Katie Swenson is a design leader, writer, and educator working at the intersection of architecture, equity, and public life. A senior principal at MASS Design Group, she leads the Advocacy team, advancing design as a tool for justice, sustainability, and community health. With over two decades of experience, Katie is widely recognized for her leadership in public interest design and her role in shaping the next generation of design practitioners.

She is the author of Design with Love: At Home in America, and In Bohemia: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Kindness, and co-author of Growing Urban Habitats. Her work also appears in Activist Architecture, and Expanding Architecture. A former vice president at Enterprise Community Partners, Katie directed the Rose Fellowship and founded the Charlottesville Community Design Center. She teaches at Parsons and Columbia GSAPP and was a 2019 Loeb Fellow at Harvard GSD. She holds degrees from UC Berkeley and the University of Virginia.