Paul Bauknight leads the Center.

Trained as an architect, he is an urban designer, design activist, and community leader. He is passionately committed to working at the intersection of social, cultural, economic, and spatial systems to create solutions that are equitable, steeped in place, and benefit each community. He founded the Urban Design Lab and has held leadership positions with the Minneapolis Parks Foundation, Urban Homeworks, A MN Without Poverty, and The African American Men Project.

• Former Project Implementation Director for the Minneapolis Parks Foundation

• Co-chair for the Equity in Place committee of Reimagining the Civic Commons, a national learning network of cities using civic assets as platforms for social and economic change

• Inaugural Civic Scholar in Residence at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design for the 2021-23 school years, focusing on the intersection of physical and social/political systems

• Board member, Friends of the Mississippi River

• Board member, The Givens Foundation