Susanne Schnell
Executive Director, Archeworks

Susanne has a broad background in non-profit management and community development with a special focus on reinvesting in cities and strengthening underserved urban communities. She has designed and implemented numerous community development, cultural, and civic initiatives in collaboration with leaders from community-based non-profits, cultural institutions, local government, businesses, and universities. Most recently, Susanne was the consulting director of the planning and start-up phase for the National Public Housing Museum, a new cultural institution and educational center in Chicago. Previously she held positions with the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago and its affiliate, the Civic Consulting Alliance, where she launched several public-private partnership initiatives in community-based planning, inner-city business development, workforce training and mentoring, and school leadership development. While at the Civic Committee, Susanne launched a highly collaborative community-based heritage development initiative aimed at preserving and promoting North Lawndale’s architectural assets and cultural heritage. She played a lead role in the strategic planning process and launch of the Historic Chicago Greystone Initiative, an affordable housing rehabilitation and preservation program now operated by Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago. Susanne also acted as the consulting project director of the Chicago Architecture Foundation’s “Learning from North Lawndale” exhibition. For the past four years, Susanne has held an adjunct research faculty position with the City Design Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she co-launched a Green Neighborhood Studio Design Program. She rececently completed a national best practice study on demand building strategies in declining middle-market urban neighborhoods. Before moving to Chicago, Susanne was the Assistant Director of Social Compact, a Washington DC-based national coalition of financial services institutions that promotes community reinvestment partnerships in underserved markets. Susanne is a member of the Board of Friends of Downtown, the City of Chicago’s Capital Improvements Advisory Committee, and Lambda Alpha Honorary Society for the Advancement of Land Economics. She holds an undergraduate degree from Smith College and a graduate degree from The University of Michigan.

Martin Felsen AIA
Director, Archeworks

Martin Felsen, with partner Sarah Dunn, is founding principal of UrbanLab, an award-winning Chicago-based design firm specializing in resourceful civic, commercial, residential, and infrastructure projects. Mr. Felsen is also an Associate Studio Professor in the College of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Previously he has worked for Peter Eisenman Architects and Stan Allen Architects on large-scale public and institutional planning and public works projects. Mr. Felsen is a licensed architect and teaches design studios at IIT on future-thinking design, smart urban growth, and environmental and ecological professional responsibility. His work and expertise in integrated resourceful building and urban design has been highlighted in numerous publications. In 2007, Mr. Felsen was the recipient of the AIA Chicago Dubin Family Young Architect Award. In 2009, Archeworks and UrbanLab were jointly awarded the AIA Latrobe Prize for their Growing Energy proposal.  Mr. Felsen is a graduate of the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) at Columbia University in New York City. He received his B Arch from Virginia Tech University. Mr. Felsen currently serves on the Chicago Wilderness Science Advisory Council and Mayor Daley’s Committee for Nature and Wildlife.

Sarah Dunn
Research Director, Archeworks

Sarah Dunn, with partner Martin Felsen, is founding principal of UrbanLab. She is also an Assistant Professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Ms. Dunn has worked as a project architect/leader on large-scale public and private projects for the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. She teaches design studios at UIC on complex building and landscape design. Her work and expertise in integrated mixed-use building design has been highlighted in numerous publications. In 2007, Ms. Dunn and Mr. Felsen were recipients of the History Channel’s ‘City of the Future’ competition for their Growing Water proposal. They were also honored as "Global Visionaries" by Chicago Public Radio. Ms. Dunn is a graduate of the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) at Columbia University in New York City, where she also received her B.A. in Architecture. Currently, she serves as a board member of Extensions Gallery, a not-for-profit architecture gallery.

Katie Vail
Program Manager

Katie manages student and alumni affairs, coordinates Archeworks public programs, and is the assistant editor of WORKS. She has worked in the nonprofit arts sector and in architecture. Katie also volunteers with Common Threads, an organization fostering children's appreciation for cultural diversity and nutrition through cooking. She has a B.A. in Architecture from Washington University in St. Louis.

Luis A. Martinez
Program and Project Coordinator

Luis manages all advertising and marketing efforts and organizes outreach initiatives related to community-based design projects.  He has worked within the field of architecture and the non-profit sector.  Luis holds a B.S. in Architectural Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has studied at L'Ecole De Architecture De Versailles, France.  He is a LEED® Accredited Professional and is a certified Construction Document Technologist (CDT) through the Construction Specification Institute (CSI).

Luis comes to us via Public Allies Chicago, a signature AmeriCorps program.

Lance Drake
Bookkeeper

Lance Drake is a graduate student at Northeastern Illinois University studying American Politics and Public Affairs with a focus in Public Administration and Government Relations. He has extensive experience working in the Chicago nonprofit community, including Goldie's Place, Lawyer's Committee for Better Housing, and The Lincoln Park Zoo. Lance is also a working musician and performs in the Chicago band Deep Cricket Night.