Design Educators
Hadley Beacham
Hadley is a Harlem-based artist and educator with a deep commitment to arts education. She has worked in arts education for over 13 years, teaching at institutions including Friends of the High Line, the Intrepid Museum, and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. She was previously a full-time staff member in the Center for Architecture’s K–12 Education Department and is now a longstanding teaching artist, leading After-School, Family, Vacation, and Summer Programs. She holds a master’s degree in art history from Sotheby’s Institute of Art.
Jessica Castillo
Jessica has been a freelance Design Educator at the Center for Architecture since 2013. She previously worked as a Senior Explainer at the New York Hall of Science for 8 years, where she managed educational experiences for exhibition visitors. Jessica received her Master’s Degree in Historic Preservation from Pratt Institute, where she wrote her thesis on the relationship between historic house museums and their local communities. She earned her Bachelor of Technology in Architectural Technology from the New York City College of Technology, CUNY.
Lisa Christopher
Lisa Christopher is a design educator with CFA, teaching architecture programs in NYC elementary schools. She studied architecture at Carnegie Mellon and has worked at Gensler for over 15 years on sustainability, workplace, media, base building and residential projects. Lisa enjoys teaching youth as well as traveling and eating yummy food with her own 3 kiddos!
Kelvin Hu
Kelvin is a Master of Architecture II candidate at Harvard GSD and holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Pratt Institute. He first joined the Center for Architecture in 2022 as an education program volunteer and has taught the middle school Digital Design program, high school Architecture Design Studios, and Design Discovery courses. Previously, he worked in the Store Development department at Giorgio Armani and at Risland US, the developer of Skyline Tower in Long Island City. He co-founded Fiveighten, an experimental design practice whose work has been shown at the Center for Architecture and the Siegel Gallery at Pratt.
Kayla Montes de Oca
Kayla Montes de Oca is a design researcher and educator from Miami, Florida, based in New York City. Her research examines how policy and design shape communities over time, focusing on how individuals sustain tradition, build legacy, and navigate the power of place in collective memory and identity. Kayla is currently an Associate Professor at The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at The Cooper Union. She has a background in architecture with a Bachelor’s in Architecture from The Cooper Union and a Master’s in Design Studies from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.
Justin Morris-Marano
Justin Morris-Marano is the co-director of External Affairs, a New York-based strategy and design agency working to turn science into technology. Throughout his career, Justin has developed and facilitated immersive learning programs that seek to empower youth with actionable tools for community change making. He is particularly interested in developing tools and processes that allow youth to be seriously considered as critical decision makers in shaping urban ecology and its collision with the built environment. Justin holds a degree in Industrial Design with a concentration in innovation design and digitally mediated making.
Noah Shipley
Noah is an artist, designer, and educator based in Brooklyn. He has taught visual art to students of all ages in high school and camp settings, developing original curricula in drawing, painting, printmaking, and architecture. Before teaching, he worked as an Associate Designer at MESH Architectures. In addition to teaching at CFA, Noah is a freelance designer and avid forager. He graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BArch & BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design.
Howard Stern
Howard has been a freelance Design Educator with the Center for Architecture since 1997, helping to develop the program’s hands-on, inquiry-based approach to design education. He currently teaches in our Learning By Design:NY, Summer, Vacation, and After-School programs, specializing in digital design programs for middle and high school students, as well as design-build projects where students develop and implement improvements to their school environment. He previously taught architecture classes for youth at the Abrons Arts Center and the Queens Museum of Art. Howard is a licensed architect with over 18 years of experience as a practicing architect with a focus on affordable housing and institutional buildings. He has a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the New York Institute of Technology.
Kaitlyn Stubbs
Kaitlyn is a Brooklyn-based artist and educator with 15 years of experience teaching art and design. She has worked with diverse audiences of all ages and abilities at institutions including MoMA, MFA Boston, SUNY Purchase, and the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, recently joining the Center for Architecture team in 2024. Kaitlyn holds a BFA from the University of Georgia and an MFA from the New York Academy of Art.
Kimberly Tate
Kimberly is a multi-disciplinary artist, designer and educator based in Brooklyn, who joined the Center for Architecture in 2017. In addition to teaching with the Center for Architecture, she is also a Part-time Assistant Professor at Parsons the New School for Design. In practice, she has been a project manager and designer at CDR Studio Architects, Formactiv Architecture Design and Technology, and Arch Productions & Design, working on retail, residential, public interest and custom design fabrication projects at various scales and phases from schematic design to construction/installation. As part of the Empowerhouse Collaborative, she developed, built and exhibited a solar-powered home built to Passive House standards for the 2011 Solar Decathlon, which placed first in Affordability. Kimberly earned her Master's in Architecture with honors from Parsons School of Design.
Summer Assistants
Daniela Pedroza Altamirano, Summer Design Studio Assistant
Daniela is an architectural designer and educator based in New York City. She recently completed her Bachelor of Architectural Design at Parsons School of Design and will begin a Master of Architecture program this fall. Daniela has worked with students ranging from elementary school through college, serving as a Course Assistant for Parsons Summer Design Intensive programs in product design, fashion design, game design, and art and design foundations, and as a Teaching Assistant for undergraduate architecture studios. She especially enjoys walking alongside students as they turn ideas into physical objects, whether through sketching, model-making, prototyping, or full-scale fabrication.
Cary Hardwick, Summer Program Assistant
Cary is a Summer Educational Assistant at the Center for Architecture. She recently earned her Master’s degree in Museum Studies from NYU, graduating in May with a focus on education and accessibility. Cary has developed extensive experience working with children through roles at the Harrisonburg Explore More Children’s Museum and the C&O Canal National Historical Park, where she supported engaging and inclusive learning experiences for diverse audiences. Outside of her professional work, she enjoys reading, meeting friends for coffee, and cooking.
