TEN Baltimore Symposium

Our Parks x TEN Baltimore brings together West Baltimore residents, students, practitioners, and policymakers to explore community-centered approaches to connecting neighborhoods with their green spaces.

This symposium focuses on creating pathways, both physical and cultural, between Druid Hill Park and Carroll Park while preserving the stories, practices, and histories that make these spaces meaningful to surrounding communities.

Through workshops and collaborative sessions, participants will learn from practitioners pioneering new models for community-driven development, cultural storytelling, and neighborhood advocacy.

What You'll Experience:

• Workshops in landscape architecture, social design, and community archiving
• Sessions on storytelling, placekeeping, and building community trust
• Tools for communities to shape their preservation priorities
• Collaborative exploration of how residents can advocate for the spaces that matter to them

Presented in partnership with the National Park Service, The Nature Conservancy, Maryland State Archives, Bon Secours, SCRD + byzig, Parks & People, and ULI Baltimore.

Info: Founder & CEO, Parity Homes (2018–present): Bree leads a widely recognized equitable development company revitalizing historic Black neighborhoods in West Baltimore without displacing legacy residents. Parity Homes has restored dozens of abandoned properties, expanded Black homeownership, and created a replicable model for development without displacement. The work centers community health, social capital, and systems change.

TED Talk – “How to Revitalize a Neighborhood—Without Gentrification” (2022): Bree’s TED talk has reached global audiences, offering a visionary yet practical blueprint for community-rooted development. It highlights her personal journey, Parity’s approach, and the deeper meaning of rebuilding community from within.

Info: Dr. Brielle Harbin is a political scientist and educator specializing in political communication and narrative structure. Her research examines how individuals construct meaning from public policies and political actors through narratives. As a consultant and facilitator, she supports purpose-driven leaders in using story not as spin, but as a tool for building trust, belonging, and ethical community engagement.

Info: Cristina Murphy, Associate Professor and PhD candidate in Architecture, Urbanism, and the Built Environment, merges research, education, and practice through a multidisciplinary lens. With extensive international experience at firms like OMA and as a Taliesin Fellow, she co-founded XCOOP (Rotterdam) and Blueprint (Baltimore). Her work focuses on community-driven, justice-oriented design. A frequent presenter and reviewer at institutions like MIT, Cornell, TUDelft, KRVIA, and Politecnico di Milano, she also co-curates the Ecological Design Collective and contributes to the Baltimore-Rotterdam Sister City initiative. Her global perspective enriches architectural discourse and practice.

Info: In the space between empathy and authenticity lies the opportunity to forge profound connections with people and place. In her 24 years in landscape architecture, Heidi has sought to examine and explore these intersectional dynamics of professional practice through her work and collaborations with others. She founded EnviroCollab in 2018 as a response to inequities in the field and as a challenge to injustices in the built environment. Prioritizing inclusive engagement and design strategies that first and foremost serve marginalized communities, Heidi and her colleagues merge practices of social design and restorative urban design to meet people where they are and co-cultivate cultural and environmental resilience.

Info: Samia Rab Kirchner makes, studies, and analyzes architecture that contributes to urban civic identity. She is currently a tenured Associate Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at Morgan State University Department of Architecture. She teaches across curricula of the programs in Bachelor of Science in Architecture and Environmental Design (AREN), Master of Architecture (M.Arch), and PhD in Architecture, Urbanism and Built Environments (AUBE). She has previously taught architecture, urban design, historic preservation, and urban heritage management at the American University of Sharjah in the UAE, the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Kirchner’s research and practice focus on the (trans)formative role of water in City Design, Urban Regeneration, and Redevelopment.

Info: Leah Chambers, AICP (she/her/ella) is a strategic advisor, community planner, and engagement specialist with deep experience shaping the policies, partnerships, and processes that create vibrant, inclusive, and resilient places across the U.S. and internationally. She brings clarity, focus, and a strong relational approach to high-stakes initiatives that demand long-term vision and intentional strategy. Her cross-cutting expertise in urban design, public policy, and stakeholder engagement uniquely positions her to lead collaborative efforts and guide implementable, people-centered solutions.

Before founding Outside Voices, Leah served as a Senior Policy Advisor to Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, advancing work on transportation, housing, and flood resilience in the nation’s third-largest county. Her career has spanned the Bay Area, Beijing, Florida, and Houston—always rooted in collaboration with multidisciplinary teams to tackle complex city-building challenges.

Info: Amalia Deloney is a professional futurist, strategist, and founder of Point A Studio—a regenerative futures lab working at the intersection of community, culture, and systems change. With over 20 years of experience in law, philanthropy, and social impact, she helps communities and organizations imagine better futures—and take meaningful steps to get there. Amalia specializes in participatory foresight, public storytelling, and place-based innovation, centering equity and belonging in all her work. Based in Baltimore, she holds a JD and multiple certifications in strategic foresight, systems thinking, and regenerative leadership. Guatemalan-born, Amalia brings a unique lens to questions of identity, power, and public space.

Info: Shayna Scott brings 10 years of experience at the National Park Service in project management, historic preservation, design, and facilities oversight. She leads multidisciplinary teams delivering high-value construction and design projects across federal, public, and historic assets, with expertise in NHPA, NEPA, and Secretary of the Interior Standards compliance. Shayna's strategic and collaborative approach to preservation work spans complex projects that balance historical integrity with contemporary community needs, making her a vital voice in conversations about community-centered preservation practices.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

31 S Payson St, 31 South Payson Street, Baltimore, United States