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Mission

Margaret Sullivan Studio collaborates with forward-thinking civic and cultural organizations. We envision, program, and design social impact, social justice, and educational institutions for the future.

We create conditions for communities to flourish.

Margaret Sullivan Studio uses design to empower public libraries and other mission-driven institutions to realize their fullest potential. We create experiences and advance places that contribute to community improvement and individual enlightenment.

Our country’s public spaces and institutions can strengthen communities and enable social cohesion with intentional design and innovation. Our strategies foster cultural identity and community gathering, broadening experiences and learning for all!

We help clients envision their preferred future.

Our Studio provides strategic planning, master facilities planning, architecture and interior design, organizational development, and community engagement services. 

We continually evolve our design process and grow our understanding so that we are able to transform visions into tangible realities. Our ideas help move the public library industry towards a community-centered model through the utilization of participatory, service, and human-centered design.  Our work empowers clients to catalyze their communities! 

We are national experts.

Our Studio connects innovators, futurists, and contemporary library service ideas to librarians and community leaders, and we continue to revolutionize the industry by introducing impact-driven techniques to public space and experience design. We devise new methodologies and design strategies to reflect the Aspen Institute’s “People, Places and Platforms” and American Library Association’s “Libraries Transform” approach. 

Since the firm’s establishment in 2014, Margaret Sullivan Studio has worked with over forty public library systems to define their 21st century library. These organizations include New York Public Library, Richland (SC) Library, D.C. Public Library, Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, New Haven Free Public Library, Salt Lake City Public Library, and Memphis Public Library. 

We uphold our clients’ values.

Our team ensures the realization of strategic goals by applying an iterative design process and collaborating with experts. We serve as liaison, steward, translator, and integrator to uphold our clients’ goals. We facilitate communication among multi-disciplinary practitioners to maintain a culture of inquiry for powerful results. 

Team
Margaret Sullivan
Florentina Alaj
Jade Esplin
Leighton Skervin
Liz Opper
Loren Landrum
Nicola Cortese
Samantha Mayo
Sampriti Sheth
Shuyu Fang
Tina Keon
Margaret Sullivan,

Principal
Margaret Sullivan is a national thought leader in assisting public libraries envision their preferred future. Margaret Sullivan Studio, an award-winning strategy and design firm focused on collaborating with innovative library systems was founded in 2014. Since, MSS has become the industry leader in re-envisioning the 21st century library for diverse and complex contemporary communities, with a focus on social justice and racial equity. Margaret has assisted over forty public library systems, including New York Public Library, DC Public Library, Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, Salt Lake City Public Library, Public Library, Chicago Public Library, Los Angeles Public Library, and San Francisco Public Library define their version of what a 21st century library can be through strategic planning, facilities master planning, visioning, programming, and interior design. Margaret has been featured as one of Interior Design Magazine’s “20 Inspiring Female Designers to Know,” and speaks regularly at national conferences, conducting inspirational workshops for libraries nationwide. Margaret Sullivan Studio is celebrating ten years of transforming public library design!

As the pioneer of a human-centered methodology that roots public library design in community and culture, MSS utilizes placemaking techniques to design intentionally adaptable strategies that create flexible conditions for facilities to respond in real time to community needs. Revolutionizing the industry, Margaret Sullivan Studio connects innovators, futurists, and relevant ideas to librarians and community leaders to design for an inclusive and equitable experience, and evoke feelings of joy, belonging, and pride.
 margaret@margaretsullivanllc.com
Florentina Alaj,

Designer
Florentina is an accomplished interior designer at Margaret Sullivan Studio. At Margaret Sullivan Studio, Florentina has demonstrated her skills on interior design and programming projects, as well as synthesizing informative data from multiple nation-wide community engagements. Her passion for connecting communities, enhancing intergenerational relationships, and making all groups of individuals feel safe and heard is a strong driving force behind her designs. Florentina’s personal mission is to produce work that elicits joy and satisfaction from all community members, ensuring they leave with a sense of eagerness to return. She is committed to creating beautiful and inspiring libraries that foster community interaction and growth. florentina@margaretsullivanllc.com
Jade Esplin,

Director of Strategy
Jade is the Director of Strategy at Margaret Sullivan Studio, where she leads initiatives in strategy, planning, and design to create spaces that foster community and connection. With over a decade in the architecture and design industry, she is a designer and strategist driven by the belief that thoughtfully designed environments can enrich lives and bring people together. Jade has partnered with organizations across diverse sectors—including libraries, workplaces, and educational spaces—to navigate change and envision vibrant, inclusive spaces for the future. Her approach centers on community needs, guiding spatial transformations from concept to completion using research, human-centered design, and creative facilitation to create solutions that foster belonging and inspire connection. jade@margaretsullivanllc.com
Leighton Skervin,

Bookkeeper
Leighton has worked in a variety of settings, starting with non-profits where they managed donations and grants. They then moved to a law firm, handling client accounts and billing. Most recently, they worked at a consulting firm, where they streamlined financial processes and managed budgets. leighton@margaretsullivanllc.com
Liz Opper,

