Ellen Garrett

Ellen Garrett is a licensed landscape architect and educator with nearly 15 years of experience, and a focus on methods of co-design, collective action, and environmental resiliency. She founded FWD in 2022, recognizing the need for worker ownership and governance in design practice. She is an established leader in worker justice and labor spaces, having 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 permitting processes, such as with 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 Pratt Institute. She currently teaches first-year undergraduate architecture studio at Carnegie Mellon University.

Ellen is originally from Pittsburgh, Pa., a city rich with labor union history, art, and infrastructure—here, she developed an appreciation for the built environment and community organizing.