College for Social Innovation’s Semester in the City and Semester for Impact programs are 15-week fellowships that give students the opportunity to combine academic coursework with meaningful, hands-on experience at social sector organizations. This year marked BSA’s first time participating in the program, and we were excited to welcome three fellows whose energy, ideas, and contributions enriched both our team and our mission.

August Buziak (they/them)

Future Forms Fellow

August Buziak is a rising senior at the University of New Hampshire majoring in Community and Environmental Planning and minoring in Political Science. Originally from Frederick and Buffalo, they are excited to work with the Boston Society of Architecture during the spring of 2026, where they can explore community-led solutions to housing accessibility, economic decline, and shared public spaces.

I worked as a Housing Innovation Fellow with the Boston Society of Architecture, as a collaborator on the Boston Society of Architecture’s How To: Adaptive Reuse for the Cape and Islands, a guidebook designed to make the process of planning adaptive reuse projects for housing in the Cape and Islands more accessible to a wide range of community stakeholders. The project brings together case studies of successful adaptive reuse efforts, organized by original building type, and situates them within regional context, tools, and resources so that readers can understand not just the “how,” but also the “why” behind reuse in the region.

What made this project especially meaningful was how collaborative it was at every level. Our BSA team, including Wandy Pascoal and Miranda D’Oleo, worked closely with planners from Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket, along with a steering committee and local case study partners. Over time, the guidebook became more than a resource—it grew into a reflection of a network of people across the region who are all, in different ways, working toward the same goal of expanding housing access and strengthening their communities.

In my role, I supported this work through presentations for our steering committee, coordinating meetings and follow-ups to gather case study information, and contributing writing and research on the state of housing in the Cape and Islands. I drafted the Regional Context section and helped develop definitions and “fun facts” for the case studies. I’m especially proud of the visuals and storytelling I created for steering committee meetings, which helped clarify our progress and set a clear tone and rhythm for our work together.

Through this experience, I strengthened my written communication and presentation skills and gained confidence working with professionals across planning and design fields. I learned how to navigate complex conversations more directly, how to engage more personally when building new relationships, and how to think ahead in collaborative settings. Most importantly, I came away with a deeper understanding that building housing is also about building community—and that thoughtful planning has the power to connect people across places and scales.

This summer, I’m excited to return to BSA as a fellow to help launch the guidebook and support new community and research initiatives. Outside of work, I’ll be traveling, volunteering, and crafting, and I’ll return to the University of New Hampshire in the fall for my senior year as I prepare for graduation and what comes next.

Lucy Cameron (she/her)

Public Good Fellow

Lucy Cameron is a sophomore at University of New Hampshire majoring in Community and Environmental Planning. Originally from Newburyport, she is excited to work with Boston Society of Architecture during the spring of 2026, where she looks forward to gaining hands-on experience and learning more about community and urban planning with a focus on creating sustainable and inclusive communities.

I worked as a Public Good Fellow with the Boston Society of Architecture (BSA), in partnership with MASS Design Group, on an initiative exploring nonprofit co-location and shared physical space as a strategy for capacity building. Supported by funding from the Barr Foundation, the project examined whether shared space models can help address structural challenges facing nonprofits, including rising rents, increasing overhead costs, and operational constraints that limit mission impact.

My primary contribution was a case-based market scan of nonprofit shared space models. I developed a structured catalog of case studies spanning Boston, across the United States, and international contexts, and created an analysis of patterns in governance, affordability, and operations. Through this work, I also identified key gaps in existing data—particularly around financial sustainability and transparency—which currently limit how effectively these models can be evaluated and replicated.

What stood out most in this process was seeing how something as simple as shared physical space can carry such complex implications. These models can meaningfully reduce costs and foster collaboration, but they are not automatically equitable or sustainable. Their success depends on intentional design, clear governance structures, and long-term financial planning, as well as better access to reliable data.

Through this experience, I strengthened my research, data organization, and analytical writing skills, especially in working with incomplete or inconsistent information. I also developed a deeper understanding of how spatial design intersects with organizational strategy, and how the built environment can function as a form of social infrastructure that shapes how organizations collaborate and grow.

Moving forward, I am interested in continuing to explore the intersection of design, policy, and social impact, particularly in how physical space can support community resilience alongside my growing interest in urban planning. I hope this work can serve as a foundation for future research and pilot projects that further test and refine shared space models in practice.

Genevieve Watkins (she/her)

Design Education Fellow 

Genevieve is a gap year student from Virginia who plans to major in linguistics at the University of Cambridge. After spending four months living with a host family in Dakar, Senegal through a cultural exchange scholarship program. She is excited to work with Boston Society of Architecture during the spring of 2026, where she looks to further develop her interest in language, culture, and education.

I worked as a Design Education Fellow with the Boston Society of Architecture, where I had two main roles: developing a new architecture-based lesson plan for students in grades 6–8 and supporting existing K–12 programming alongside my mentor, Taylor.

My primary project focused on creating a middle school workshop that bridges a gap between BSA’s elementary and high school offerings, since there were no existing programs targeting that age group. I designed a lesson centered on “third spaces,” where students map how they use different spaces in their daily lives and then propose a new space that fills a need in their community. The goal was to introduce architecture and urban design concepts in an accessible way while also building civic awareness and a sense of personal agency.

To develop the curriculum, I drew on Massachusetts Department of Education and Boston Public Schools guidelines for this age group, along with research into design education programs locally and nationally. I also met with members of BosNOMA's Project Pipeline leadership team to refine and expand my approach.

Alongside this, I gained hands-on experience supporting BSA’s K–12 programming during a busy spring season. I helped implement Architecture and Design Thinking Week for high school students, assisted with kindergarten classroom workshops, and supported setup and volunteer efforts for the KidsBuild! program. It was especially meaningful to see everything come together during the weekend of KidsBuild!, including walking past the model city as it was being built.

Through this work, I strengthened my skills in curriculum design, educational programming, and translating architectural concepts for younger audiences. I also gained a deeper appreciation for how design education can foster creativity, confidence, and civic awareness in students.

In September, I will begin my bachelor’s degree in linguistics at the University of Cambridge. I am very grateful for my time with BSA, which shaped how I think about teaching, learning, and the role of design in education, and I hope to carry these lessons forward into a future career in teaching or academia.