Senior Designer
Liz Opper, Senior Designer and Project Manager at MSS has wide-ranging experience in urban development, visioning, and placemaking. She has over 10 years of experience working as an Architect and Urban Designer. Her experience in both the public and private sectors gives her a unique perspective to best serve clients and communities. She is passionate about helping cities envision their best future while utilizing smart growth principles. Her work in public sector has advanced policies to create affordable housing and community facilities through private development, while understanding community needs through public engagement. Liz has served on many Technical Advisory Committees and stakeholder groups to ensure consistency with existing planning documents and the best interests of the public. liz@margaretsullivanllc.com
Loren Landrum,

Design Strategist
Loren Landrum is a designer, with a primary focus on the intricate realm of human service design. During her tenure with the studio, Loren has been pivotal as a service designer, leading initiatives from strategic planning to community engagement projects. Her contributions have been instrumental in developing holistic, impactful solutions, rooted in meaningful engagement with the communities she serves. loren@margaretsullivanllc.com
Nicola Cortese,

Senior Designer
Nicola Cortese, a Senior Designer at MSS, has experience in several aspects of both private and public projects, across a variety of roles ranging from Designer and Architect to Project Manager. Her interest lies in design and architecture’s potential to function more broadly as an interdisciplinary tool that can facilitate research and produce shared knowledge for communities. Her design process explores this approach by questioning the intersection of spatial design practices and other means of communication such as publishing, writing and curating. With her clients and the community at the forefront, she is a dedicated collaborator whose success is driven by clear communication, a results-oriented approach and passion for great design. nicola@margaretsullivanllc.com
Samantha Mayo,

Designer
Samantha Mayo, a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology’s School of Art and Design, is an interior designer at MSS. Since joining the Studio, she has served as project manager on a variety of work including strategic plans, master facilities plans, interior design, and programming projects. Samantha creates meaningful and fun materials for community engagement workshops she facilitates across the country, and skillfully synthesizes outcomes into consumable and informative results. Her design approach leads to intuitive, purposefully-designed, human-centered solutions, using an iterative process rooted in community involvement. samantha@margaretsullivanllc.com
Sampriti Sheth,

Designer and Urban Strategist
Sampriti is an architectural designer and urban strategist who is passionate about using design to empower communities and create equitable public spaces. Sampriti’s background in urban design allows her to create inclusive and safe spaces for everyone. Using participatory and human-centered design tools Sampriti focuses on collaborating with communities and stakeholders to foster innovative thinking and proficiently analyzes the opportunities. Since joining the studio Sampriti’s experience has helped manage projects while she serves as a designer for community projects and as an urban strategist for strategic and facilities master plans. sampriti@margaretsullivanllc.com
Shuyu Fang,

Design Strategist
Shuyu Fang is a design strategist, graduating from School of Visual Arts with a Master of Design for Social Innovation. Shuyu aims to amplify the voices of marginalized communities and address their needs through systemic and human-centered design interventions that drive collective action. In her time with the Studio she serves as strategic designer for a variety of project types including community engagement, strategic planning and visual communication. Shuyu is skilled in synthesizing outcomes into informative and visual-provoking communication design. shuyu@margaretsullivanllc.com
Tina Keon,

Studio Manager
Tina Keon is a researcher and arts administrator, and the Studio Manager at Margaret Sullivan Studio. With a background in museum studies and contemporary art theory, Tina is passionate about how visual culture and systems of knowledge shape our environment and experiences. tina@margaretsullivanllc.com
Collaborators

We partner with national leaders and experts to collaborate and create customized processes and solutions to meet each project's goals.

Arch Nexus

Architecture Salt Lake City, UT archnexus.com

Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

Architecture San Francisco, CA bcj.com

Boudreaux

Architecture Columbia, SC https://www.boudreauxgroup.com/

Cannon Design

Architecture New York, NY cannondesign.com

HR&A

Economic Development New York, NY https://www.hraadvisors.com/

McMillan Pazdan Smith

Architecture Greenville, SC archnexus.com

Mitchell Giurgola

Architecture New York, NY mitchellgiurgola.com

Simpson Coulter Studio

Architecture Las Vegas, NV simpsoncoulter.com

WGM Architects

Architecture Annapolis, MD wgm-arch.com

Einwiller Kuehl

Landscape Architecture Oakland, CA einwillerkuehl.com

Danielle Milam

Urban Planner, Community Developer, Organizational Innovator Las Vegas, NV

Karp Strategies

Community Planning, Urban Planning, Strategy Consulting New York, NY https://www.karpstrategies.com/

LGA Architecture

Architecture Las Vegas, NV https://lgaarchitecture.com/

KME Architects

Architecture Las Vegas, NV https://www.kmearchitects.com/

Maureen Sullivan

Library Organization Development Consultant East Haddam, CT

Patrick Quattlebaum

Service Design & Strategy Atlanta, GA thisisharmonic.com

PGAL Architecture

Architecture Houston, TX https://www.pgal.com/about-pgal/locations

Roberta Phillips

Chief Executive Officer, Prince George's County Memorial Library District Prince George's County, Maryland