Brad Leibin, BA02, and Ashley Marsh, MArch07, were named Emerging Leaders for 2011 by the Design Futures Council.

Through this scholarship program, the council recognizes future leaders who are having—and will increasingly have—an impact on design practices, design professions, and the community. Recipients represent the future of design practice in terms of its broadening scope, service to society, sustainable design, and technological innovation.

Leibin is the design lead for the San Francisco-based nonprofit Public Architecture. He was highly involved in the development of the Design for Reuse Primer, an e-publication intended to demistyify and inspire mainstream building material reuse. 

Marsh is an associate at Cannon Design in Chicago, where her architecture focuses on advancing education learning environments. A champion for socially conscious architecture, her engagement both locally and nationally has helped lead the firm's redefinition of its model for corporate social outreach through the Open Hand Studio, which she leads.

Leibin and Marsh were among six professions to be named Emerging Leaders, and received registration scholarships to attend the 10th Leadership Summit on Sustainable Design in Boston last fall. The scholarship is sponsored by DuPont Building Innovations.

During the summit, Marsh had the opportunity to present the work of Open Hand Studio, and says she felt compelled to share with the audience the vital role her time in the Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design played in shaping her "search for meaningful practice." Her presentation included a slide titled, "Blame it on Bruce" (referring to Dean Bruce Lindsey), and she briefly highlighted the work of two of her former classmates—Eric Cesal of Architecture for Humanity and Sarah Weissman of HOK Impact—who were similarly inspired to pursue avenues of professional practice linked to community engagement.

"Washington University inspired me to imagine an evolution of practice where critical engagement in community-based work can lead to a generative practice that's strengthening public perceptions of design and empowering our clients and the public to enhance human culture," Marsh says. "For that, I am grateful."