Design Minded: A Shared Vision for an Affordable Downtown Austin Co-presented with Design Austin

Rideshare or public transportation is highly encouraged. • For accommodation requests, please contact accessibility@thecontemporaryaustin.org. About the panelists Davon Barbour is President & CEO of the Downtown Austin Alliance, with expertise in public/private partnerships, business attraction, retail revitalization, and community development. He has led urban revitalization efforts across the country, including in Baltimore, Miami, Orlando, Los Angeles, and most recently New Orleans, where he headed the Downtown Development District and was twice named one of the city’s Top 500 Business Leaders.

Since arriving in Austin, he has been named one of the Austin American-Statesman’s “26 Austinites to Watch in 2026” and to the Austin Business Journal’s “Texas 100.” His career includes overseeing more than $150M in COVID-19 economic recovery programs for Los Angeles County and developing the master plan for a $2 billion mixed-use redevelopment around Johns Hopkins Hospital in his hometown of Baltimore. He serves on the Board of Trustees of ICSC and is a past Vice Chair of the International Downtown Association.

Sabrina Butler is the Chief Real Estate Development Officer at Foundation Communities in Austin, Texas. Sabrina oversees real estate development from site selection through construction completion, as well as FC's asset management and sustainability teams. With a background in underwriting and asset management, Sabrina brings a particular strength in securing both public and conventional financing for FC’s multi-family housing pipeline, and a life-cycle lens to portfolio planning.

Sabrina has degrees in urban planning from UC Berkeley and UNC Chapel-Hill. Lisa Storer is the Senior Vice President of Architecture and Design at Austin Transit Partnership, leading the integration of architecture, urban design, high-performance infrastructure, landscape architecture, and public art for Austin Light Rail and related transit investments. She champions design excellence in complex, multidisciplinary infrastructure projects that enhance mobility, strengthen communities, and shape the public realm.

With over twenty years of experience, Lisa has built a career at the intersection of infrastructure, ecology, and civic transformation. Prior to joining Austin Transit Partnership, she worked with the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department on the Waterloo Greenway program, helping advance the transformation of downtown Austin through new parks, trails, and the urban ecology of a restored Waller Creek. Earlier in her career, she was part of the team at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center that developed the SITES Rating System for sustainable land design and development, now administered internationally by GBCI.

She currently serves as the Chair of the Location, Transportation, and Planning Technical Advisory Group (LP TAG) for LEED, on the Board of Directors of AIA Austin and the US Green Building Council’s Texas Chapter, and the Organizing Committee for the Austin Green Awards. Lawrence W. Speck is Senior Design Principal for architectural firm Page, with offices in 18 cities across the U.S.

He is a well-known design educator, having been a faculty member at M.I.T, University of Western Australia, and University of Texas at Austin for many years. He served as Dean of the School of Architecture at University of Texas at Austin 1992-2001. Speck has helped lead six major master planning projects for Austin, including master plans for the Colorado River downtown, the Texas State Capital, and the new Dell Medical School.

He has been lead architect for two major parks in Houston—Discovery Green and Buffalo Bayou Park. In addition to many urban commercial buildings, Speck has been lead designer for Austin Bergstrom International Airport Terminal, Austin Convention Center, and academic buildings on six university campuses. His work has been widely published and has won over 120 awards—30+ from the AIA.

He has received over 40 educator awards, including the AIA/ACSA Topaz Medallion. About Design Minded Design Minded is an event series created by Design Austin in partnership with The Contemporary Austin. Showcasing the talented work of architects, designers, and artists in Austin and beyond, join us for inspiring film screenings and thought-provoking talks with other design-minded creatives.

About Design Austin Design Austin illuminates the impact of design for all. They explore, imagine, and shape the future. Design Austin programming builds awareness of how design shapes the world, connects diverse design communities, and sparks conversation about design in all its forms.

They provide experiences, exhibitions, and educational programs that put design in the context of arts, culture, science, and technology; accessible, welcoming, and inspiring spaces for visitors of all ages and abilities; and playful and serious explorations of the impact of design at every scale and field.