CBH Talk | Progress and Preservation: Atlantic Avenue End-to-End

Speakers

Kelly Carroll
Kelly Carroll is the executive director of the Atlantic Avenue BID. During her two years in the role she has expanded the organization’s finances, established public programming and open street activations, restructured the board of directors, and consistently secures press for Atlantic Avenue businesses and public policy that affects the community. For this work, she was honored as a 2024 Power Woman of Brooklyn by Schneps Media. Previously, Carroll was the Director of Advocacy & Community Outreach at the Historic Districts Council, where she was instrumental in the designation of NYC historic districts and individual landmarks in all five boroughs. Kelly has taught courses at NYU School of Professional Studies since 2020. She serves on the board of directors of the City Club of New York and the Historic Districts Council, is an advisor to the Art Deco Society of New York, and volunteers in her home community of Bay Ridge regarding land use and preservation issues. She attended public schools until she earned a Master of Science from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, and is a 2023 Coro New York Neighborhood Leadership Fellow.

Ifeoma Ebo
Ifeoma Ebo is a Nigerian-American, Brooklyn based designer with a twenty-year track record in transforming urban spaces into platforms for equity and design excellence. Ebo is Principal of Creative Urban Alchemy, an award-winning studio working at the intersection of art, architecture, urban design, and planning centering cultural heritage in praxis. Her work as a transdisciplinary designer, artist, and urbanist has been rooted in dynamic diasporic understandings of the Black experience, and she has used her craft to advocate for, design, plan with, and visually showcase the stories of communities of color. As Assistant Professor for Design & Sustainability at the Spitzer School of Architecture at the City College of New York she engages in research and teaches trans disciplinary courses exploring cultural, climate and environmental justice. She has most recently received awards and fellowships from the Black Artists & Designers Guild, NYS Council on the Arts, the Associate for Collegiate Schools of Architecture, the Architectural League, and United States Artists. Ebo holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University and a Master of City Design & Development from MIT.

Rebecca Macklis
Rebecca Macklis works at the intersection of urban design and policy, leading strategic initiatives at The Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS) including the Enduring Culture Initiative and public realm advocacy. Previously, Rebecca was the director of urban design and strategy at the NYC Public Design Commission, where she led interagency initiatives and regulatory design review of complex mixed-use developments focused on the provisioning of public space, housing, and urban systems. Rebecca is managing editor of the City’s Designing New York: Quality Affordable Housing publication and co-author of Women-Designed NYC and Prefabrication in the Public Realm. Rebecca holds a Master of Architecture in Urban Design from the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, and a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture and Anthropology, with a minor in American Culture Studies, from Washington University in St. Louis. She currently serves as a consultant for the Mellon Foundation’s Monuments Project Cities Network, as an Urban Design Forum Global Exchange Fellow focused on taking big swings at New York City’s housing crisis, and is a mentor with ARCscholars.

Mimi Mitchell
Mimi Mitchell is a passionate advocate dedicated to preserving Brooklyn’s cultural legacy through housing equity and tenant empowerment. Known for blending advocacy, philanthropy, and activism, she has become a trusted leader in the fight for tenant rights and anti-displacement. Mimi served on former Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams’ Tenant Protection Task Force, where she played a pivotal role in reinstating preferential rent, curbing a displacement tactic that favored luxury developments. For nearly a decade, she has volunteered as Lead Advocate with the Center for Justice Innovation and its Legal Hand Crown Heights program, empowering indigent clients with vital legal information to prevent homelessness. Her dedication extends to the Save Our Streets program, which combats gun violence. A trained mental health specialist, Mimi is deeply committed to addressing the psychological toll of housing instability. Her decade-long involvement with the Crown Heights Tenants’ Union, moderation of weekly legal clinics, and leadership of the Brooklyn Tenant Collective Support group underscores her steadfast commitment to tenant education and empowerment. As a proud member of Community Board 8, she serves on three committees, using her platform to drive critical community initiatives.