Katie

Swenson

Senior Principal

MASS Design Group 

Katie joined MASS in 2020 as a Senior Principal. Before joining MASS full time, she served as a board member for three years, providing insight on how design practice promotes economic and social equity, environmental sustainability, and healthy communities. Previously the vice president of Design & Sustainability at Enterprise Community Partners, Inc., she is an expert in affordable housing, community development, and leadership cultivation.A member of the second class of Enterprise Rose Fellowship, Swenson was tapped to grow and lead the program in 2007, after completing her fellowship with the Piedmont Housing in Charlottesville. Under her leadership, Swenson has recruited and mentored 85 fellows who are the next generation of leaders in architecture and community development.Following her Rose fellowship, Swenson founded the Charlottesville Community Design Center in Charlottesville and, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity, led it to establish an international design competition. Based on the innovations that emerged from the competition and work, she co-authored, “Growing Urban Habitats: Seeking a New Housing Development Model,” with William Morrish and Susanne Schindler.

Katie has taught at the Boston Architectural College and Parsons School of Design at The New School, and lectured extensively on sustainable community development and affordable housing. She holds a bachelor’s degree in comparative literature from the University of California-Berkeley and a master’s degree in architecture from the University of Virginia. She was a 2018-2019 Loeb Fellow at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.She is the author of the forthcoming publication, “Design With Love,” stories from 20 years of the Enterprise Rose Fellowship, with photography by Harry Connolly. The book will be published in August 2020 by Schiffer Publishing.

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