Kounkuey Design Initiative
Partnering with people in under-resourced communities to build healthy, connected neighborhoods.
09/07/2022
We are thrilled to share that Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI) was selected as the winner of this year’s National Design Award for Landscape Architecture. Conferred by Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, the annual awards program recognizes designers with the innovation and impact to change the world.
As Chelina Odbert, KDI’s Founding Principal and CEO said on the occasion of the award, “Designers have the power and responsibility to undo the many inequities in the built environment that stand in the way of truly inclusive communities. This award promises to shine a light on the capacity of design to work across scales to make places that are at once beautiful, healthy, and just.”
We thank the Cooper Hewitt and the members of the jury:
Cheryl Barton, Marlon Blackwell, Travis Fitch, Rick Griffith, Christina Kim, Susana Rodríguez de Tembleque, and Raja Schaar
We also recognize the awardees in other categories:
Nader Tehrani, Design Visionary
WEDEW by David Hertz, Climate Action
Emily Adams Bode, Emerging Designer
Rural Studio, Architecture / Interior Design
Giorgia Lupi, Communication Design
Felecia Davis, Digital Design
W***y Chavarria, Fashion Design
CW&T, Product Design
KDI will accept this award on September 21 in New York City. Please stay tuned for updates along the way!
KDI is hiring for several positions, in both our Nairobi and LA offices! Read about the available roles here:
Click here to claim your Sponsored Listing.
Our Story
Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI) is a non-profit design and community development organization. We partner with under-resourced communities to advance equity and activate the unrealized potential in their neighborhoods and cities. We realize this mission through advocacy, research, planning, and built works.
KDI works with community members to improve social, economic and physical conditions in diverse settings: from urban informal settlements in Kenya to rural farmworker communities in the US. We have also worked in urban and rural settings in Morocco, Mexico, Haiti and Ghana.
Contact the organization
Telephone
Address
2234 Beverly Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA
90057
