FWD is a worker-owned cooperative and certified woman-owned business (WBE), with offices in Brooklyn, New York, and Oakland, California. Our projects prioritize community and environmental health by integrating culture, history, and ecology into designs that reflect a unique sense of place.

We transitioned to a worker-owned cooperative in 2025 to prioritize worker-justice and be the change we wanted to see in the design industry. Worker-ownership embodies our values in shared power and prosperity and provides a critical alternative to traditional business models.

We are proud members of the United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC) and the New York City Network of Worker Cooperatives (NYC NOWC).

The collaborative worker-centered design practice we wanted didn't exist. 

So we made it.


  • Devon Miller’s career in landscape architecture began in 2007 and spans project typologies and scales, including community stewardship initiatives with the City of Providence Parks Department; streetscape implementation on San Francisco’s Treasure Island -- a 183-acre, $1.2B sustainable waterfront development project; native garden, urban farming and playscape design at affordable housing communities in Northern California; and roofscape infrastructure for an innovation space in San Francisco.

    Her built projects have been recognized by the Founding Project Climate Positive Development Program, the Clinton Climate Initiative, AIA Central States Design, and AIA Kansas City Design Excellence Awards. 

    She presented at the 2025 Biennale Architettura in Venice, Italy on the international labor movement with The Architecture Lobby, and led FWD’s winning submission in the International Tempelhofer Feld Ideas Competition in Berlin, Germany. Her collaborations have been published in Archinect, Landezine, World Landscape Architecture and The Architect’s Newspaper.

    Professional Experience

    TERREMOTO, San Francisco, CA

    re:public, San Francisco, CA

    Groundworks Office, Berkeley, CA

    Studio M Merge, Oakland, CA

    Providence Parks Department, Providence, RI

    Education

    Master of Landscape Architecture Rhode Island School of Design                                                                                         

    Bachelor of Arts, Studio Art and Art History (dual degrees) Wellesley College , Magna cum laude

    Teaching

    Boston Architectural College

    Rhode Island School of Design

    Professional Affiliations

    American Society of Landscape Architects

    The Architecture Lobby

    SPUR (San Francisco Bay Area Planning & Urban Research Association)

Devon Miller, PLA

Director [ Oakland, CA ]

  • Ellen Garrett (she/her) founded FWD in 2022, recognizing the need for worker ownership and governance in design practice. As a licensed landscape architect and educator with nearly 15 years of experience, Ellen’s work centers around methods of codesign, collective action, environmental resiliency, and shared ownership. She is an established leader in worker justice and labor spaces, having founded LAWJ - Landscape Architectural Workers for Justice and presented on the topic of worker-owned cooperatives at the ASLA National Convention, LA Bash, and the 2025 Venice Biennale. 

    Ellen’s past work includes large adaptive reuse projects such as Section 3 of the High Line, as well as intimate cultural landscapes like the John and Alice Coltrane Home and Nina Simone House. She has a strong technical grounding in construction and New York City permitting processes, such as NYC landmarks and the Department of City Planning. 

    Her academic experience includes professorships at Northeastern University, City College of New York, Rhode Island School of Design, and currently at Pratt Institute, as part of the newly established Master of Landscape Architecture program. She teaches Core Studio in the second year, focusing on the topics of community co-design and food sovereignty, as well as Professional Practice I, which explores alternative methods of practice and labor justice. 

    Ellen is originally from Pittsburgh, PA, a Rust Belt town rich with labor union history, art, and infrastructure- here, she developed an appreciation for the built environment and community organizing.

    Professional Experience

    Field Operations, New York, NY

    Snøhetta, New York, NY

    Nelson Byrd Woltz, New York, NY

    Education

    Harvard Graduate School of Design, MLA

    Carnegie Mellon University, BArch

    Professional Affiliations

    LAWJ-Landscape Architectural Workers for Justice, Founder

    American Society of Landscape Architects

    The Architecture Lobby

    Urban Design Forum

    Featured Publications

    Defining Design in a Post-Capitalist Landscape, Arts for the Working Class, 2025 

    Designing a Post-Capitalist Practice, Center for Complexity, 2022 

    “A Designed Response to Heritage Uplifts the Spiritual Legacy of John and Alice Coltrane.” Savingplaces.org, 2021

    “The Polar Microcosm,” Princeton University Architectural Journal, 2017

Ellen Garrett, PLA

Director [ Brooklyn, NY ]

  • Margaret Jankowsky (she/her) is the Managing Director at FWD Studio based in Brooklyn, NY. 


    Margaret has nearly 20 years of experience in master planning, public open space design, and project management, having spent her early career in leadership roles at Field Operations and Trahan Architects. Margaret works in both rural and highly urban contexts, from West Feliciana Parish in Louisiana to NYC, Seattle, Miami and New Orleans. 


    She has managed the design of numerous complex projects with multiheaded client teams, large consultant groups, and varied community stakeholders - gently yet persistently guiding client and stakeholder groups toward establishing shared goals, understanding design iterations, building consensus, and ultimately to project completion.


    Margaret grew up in rural Western Colorado and attended school in Philadelphia, holding a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture and a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. She was an Urban Design Forum Forefront Fellow in 2018.


    Professional Experience

    Trahan Architects, New York, NY

    Field Operations, New York, NY

    Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Brooklyn, NY

    Miranda Brooks Landscape Design, New York, NY

    Patrik Davis Associates, Montrose, CO

    Education

    University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

    Weitzman School of Design

    Master of Landscape Architecture


    University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

    College of Arts and Sciences

    Bachelor of Arts


    Professional Affiliations

    Urban Design Forum

Margaret Jankowsky

Director [ Brooklyn, NY ]