Deanna Van Buren
Deanna Van Buren is one of the national leaders researching, formulating, and advocating for restorative justice centers, a radical transformation of the criminal justice system. She currently sits on the national board of Architects Designs and Planners for Social Responsibility and is a co-founding partner of Designing Justice + Designing Spaces, an architecture, and real estate development firm innovating in the built environment to end mass incarceration.
Deanna’s professional career spans16 years as a design lead in the offices of Eric R. Kuhne & Associates London, The Buchan Group Sydney, Michelle Kauffman Designs and Perkins + Will on urban design, domestic, institutional and education projects in the bay area, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Recent social impact work with her practice includes Restore, a multi-use hub for restorative justice and work force development, The Pop-up Village- a mobile site activation tool and The Reem’s Re-entry Campus. Deanna’s work has been featured at TED Women and the Women in Architecture Awards Honoring Pioneering Professionals. She received her BS in Architecture from the University of Virginia, M. Arch from Columbia University and is an alumnus of the Loeb Fellowship at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design.