MaraLee Olson, RLA

Shaping the built environment for nearly a decade, MaraLee has experience in land planning, urban design, community design, site design, graphic design, and project management. In her 6 years to date with ZDA, MaraLee brings the communication, project management, and planning skills she developed in community design to the realm of private practice. When working, her goal is to balance your input with sound technologic and scientific principals, and artistic expression--and she is adamantly committed to the hands-on, people oriented, and site-specific design approach of ZDA.

Prior to joining ZDA, MaraLee served four years as Project Manager for the Hamer Center for Community Design Assistance at Pennsylvania State University. Alongside the Center's inaugural Director, MaraLee assisted in defining the Center's mission and goals, and lead a number of service learning, community design, planning, and research projects. Projects with scales ranging from neighborhood revitalization to inter-state greenway systems honed MaraLee's ability to think across multiple scales and engage multiple constituents. She learned the delicate balance between social, cultural, environmental, and economic values as key components to any successful project.

MaraLee is published in several local and national articles and book essays covering topics in small office computer technology, design, land use regulation, community participation, and community design processes. She has also been an invited speaker and panelist on topics including design and community processes. Furthering her education and interest in green infrastructure, design, and community health, MaraLee is in the process of becoming a LEED-AP®.

Her attention to detail, ability to see the 'big picture', and stubbornness when it comes to deadlines and bottm-lines, enables MaraLee to manage many diverse design projects in a small office. She is always concerned with clear communication and balancing expectations. Clients and staff are confident that a request left in MaraLee's hands will be followed-through, and that design projects will be effective and creative.

When asked what she likes best about her work, MaraLee does not hesitate when she says, "I love creating one-of-a-kind spaces out of the ordinary, and connecting people to the world around them, one outdoor space at a time."