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The first cohort of the MS Design and Urban Ecologies and the MA Theories of Urban Practice programs graduated in 2014, transforming the spaces they engaged with and envisioning new urban practices to address the challenges we face today. Since then, many more have followed, becoming part of a thriving alumni community that continues to inspire the next generation of urban students at Parsons. To celebrate and strengthen our alumni network, we are launching the Parsons Urban Alumni Initiative this Fall 2025.

A similar research and mapping project, which traced our alumni’s workplaces and practices, was first conducted in 2017 with participation from the early cohorts. We are now reviving, updating, and expanding that effort in exciting new ways by reaching out to our alumni community. If you are an alum, please check your New School email inbox for more information. If you no longer use your New School account and would like to participate, please contact us at urban@newschool.edu.

Alex Castillo-Kesper

MSDUE Class 2014– Organizer at the California Federation of Teachers – Oakland, CA, USA. Alex, who has a background in fundraising for arts based not-for-profits prior to her study at Parsons, started working right after graduation as an organizer The American Federation of Teachers union in New York City. Following her passion for social and...

Raquel de Anda

MSDUE Class of 2015– Independent Curator and Cultural Producer. Raquel is currently working in New York City as an Associate Producer on two nationally touring transmedia projects. The first addresses the economic security of America’s caregivers, and the second police accountability and state surveillance. These projects require Raquel to hold many interpersonal relationships and act...

Braden Crooks

MSDUE Class 2014– Co-founder of Designing the WE – New York City, NY, USA. Braden is the co-founder of Designing the WE, a social impact design studio. This studio’s work with diverse communities around equitable and innovative projects connects to a larger ecosystem of social change. These projects include an urban farm as a tool...

Sabrina Dorsainvil

MSDUE Class 2014– Director of Civic Design, Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics, Boston, MA, USA. Immediately after graduation, Sabrina worked as a freelance designer, and for Contininuum, a global innovation design consultancy on design projects ranging from healthcare services to retirement and education. She then joined the Housing Innovation Lab as part of the...

Rania Dalloul

MATUP Class of 2015– Project Associate at Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB). Rania has a rich background in community engagement, freelance research among library archives and refugee camps, as well as access to education in Lebanon. Before moving to NYC, she co-founded Creative Space Beirut, where people were offered free design education. This led her...

Mariana Roberti Bomtempo

MSDUE Class of 2016– Graduate Research Assistant at Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEA). Mariana is an urbanist and architect by training, designer and activist in her spare time, Mariana is a professional extremely interested in topics related to the Right to the City. She graduated in Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Brasília,...

Aran Baker

MSDUE Class of 2015– Co-founder of the Red Hook Check-in Project – New York City, NY, USA. Aran worked as a graphic designer and art director for 10 years before coming to MSDUE at Parsons. Following her interests in environmental design, green building and public health, Aran developed her thesis project “The Red Hook Check-in...

Issac Green Diebboll

MSDUE Class of 2019– Artist and Filmmaker. Isaac Green Diebboll is an artist, documentary filmmaker and a co-founder of an educational non-profit, ENGN (“engine”) Civic Creative Center, 501(c)3 based in Sullivan County, NY. His work encourages human connection, collaborating intergenerationally between urban and rural communities, supporting ways in which neighbors, both local and global, can...

Drew Vanderburg

MSDUE Class of 2016– Senior Project Manager, RiseBoro Community Partnership. Drew is an artist and activist concerned citizen of humanity. Before joining Parsons, he was a theater designer/director and street performer/musician. He became interested in democratization and global solidarity movements through Occupy Wall Street. He was a member of the MSDUE cohort which graduated in...

Joshua McWhirter

MATUP Class of 2017– Managing Editor, Urban Omnibus. Joshua is a writer, editor and musician based in Brooklyn. Prior to studying at Parsons, he received a BA in Political Science from the University of North Texas and enjoyed a stint as a professional touring guitarist. He graduated from the MA Theories of Urban Practice program...

Rehanna Azimi

MSDUE Class of 2015– Project Associate at Hester Street Collaborative – New York City, NY, USA. Upon graduating from the MSDUE program, Rehanna interned as an urban planner at the Union County Bureau of Planning and Economic Development in New Jersey. She joined the Hester Street team in the fall of 2015. Rehanna works as...

Sara Minard

MATUP Class of 2015– Capital Projects Manager at the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Sara has utilized the skills learned in MATUP for many different arenas. Along with five other TUP alumni, she is a co-founder of the in•site collaborative, a multidisciplinary research and design consultancy tackling issues surrounding uneven urban development. Her...

Troy Hallisey

MSDUE Class of 2014– Information Management Officer, The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Troy started working as a Humanitarian Data Scientist intern after graduation and soon after became Information Management Officer at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), a body involved in crises management and the...

Eduarda Aun

MSDUE Class of 2018– Program Associate at NACTO (National Association of City Transportation Officials). Eduarda Aun is an urban designer and DUE ’18 alumna. She has a background in architecture and urban planning from Universidade de Brasilia in Brazil and is the co-founder and former co-director of an organization called Coletivo MOB, based in Brasilia....

Jonathan Lapalme

MSDUE Class of 2014– Founder of Les Interstices, Montréal, Canada. Since graduating from the MSDUE program in 2014, Jonathan has worked as consultant for the City of Montréal, la Société du Parc Jean-Drapeau, Building Product Ecosystems, and other organizations in and around Montréal. Recently, Jonathan founded Les Interstices, a strategic design studio intersecting several disciplines...

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