Summit: District Design Fellowship
Thursday, April 23, 2026
5:00pm – 8:30pm
Summit: District Design Fellowship
Thursday, April 23, 5–8:30 pm
303 Bond Street, Brooklyn
Join us to celebrate the culmination of our District Design Fellowship, developed in collaboration with the NYC Department of Small Business Services’ Building Creative Capacity initiative.
Since October 2025, three NYC community leaders have partnered with designers to create “Buy Local” campaigns that celebrate neighborhood identity and harness the power of art and design to boost visibility and foot traffic for small businesses.
Hear from our Fellows about their experiences, their Buy Local toolkits, and their urban design visions for their corridors. You’ll also have a chance to meet the design advisors who made this work possible.
Light refreshments will be provided. Questions about the event? Contact Joseph Messana-Croly at jmessanacroly@vanalen.org.
Teams
Melrose, Bronx
Fellow: Jamila Diaz of WHEDco
Design Advisors: BD Feliz, Perkins Eastman, and Zhiyao Zhang
Port Richmond, Staten Island
Fellow: Evelin Caballero Omana of La Colmena
Design Advisors: ORG, Thought Matter, and Rosanna Valencia
Upper West Side, Manhattan
Fellow: Becca Bran of LandmarkWest!
Design Advisors: Brynn Anderson, Buro Happold, and Pentagram