Volunteer Spotlight: 2009 Baltimore Volunteers of the Year

This year, the Neighborhood Design Center is proud to honor two volunteers who have made an extra effort in both the quality and quantity of the pro-bono services they provided for our Baltimore office.  They are 2009 Volunteers of the Year William Story and Keith Sullivan of Design Collective.

Will and Keith were selected as Volunteers of the Year because of the creativity, thoroughness, and thoughtfulness that they brought to the Butchers Hill Master Plan and Greening Project.  In order to better understand the conditions of the neighborhood, they spent hours walking the streets, measuring cross sections, identifying storm drain locations, and photographing the many different rowhouse features - often enlisting help from co-workers.  They also researched best practices from elsewhere and incorporated many of these creative ideas into the plan.  Finally, the quality of their graphics helped residents and City agencies better understand how the changes would be implemented.  Together, Will and Keith volunteered nearly 700 hours on the project - a value of $58,000 in pro-bono services!  Click here to learn more about the Butchers Hill Master Plan (2009 Project of the Year).

William Story (left) graduated from the University of Maryland in 2006 with a Masters of Architecture and a Certificate in Urban Design. He has worked for Design Collective for three years in the planning department, and is LEED AP.  In addition to volunteering with Neighborhood Design Center, William is involved with his own community, which is pursuing alley gating and greening for a number of blocks.  “I volunteered with NDC to help neighborhoods realize their potential and provide them with the tools to achieve it. A community influenced master plan is the first step in creating a stronger neighborhood. Working with such an engaged and energized community such as Butchers Hill made this a rewarding experience."

Keith Sullivan (right) is a certified planner well versed in New Urbanist and small town planning principles as well as large scale urban, mixed-use revitalization and redevelopment projects.  Upon graduating in 2002 from Virginia Tech with a Bachelor of Architecture degree, he spent three years working as an architect before joining Design Collective as a planner in 2005. Since then, he has been involved with many of the firm’s mixed-use master planning projects with expertise in Traditional Neighborhood Development and Transit Oriented Development, town centers, form-based codes and architectural design guidelines, and waterfront developments. Additionally, he is a LEED accredited professional with experience in designing projects that are environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable. “As someone whose job routinely involves community participation, I believe volunteering for the NDC is an important way in which design professionals can take responsibility for helping shape and improve the built environment and quality of life for local residents.”