New Faces at PPS

Feb 29, 2004
Dec 14, 2017

Board of Directors

Ambassador Richard Swett

Ambassador Swett is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and the Design Futures Council. He is also state chair of the U.S. Olympic Committee, member of the European Union Center of California's advisory board and the former U.S. Ambassador to Denmark. He recently served as one of six panelists who selected the six teams of architects and planners that designed the next phase of the World Trade Center Development in Lower Manhattan. He has had numerous articles published, and is currently writing a book titled, An Architecture of Trust: New Horizons in Leadership.

In 1990, Swett was elected in New Hampshire to the U.S. House of Representatives and was the only architect to serve in Congress during the 20th century. While a congressman, he co-authored the Congressional Accountability Act and authored the Transportation for Livable Communities Act.

Staff

David Burwell, Senior Associate

David Burwell joined PPS as a consultant in 2003, and we are pleased that he accepted our offer to be a full-time staff member in 2004. David oversees PPS's transportation programs, and advises PPS on its organizational development and marketing.

David brings to PPS an exceptional history of experience. As a co-founder of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, and its President and CEO from 1986-2001, he created and managed a grassroots advocacy campaign to preserve America's system of abandoned rail corridors for conversion to trails and greenways. From 1995-2002, David was the co-founder, fundraiser, and chair of the Surface Transportation Policy Project, a national coalition to change transportation policy and to restore balance in transportation service delivery. He also served as STPP's President and CEO from 2001-2003. STPP has become the premiere voice for change in national transportation policy and played a significant role in crafting the reform provisions of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) and the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century of 1998 (TEA-21).

From 1992 through 1998 David served on the Executive Committee of the Transportation Research Board, the transportation research arm of the National Academy of Sciences. He presently Chairs the TRB Task Force on Transportation and Sustainability and serves on the TCRP panel on "Combating Global Warming Through Sustainable Surface Transportation Policy." He also serves on the Oversight Committee of the Future Strategic Highway Research Program (F-SHRP) a proposed six-year, $450 million research initiative to align transportation research with national policy objectives. In 1999 he authored "Transportation, Sustainability and Land Use," a resource paper for the TRB conference on Transportation Planning in the 21st Century.

Meg Walker, Director of Design

PPS is thrilled to welcome Meg Walker back to our staff. A registered architect in the State of New York and a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, Meg has rejoined PPS after five years as the Planning Director for the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson. She served as Project Manager and Design Director at PPS from 1994 to 1998. Projects she directed included comprehensive downtown revitalization plans, train station improvements, and pedestrian and traffic studies. As the Planning Director for the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, from 1998 to 2003, she facilitated a community-based planning process focusing on the redevelopment of Hastings' fifty-acre, derelict waterfront and led the planning effort to revitalize and rezone the downtown, in addition to reviewing large development proposals for the Village.

Shin-pei Tsay, Marketing Director

PPS was pleased to add a new marketing director, Shin-pei Tsay, to our staff in 2003. Shin-pei specializes in marketing strategies, contributes to web projects and works on the challenge of establishing "placemaking" as a household word. Her marketing projects include the Making Places newsletter, the monthly PPS Socials, "How to Turn a Place Around" workshops, the Parks conference, City Commentaries and the campaign for "un-branding" public spaces.

Shin-pei's passion for public spaces grew from the experience of moving from the suburban environment of Syracuse, New York to the more densely populated Boston area, the first of a succession of urban areas that now includes Taipei, Mexico City, Sao Paolo, Kuala Lumpur, London, Paris, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Rome, and of course New York City. She discovered Project for Public Spaces through her research on placemaking in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, towards a dissertation at the London School of Economics where she earned a Masters of Science from the Department of Geography in the City, Space and Society program. She also brings to PPS her experience as a strategy consultant and project manager for ZEFER, where she led projects for Fortune 500 clients.

Jande Wintrob, Project Associate

Jande joined PPS in 2003 to help plan the logistics of the 2003 Urban Parks Conference, and after the conference PPS welcomed her aboard as a full-time staff member. She has played a critical role in developing our "How To Turn A Place Around" workshops, and she has also contributed to our projects in San Mateo County and our work with the General Services Administration.

Jande is trained as an architect and brings six years of professional experience in the field to PPS. After receiving a bachelor's degree in Urban Design Studies at New York University, Jande earned her master's degree in Architecture from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. Her subsequent work in New York City architecture firms included everything from small scale temporary housing for trans-gender teens to large-scale preservation projects like the US Capitol and the Hoboken Ferry Terminal Restoration. She welcomes the opportunity at PPS to educate architects and architecture students about designing for people and not for the sake of "form."

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