, Esteban Reichberg, Hilary Noll and Shelly-Anne Tulia Scott, six exceptional young public-interest design professionals to the 2014-2016 class of its prestigious Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship. The highly competitive fellowship is the only national program that partners emerging architects with community developers for three years to unite a community-based approach to development with best practices in design.

"The Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship program offers our next generation of leaders the opportunity to transform the community development field through design excellence, sustainability and community engagement," said Katie Swenson, vice president, Design Initiatives, Enterprise. "With 50 fellows since the program began in 2000, we are proud that the Rose Fellowship is recognized as a leading force in growing the Public Interest Design movement."

Michael Chavez spent four years as the director of project development and management at YouthBuild in Boston. Now with his Rose Fellowship at the Fairmount/Indigo Line CDC Collaborative in Boston, he will have the opportunity to bring his visions to life and show how a holistic design approach has a multitude of positive impacts on communities. His experience in the nonprofit sector has centered on solving social, economic and infrastructural issues in low-income communities.

During his fellowship, James Lewis will work with Heartland Housing in Chicago to establish an inclusive sustainable design process for its developments, which range from supportive housing for families to LGBT senior housing. Lewis will help to realize the inherent synergies in Heartland's design, operations and support models to greatly enhance the quality of life of their residents and encourage them to take ownership of the places where they live.

Erick Rodriguez will begin his fellowship with Burten, Bell, Carr Development, Inc. and the Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization. He will collaborate with community stakeholders across Cleveland to expand the development and implementation of EcoDistricts in the city. As a recent graduate of Woodbury University, Rodriguez will push the envelope on green affordable housing and neighborhood sustainability projects.

Hilary Noll will spend her fellowship in San Jose, Calif. hosted by First Community Housing (FCH). Noll will support FCH's efforts to develop and build affordable housing that emphasizes sustainability. She will be critical in beginning dialogue on raising standards and practices for design excellence, assisting in building the first Living Building Challenge-certified affordable housing and creating compelling graphics to illustrate building features which can be used to educate the public and profession.

Esteban Reichberg will spend his fellowship with CAMBA Housing Ventures, a Brooklyn-based affordable housing organization that builds sustainable, energy-efficient and safe housing for low-income and formerly homeless families and individuals. As a native New Yorker who has lived in four different Brooklyn neighborhoods over the past 12 years, his passion for and familiarity with the people, politics and history of the place is extensive.

For the next three years, Shelly-Anne Tulia Scott will work with Presbyterian Senior Living (PSL) across Pennsylvania to raise the bar on design excellence in senior housing. Scott will bring her technical and interpersonal skills to the challenge of working across multiple properties and with a wide variety of stakeholders in order to elevate and implement design and sustainability standards for senior housing. Her role will bring in-house design capacity to PSL, helping to meet its goal of providing the state's most person-centric living accommodations.

Major supporters of Enterprise's National Design Initiatives include The Barr Foundation, Bullitt Foundation, California Community Foundation, Capital One Foundation, Central Corridor Funders Collaborative/St. Paul Foundation, Cleveland Foundation, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, Inc, The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, The Davis Family Foundation, Deutsche Bank, Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, The Fetzer Institute, The Fledgling Fund, Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, HSBC Bank, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, The George Gund Foundation, JPMorgan Chase Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Kendeda Fund, The Kresge Foundation, Lostand Foundation Inc; The McKnight Foundation, Frederick P. & Sandra P. Rose Foundation, Jonathan Rose, Saint Luke's Foundation and Surdna Foundation.

About Enterprise
Enterprise works with partners nationwide to build opportunity. We create and advocate for affordable homes in thriving communities linked to jobs, good schools, health care and transportation. We lend funds, finance development and manage and build affordable housing, while shaping new strategies, solutions and policy. Over more than 30 years, Enterprise has created 300,000 homes, invested nearly $14 billion and touched millions of lives. Join us at www.EnterpriseCommunity.com or www.EnterpriseCommunity.org.

SOURCE Enterprise Community Partners, Inc.