Valeria Portillo is a multidisciplinary designer, facilitator, and planner with a background in architectural design. Valeria’s work is centered around creating inclusive public and educational spaces with a focus on community engagement and ensuring that the design process is collaborative. Valeria’s experience spans working across various projects where fostering dialogue and engagement are a key factor towards an impactful design.

Outside of CIVIC, Valeria is exploring Latin American design and the use of natural materials to create environmentally mindful spaces. Valeria holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture degree from the Texas Tech University and a Masters of Architecture degree from the Rhode Island School of Design.

Tim Shea is an urban planner and engagement specialist with a background in policy research and community development. In roles with the City of Providence, Connect the Dots, and now CIVIC, Tim has facilitated tailored planning and community engagement processes on projects ranging from comprehensive planning to mobility and climate resilience initiatives.

Tim is a proud product of Providence Public Schools and the many community-based organizations that shaped his interests in sustainable development and community empowerment. He completed his Masters in Regional and Urban Planning at University College Dublin and earned his BA in Government from Harvard College.

Rebecca (she/her) is a designer and planner at CIVIC, where she works on community engagement and visual communication for planning and design projects. Her work bridges research and practice - ranging from analyzing the impacts of school facilities investments to developing creative, participatory processes for educational and resilience planning. She is a firm believer in the power of design to foster collaboration, imagination, and equity in learning environments and public spaces.

Outside of CIVIC, Rebecca is an active researcher, writer, and editor whose work explores youth participation, landscape-based learning, and the evolving relationships between people, cities, and the environment. She has contributed to research at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, and The Bloomberg Center for Cities, and has written for Out of Frame at MIT. She is also an editor with Testing-Ground, where she led their youth-focused issue, Youthhood.

Rebecca holds a Bachelor’s degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Greenwich (London) and dual Master’s degrees in Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

Manuel is the founder and principal at CIVIC.  He is a licensed architect in Rhode Island, an advocate, and an educator with an interest in expanding the audience and participation in the planning and design of public spaces.

Prior to founding CIVIC, Manuel worked at the School Building Authority (SBA) at the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) where he helped to build a nationally recognized school construction program and launch a ‘once in a lifetime’ State investment in public school facilities.  During his tenure, the SBA oversaw more than a $1B in public school construction in the State.

Manuel received his undergraduate degree from Yale University and earned a Masters of Architecture degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He is an active member of the Providence community, having served on the Board of several local non-profits and currently serving on the Providence Redevelopment Authority Board.

With a background in architectural design, Lexie joins CIVIC in a multifaceted capacity, ranging from operations to educational planning. Lexie is dedicated to cultivating meaningful change through the power of community engagement. Her experience working within schools and with students across New England has energized her passion for purposeful design, witnessing its impact firsthand.

Before joining the team at CIVIC, Lexie served as Deputy Director at DownCity Design, a nonprofit community design organization in Providence, where she helped guide youth-centered design programs that empowered Providence teens to create meaningful improvements to their communities. During her time at DownCity Design, Lexie held many roles as an educator, facilitator, mentor and within operations. Her work at DownCity Design focused on participatory design processes and building pathways for young people to engage in placemaking through hands-on education.

Lexie holds a Master of Architecture and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from Roger Williams University.

As a multidisciplinary designer and planner at CIVIC, Jane (she/they) believes in empowering the wisdom of community voices for the transformation of public space. She is invested in working with frontline communities to develop interactive and actionable participatory research processes. Informed by her experiences living in Toronto, Shanghai, and Providence, she advocates for the benefits of walkable and ecologically resilient urbanism.

Jane holds a Bachelor of Architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design, where she explored future-facing building approaches and led Arch4All, a student organization focused on expanding architectural education and advancing inclusion in spatial design.