Transforming Correctional Design for Justice Reform

Christine Cowart, of Cowart Trauma Informed Partnership will join Janet Roche, faculty member and Alumni Council member of Boston Architectural College (BAC), in alive-broadcast event, to discuss the implications of trauma-informed principles on correctional design. Christine will draw on her experience working in the correctional systems of three Northeastern states to explain how trauma, crime, and correctional facilities are all inextricably related, and what that means for correctional design as we seek a more just and equitable response for the future.

In addition to her Masters in Design for Human from BAC, Janet holds a B.S. in Social Work from Boston University and a Certificate of Business and Management from Harvard University Extension School. She owns Janet Roche Designs, specializing in universal design, and the the design of environments for those who are aging-in-place or seeking accommodations for other human conditions. A longtime advocate for dignity in design, Janet is also the host of Inclusive Designers Podcast, a collaborative forum for designers to share creative ideas for different human conditions. Janet and Christine will be joined by Jana Belack and Dana McKinney.

A two-time Boston Architectural College alumni, Jana Belack earned a Bachelor's of Sustainable Design degree in 2010 and completed her Masters in Architecture in 2016 with her thesis entitled "A Women's Prison; Communities for Incarceration." Jana was named the 2017 John Worthington Ames Fellow by the BAC for her proposal to perform a comparative analysis of carceral facilities in the Scandinavian countries of Finland, Sweden, Norway, as well as Canada to gain an understanding of their success in achieving positive results and low recidivism rates. Bringing this experience from abroad back to the BAC, Jana with her co-teacher Rand Lemley created the design workshop, Design Convicted, a course addressing the history of prison design, the future of restorative justice without prisons, and the people and spaces where that future is manifested. Jana is a lead designer at Placetailor in Roxbury, MA, an urban design, build, development company dedicated to achieving Passive House energy efficiency for residences and community projects made accessible to the workforce of Boston.

Dana McKinney is an architect and urban planner who advances social justice and equity through design. Her academic and professional profile integrates wellness, policy, and economics into innovative design solutions to benefit even the most vulnerable populations including formerly incarcerated individuals, persons experiencing homelessness, and the elderly. Dana graduated from Princeton University with an A.B. in Architecture and completed her Masters in Architecture and Urban Planning at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD). During her time at the GSD, Dana helped to establish the inaugural Black in Design Conference, Map the Gap, and the African American Design Nexus. Dana resides in Culver City, CA, where she works for Gehry Partners, LLP and focuses her work on the LA River Master Plan, SELA Cultural Center, and other river-related projects.