Our Leadership

Co-Founder and Board President

Landscape Architect 

Washington, DC

Kendra Hyson is a trained landscape architect and urban designer working as a Senior Planner with the Montgomery County Planning  Department – a division of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning  Commission. Kendra has a deep commitment to community-based planning and passion for social and environmental equity. As a native Washingtonian, she continues to pursue her passion for equity and inclusive in the design profession right in her own backyard, through the facilitation of the Studio DC program.    Kendra serves on the Board of Directors for the Landscape Architecture Foundation and is a 2015 University Olmsted Scholar. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Spelman College and a  Master's of Landscape Architecture from the University of Arizona.

Founding Member and Board Vice-President

Landscape Architect 

Austin, TX

 Andrew Sargeant is a landscape designer and innovative new member of the Lionheart Team in Austin Texas. Andrew’s design sensibilities, combined with his technical abilities, allow him to work on some of the most complex projects. His technical proficiency using various software has been instrumental in the coordination between multiple consultants and his internal design teams. Andrew is the recent recipient of the Landscape Architecture Foundation’s Research Fellowship. His research will focus on immersive technology’s role in landscape architecture today and its effect on the client and public engagement within the design process. 

Founding Member and Board Secretary

Urban Planner | Landscape Architect

Los Angeles, CA

Born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, the occupied territories of the Tongva People. Daví is the first of his family to pursue higher education. Daví de la Cruz studied at Cal State Northridge in the San Fernando Valley, territories of the Tataviam people, and in the Pacific Northwest at the University of Washington, Seattle, territories of the Duwamish people. Today, Daví is working with the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust to address park justice and green space access as a Project Manager. He currently manages three projects throughout Los Angeles at various phases of development, from early community design to construction. In these projects, he brings his commitment to hearing from community voices and fulfilling those expectations through built projects. He looks forward to contributing to the LA Neighborhood Land Trust and also expand the work of Studio South Central in his own neighborhood. 

Co-Founder and Board Treasurer

Urban Planner | Landscape Architect | Certified Arborist

Washington, DC

Maisie brings decades of leadership and management to her practice. As a 2018-2019 Leadership and Innovation Fellow with the Landscape Architecture Foundation, she explores identity in a documentary series that records how a variety of people interpret the same five urban landscapes. Honest and unvarnished insights provide a framework for people-centered design. Maisie won the National Capital Area Chapter of the American Planning Association 2016 Fredrick Gutheim Award for Distinguished Leadership by a Professional Planner and the 2014 Award of Merrit for the “Citizen Advocate Handbook”. Maisie is an urban designer and Certified Arborist with a master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from Morgan State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Afro American Studies from Howard University.

Board Member, Communications

Integrative Designer | Landscape Architect 

Washington, D.C.

Jenn is an integrative designer, educator and landscape architect with over twelve years of experience as a Landscape Architect in New York City, San Francisco, and Seattle. She holds an MDes in Integrative Design at the Stamps School of Art and Design at the University of Michigan and a Bachelor in Landscape Architecture from the University of Washington. Expanding her skillsets beyond traditional modes of urban design practice, her work seeks to redistribute power in the design process to address issues in spatial justice. In collaboration with the 1882 Foundation, they prototyped Dear Chinatown, DC, a making and sharing pop-up installation that explored how we can redesign public engagement practices that give community members a more meaningful role in how our neighborhoods are planned and designed.

Youth Board Member

Washington, D.C.

Jelani Byrd is a passionate student, international traveler and lifelong learner currently pursuing a degree in architecture and engineering at Phelps ACE High School in Washington DC and the University of the District of Columbia. Renowned for his desire to learn and passion for helping others, Jelani has spent years of independent study refining his artistic abilities to prepare himself for his future organized education. Through this independent study, Jelani has also acquired professional proficiency in a myriad of fields and applications including but not limited to, sound design, video editing, graphic design, web design and more. He’s also proven himself as a composed, accountable leader, one who listens and truly cares for his followers. Never ceasing to impress his overseers with the quality of work he produces. Jelani’s greatest desire in life is two things, “create the world I would have wanted to grow up in,” and most importantly, “have fun while doing it”.