Adam Kaiser, Summer Program Assistant
Adam is a New York-based, aspiring architect focused on the intersection of physical design and community impact. His experience includes working alongside the Hudson River Parks Department in reoptimizing boathouses and their layouts, as well as independent design for residential spaces around the city and in Toronto. He is currently a rising freshman at Haverford College, preparing to pursue a joint major in Architecture and Urban Planning at The University of Pennsylvania and Haverford College.
Asha Klass, Summer Program Assistant
Asha is an arts and environmental educator who has worked across New York culture institutions, most recently at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden before the Center for Architecture.
Katherine Marple, Summer Program Assistant
Katherine is an architectural designer, facilitator, and graphic storyteller from Texas and Oregon, now based in Brooklyn. Her practice is rooted in listening—translating people’s experiences, histories, and ideas into spatial designs that feel meaningful and specific to place. She finds a unique joy in sharing the agency of design with youth. She spent 2 summers with NOMA Project Pipeline as a design mentor and 3 summers with the Black Educational Achievement Movement to design and build an outdoor learning hub with their students. Katherine graduated with her Master of Architecture from the University of Oregon and worked with Colloqate Design in Portland, Oregon for the past four years as a designer and community facilitator. She has just moved to New York and is exploring work opportunities for design, community engagement, and teaching!
Violet Overn, Summer Program Assistant
Violet is an art educator, photographer, and discarded-item collector based in the East Village. Her current work focuses on secondhand objects as vessels for healing, thrift stores as spaces for connection, and landfills as historical archives through installation and sculpture. Violet’s photography has been written about in publications such as Vice, HuffPost, i-D, and Galore magazine. She has worked with organizations such as The Center for Urban Pedagogy, The Center for Architecture, Materials for the Arts, and NIA.
Violet holds a BFA in Film & Television Production and an MFA in Art, Education, & Community Practice from New York University. She is currently in matriculation for her NYS Teaching Certification at Brooklyn College.
Adele Reynolds, Summer Administrative Assistant
Adele is an emerging museum professional with a deep love of the arts. Before joining the Center for Architecture Summer Programs team, she was the lead guide at the Washington National Cathedral, where she enjoyed delivering educational content to student visitors. She is especially passionate about the intersection of social justice and the arts and making cultural institutions more accessible. Originally from North Carolina, she earned her B.A. in Public Policy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Outside of work, she enjoys cooking, spending time outdoors, and, of course, exploring museums!"
Laila AnnMarie Stevens, Summer Administrative Assistant
Laila is an international award-winning photojournalist and museum educator born and raised in South Jamaica, Queens, and based in Brooklyn, New York. She earned a BFA in Photography and Related Media from the Fashion Institute of Technology, graduating cum laude with a minor in Art History. Her work explores contemporary community kinship and reimagines traditional family structures, particularly among marginalized women and girls. Influenced by her experience teaching photography workshops with organizations including Brotherhood/Sister Sol, Sadie Nash Leadership Project, and The Josephine Herrick Project, she uses image-making as a tool for empowerment, storytelling, and social connection.
Her background spans photography, arts education, and community engagement, including her longtime work with The Black School, The Studio Museum in Harlem, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and Whitney Museum of American Art, as well as serving as a 2025–2026 New York City Museum Educators Roundtable (NYCMER) Intern. She is excited to join the Center for Architecture and continue supporting the intersections of art, education, and imagination.
Education Staff
Tim Hayduk, Lead Design Educator
Tim teaches in all of the Center for Architecture’s K-12 programs, with special expertise in high school programs and those focusing on NYC’s history. He works with the Center’s tour program for adult audiences and conducts walking tours. Tim studied architecture at Pratt Institute and began teaching at the Center for Architecture in 2003. His devotion to modern architecture informs his interest in traveling, architectural publications, and photography. He dedicates spare time to organizations preserving modernism.
Breanna Katsman, Community Programs Manager
Breanna is the Community Programs Manager for the Center for Architecture who manages additional programs like the Discover Architecture Careers Explorations Program for high school students. She began working with the Center for Architecture in 2015 as a youth program volunteer and now teaches K-12 students about various aspects of architecture and design through a sustainability lens. She studied architecture and interior design at Pratt Institute and is currently studying Environmental Science and Food Studies at The New School. In addition to education, Breanna has worked in architecture, production design, and vegan culinary arts. She has a strong interest in the intersection between the environment, food, and design.
Anna Martin, Director of Learning and Engagement
Anna Martin is the Director of Learning and Engagement at the Center for Architecture, where she manages the Learning and Engagement team overseeing education programs for K-12 students, teachers, families and the general public. Anna has been in education for over 15 years, transitioning from an early career in graphic design. Most recently, she was the Manager of Teaching and Learning at the Guggenheim Museum. In addition to her work at the Guggenheim, Anna has collaborated with a diverse range of nonprofits and partners—from small historical sites like the Wyckoff House to large institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Anne received a BFA in Visual Communications from George Washington University and an MA in Arts Education from New York University.
Mary Lib Schmidt, Youth Programs Manager
Mary Lib is thrilled to be managing Summer Programs for the 10th year! In addition to this busy time of year, she also oversees the other Youth Programs including Family Programs, Teen Workshops, the Architecture and Design College Fair, and Vacation Programs. She received her BA from the University of Virginia and her MA in Art History from Columbia University. She joined the CFA K-12 Education Team in 2017 and previously worked in the Education Departments of the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Jewish Museum.
