wrkSHäp | kiloWatt is the culmination of my education and experience in architecture and owner’s representation. From February - September of 2020, I worked as an owner’s representative for Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. Prior to that, I worked in a similar capacity for the city of Seattle as a Senior Project Manager.

From the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, I earned dual masters degrees in architecture and urban planning with concentrations in community development, social justice, history, and preservation. After graduating with honors, I volunteered in AmeriCorps in West Virginia, contributing my education to the preservation of a historic African American school and restoring wood windows in multiple historic buildings. Since my pre-med undergraduate studies, my mission has been to be of service to neglected and under-resourced communities and I have done just that through a portfolio of projects across the country. I am a  member of the less than 1% of all architects in the United States who are Black women.

In 2021, during furlough from Pratt, I founded kennedy Whiters and Associates, LLC, now wrkSHäp | kiloWatt, LLC. At the time, the goal was to be a home for Black In Historic Preservation, an initiative I launched one month later on February 3, 2021, in honor of Black History Month, to highlight the contributions of people who identify as Black to historic preservation. The intention behind Black in Historic Preservation is that it is “for us, by us,” and thus it is important for it to be an initiative of a Black-led organization. There are so few in historic preservation. And along the lines of ownership of the initiative, because of the history and experience of Black people in the United States, ownership is extremely important to me for the progress of our autonomy and self-determination, and for future generations to envision what is possible for them.