Nicole Little

Designer / Associate / Visual Storytelling Specialist (she/her)

Nicole Little, Assoc. AIA, NCARB, LEED Green Associate, is passionate about co-creating sustainable, equitable, and healthy housing through inclusive community engagement practices to create housing that synergizes with the communities we’re serving. She believes this is an essential component for the transformation towards a more sustainable and just built environment. Nicole is equally as passionate about communicating design in fun, accessible, human-centered ways; for example: she created a graphic novel to represent her thesis community outreach research (focused on promoting housing security in a neighborhood facing gentrification). The graphic novel was more easily shared with neighborhood participants, neighborhood advocacy organizations, and local government officials.

Nicole received a dual Master’s degree in Architecture and Urban Planning at the University at Buffalo, with honors, where she specialized in "Ecological Practices" and "Healthy Communities" for Architecture and Urban Planning, respectively. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Architecture with a minor in Environmental Design, also at the University at Buffalo, in 2017. Her research focused on how sustainable design choices can simultaneously serve as a lever for health equity, through community-engaged methods.

Nicole is from the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York - the place which fueled her passion for sustainable design. She is an outdoor adventure enthusiast who loves to be immersed in nature. In the summer, you can find her traveling, rock climbing, hiking, kayaking, or hanging out at the lake with her family. In the winter, she loves to ski, snowboard, ice climb, and ice skate.

LinkedIn

“… architecture should benefit every single human being on this planet. The benefit can’t be abstract; it has to be about the individual. I believe that architecture has to have an impact on a broad level and that’s why it needs to be thought of and conceived by many different people, not just the architects. Everyone should be involved. “

- Tatiana Bilbao

  • / Best Thesis Award, University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning, 2020.

    / Graduate Award of Distinction for Excellence in Research, Scholarship, and Creativity, University at Buffalo, 2019.

    / “Work in Real Time” public competition winner, University at Buffalo Arts Collaboratory, 2020.

  • Illustrator / Transforming Global Health: Interdisciplinary Challenges, Perspectives, and Strategies, Korydon H. Smith and Pavani Kalluri Ram, Springer 2020.

    Illustrator / Local Government Planning for Community Food Systems - Opportunity, innovation and equity in low- and middle-income countries, Samina Raja, Erin Sweeney, Yeeli Mui, Emmanuel Frimpong Boamah, UN FAO 2021

  • Kate Conley, Sarah Vaccaro, Nicole Little; “Faster Approvals Thought Robust Community Engagement”; Affordable Housing Month; SV@Home, May 2023.

  • What makes you excited to come to work?

    Our collaborative team is full of vibrant, passionate, and brilliant people - we each have our own unique skills and expertise, and I find that incredibly energizing and inspiring. Our process is very human-centered. We have amazing clients who are passionate about creating a healthier, more sustainable, and equitable future, starting with housing.

  • What's your happy place?

    Being immersed in nature - atop a mountain summit, in a tree, the ocean, or suspended on a rockface hundreds of feet above the ground. Or connecting with non-human animals (Cows, i.e. grass puppies, are my favorite animal!).

  • If you could go anywhere (real or fictional, at no cost), where would you go?

    I would love to float around the various voids of space momentarily; somewhere with a nice view of a galaxy, some closeups of some planets, and perhaps the Milky Way!

  • What's the best meal you've ever had?

    Pretty much any meal that has potatoes in it. (Not kidding) But the BEST had to be the homecooked meals my host family made while in India. (Many of which DID have potatoes in them!)

  • Coffee or tea?

    Coffee because it feels like home. Tea when I’m feeling adventurous!

  • What's something that made you smile recently?

    My partner and I just booked a climbing trip to Colombia! So excited to visit such a beautiful country.

  • What are some things your bucket list?

    Learning to surf. Visiting the Amazon. Sitting on the edge of Victoria Falls. Travelling to many of the beautiful places and exposing myself to the different cultures of the world.

/ FAVORITE PROJECT

“My first assignment when joining the FORA team was to create graphics to for the County’s RFO for Mitchell Park. Through these graphics, we explained our intent for design, including our community engagement process. WE WON!

Since then, it’s been an incredible, fast, and meaningful project. We’ve engaged community members, I/DD folks and their advocates, and have been met with such overwhelming support. And the design is SO much better because of everyone involved. I can’t wait to see this project through it’s completion. It’s a magical site for a population who could benefit most from the neighborhood’s amenities and strong community.“