Marquise Williams joins the Design Trust team as the 2018-2019 Equitable Public Space Fellow after earning a B.A. in Sociology from Davidson College. As a Washington D.C. native, he used his undergraduate experience to explore interdisciplinary ways of challenging traditional methods of community and neighborhood revitalization processes. In his time with Charlotte City Center Partners (Charlotte, NC), he researched how historic neighborhoods could utilize visual markers, maps, and guides to compile a Community Asset Map Project of neighborhood amenities such as hospitals and schools, along with local businesses to reclaim cultural heritage.

Through his work, he has developed skills in community building, systems-thinking, organizational change, and cultural preservation. He is interested in urban development from the lens of an intersectional social approach and is passionate enacting change that inspires multifaceted stakeholders to reinvest in neighborhood space. Marquise looks to continue this work with the Design Trust team with his multi-dimensional approach, to advance efforts on projects aimed at using public space to give voices to the voiceless.