Fellow Profile

Esther Yang

“There is no room for arrogance or egos in this line of work. I am looking to be humbled, to learn, and design under my heart's convictions. These convictions are to serve and love — requisites that are rare within conventional architectural practice.”

— Esther Yang

Fellowship Host:
Fordham Bedford Housing Corporation
Bronx, N.Y.

Esther brings to the Rose Fellowship a broad spectrum of hands-on experience with large and small-scale architectural practices in Maryland, Virginia and Arkansas. Her academic credits include teaching in the design and technology courses, as well as upper-level design seminars at the University of Arkansas, School of Architecture. She received her masters in architecture from the University of Virginia and is a designer, educator and an advocate for social and positive change.

Esther begins her first year in the fellowship at Fordham Bedford pursuing pathways towards affordable and sustainable housing development. Her primary responsibilities include facilitating and overseeing FBHC’s green building initiatives in new construction and rehabilitation projects. However, she enjoys an incredibly diverse set of responsibilities that range from building design, construction supervision/administration, and writing grant proposals, to authoring new environmental policies.

“The intimate partnership that the Rose Fellowship fosters between the design profession and a nonprofit organization is the perfect working model for the type of career I would like to shape for myself and others,” says Esther. “The Rose Fellow provides a nonprofit organization a unique lens through which to view development strategies. Likewise, the nonprofit host can impart an abundant amount of knowledge upon the Rose Fellow. It is the synergy between the Rose Fellow and the nonprofit host that will have the most impact.”

Esther, is working to achieve LEED® accreditation in the near future and is enjoying the diversity of challenges inherent to her fellowship. “The range of projects offers me a holistic view of, and case studies for, development possibilities. I am confident that the blend of experiences within the Rose Fellowship will serve as an invaluable asset to my developing career as a design professional.”

Enterprise Community Partners