Fellow Profile

Jess Wendover

“At first glance, the Rose Fellowship seems like a luxury because it allows the fellows the to devote three years of their time and expertise towards design projects in low-income communities. In reality, the program has the capacity to make the case that good design should never be considered a luxury, but a necessity in these neighborhoods.”

— Jess Wendover

Fellowship Host:
Urban Ecology
Oakland/San Francisco, CA

Jess Wendover has long believed that design alone can’t solve every problem, but she says, “without attention to design, underserved communities face an unending cycle of physical degradation and decline.” To prove her point Jess need look no further than her own Rose Fellowship when she worked on the design and development of the Eastside Cultural Center.

The Center is an adaptive re-use of a historic building in the San Antonio District, one of Oakland’s most diverse low-income neighborhoods. Previously during its 30-year history, host Urban Ecology had spread itself thin in an attempt to offer community design services to a number of neighborhoods. Its impact, however, was limited in terms of getting plans adopted or built. Jess’s contribution to the project helped Urban Ecology learn the value of a sustained, long-term relationship with a community partner.

Jess earned a B.A. in Architecture from Columbia and a Master of Architecture and Master of City Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. She continues her design advocacy now as Director of the Mayors’ Institute on City Design, a partnership program of the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Architectural Foundation, and the United States Conference of Mayors, based in Washington, DC.

Enterprise Community Partners