Core Team

Lisa Padilla  

Principal & Owner 

Lisa Padilla, Architect, AICP, LEED AP brings over 35 years of experience in urban design, planning and architecture. As a licensed architect and certified planner, Lisa has worked for national practices in Los Angeles and San Francisco on the design and management of large urban, public, commercial, residential and retail projects. She has provided leadership for the design and implementation of ground-breaking transit and streetscape projects in LA since returning in 1992. Lisa has a strong record working with public agencies, elected officials, and local stakeholders on complex, community-based design projects. She served on the National AIA Honor Awards Jury for Regional/Urban Design, the AIA National Steering Committee for Regional/Urban Design, and as a National Peer Reviewer for the General Services Administration. At the state level Lisa has served on the Editorial Board and Urban Design Committee for AIA/CC. Locally, she has been appointed by the cities of LA and Pasadena to serve on advisory and visioning committees.

Michael Nájera

Urban Designer, Graphic Illustrator & Studio Leader

Michael Nájera, ASLA, ENV SP brings experience in urban design and has contributed to a wide range of planning and public benefit projects in Southern California. Since graduating from Cal Poly Pomona where he studied landscape and urban design, Michael has collaborated with Lisa on all of the firm's recent endeavors. His talents cover a broad spectrum that includes technical design drawings, information graphics and hand drawn illustrations. He has led detailed field studies, existing conditions analyses, and urban design concepts on large teams led by Cityworks Design. His experience producing 30% design documents, 3D Sketchup models, illustrative diagrams, perspective sketches and photography make him a natural leader on teams. His work on the Connect US and Rail to River Active Transportation Corridor Projects for Metro merged his interest in helping local communities, cycling, running and creative design.

Esmi Rennick

Community Design & Engagement Leader

Esmi Rennick is a social impact designer and community engagement specialist with ten years of experience. She prioritizes community vision and sustainable solutions that consider the environment and social/economic implications for neighborhoods. As a freelance designer, she has worked on various projects, including urban design plans, graphic design projects, public art proposals, and tactical urbanism campaigns. Esmi currently serves as a founding board member of Earthseed Lab. She joined the Cityworks Design team in 2018, where she continues to merge community design and social engagement to help people improve their neighborhoods.

Nathan Molina

GIS Analyst & Urban Geographer

Nathan Molina graduated from San Diego State University as a GIS Analyst focused on urban geography. He applies his expertise in GIS analysis and digital cartography to different facets of urban planning and design. Since joining the Cityworks Design team, Nathan has brought his talent and knowledge to expanding the firm’s GIS capabilities (e.g., data construction, map production, web mapping) to meet client’s expanding needs.

Collaborators

CHRISTINA TUNG

Tina brings an economics background to her 17 years of practicing architecture and urban design, with a Master's degree in the field from the London School of Economics. After a few years of consulting in the telecommunication engineering industry, she attended Columbia University to earn her Masters of Architecture. Active in academia, Christina enjoys serving on juries at numerous schools and has been leading an Advanced Topics Studio for the Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Design at UCLA.  Tina worked for a number of innovative and design-oriented firms such as Reiser + Umemoto Architecture and Grimshaw Architects. Her recent work in California includes the Sacramento Valley Station Master Plan, Rail Integration Study for the City of West Hollywood, LAX Airport Metro Connector, Los Angeles Union Station Master Plan, and San Francisco’s Pier 70 Design for Development Plan. Her contributions to Cityworks Design projects include Metro’s C Line EIR, Western/Slauson Metro Active Transport Project, and Measure M and 5-Year Quality of Life Assessment. 

DEBORAH MURPHY URBAN DESIGN + PLANNING

www.linkedin.com/in/deborahmurphyurbandesign

Deborah founded Deborah Murphy Urban Design + Planning in 2003 to provide leadership and vision in community consensus building, comprehensive city, active transportation, mobility and open space/parks planning and design and pedestrian safety issues for cities and non-profits in Los Angeles. Deborah has facilitated the successful award of over $450 million in grant funds for active transportation, new parks/open space and sustainable cities projects in the past 15 years. In her efforts to make Los Angeles more walkable, she founded a nationally-recognized pedestrian advocacy organization, Los Angeles Walks in 1998 and is the Chair of the City of Los Angeles Pedestrian Advisory Committee. 

JEANNIE OLANDER DESIGN

Jeannie Olander brings over 15 years of landscape design experience to a number of community-based planning and urban design projects ranging from pedestrian/bike access, streetscape design, urban open space, and pocket parks. With a passion for and extensive knowledge of drought-tolerant and California native plant ecology, Jeannie’s design objective is to connect urban dwellers to their natural, Southern California environment. Jeannie specializes in regenerative, watershed-wise landscape design that conserves and retains water on-site. She has contributed to a number of Cityworks Design projects including Metro’s Rail to Rail Active Transportation Corridor Project.

PATRICIA SMITH

Patricia Smith, RLA, AICP has practiced as a planner, urban designer, and landscape architect for more than 40 years, largely in Southern California. Her recent focus has been on the planning and design of active transportation, including First Last Mile Planning. Her work has focused on the transformation of city streets into more complete and livable places, and the design of transit-oriented districts and urban centers. Patricia has spearheaded master plans, concept plans and construction documents for street and other public realm improvements. Her community-based design includes working with diverse stakeholder groups, public agencies, and elected officials to build consensus towards public and private improvements that benefit the broader community.

YUNSOO KIM DESIGN

www.yunsookimdesign.com

Yunsoo is an award-winning landscape architect, devoted to the creation of beautifully timeless open spaces in the US and abroad. His work spans public and private sectors including transportation, waterfronts, school and corporate campuses, streetscapes, parks, mixed-use projects, and transit-oriented development (TOD). His designs support human well-being through innovation and clear documentation. Yunsoo has extensive experience taking landscape design concepts through construction in order to realize his clients’ vision.

Recent Clients

Public Entities

• LA County Metro

• Metrolink

• City of Glendale

• City of Long Beach

• City of Los Angeles

• City of Pasadena

• City of Redondo Beach

• City of Santa Monica

• City of West Hollywood

• UC Davis

Engineering & Planning Firms

• AECOM

• Deborah Murphy Urban Design + Planning

• Fehr + Peers

• HNTB

• Mott MacDonald

• STV

• Terry A. Hayes Associates Inc.

• WSP