Sustainability + Equity in Lighting

Lya S. Osborn is a multidisciplinary designer, writer, literary translator, and the founder of YO Studio, a collaborative workshop in Seattle, WA. Together with her colleagues Edward Bartholomew and Mark Loeffler, she works to make social advocacy resources and ongoing education accessible to the lighting community and beyond at LightJustice.org. Lya also serves as the North America Regional Director for Unolai Lighting Design and has contributed to a broad range of international projects and award-winning design efforts over the past eight years. Lya received a double MFA in Lighting Design and Interior Design from Parsons The New School for Design, where her thesis work challenged the industry norms and incentives which have traditionally defined a designer's role in society, proposing alternate modes of directing design resources to historically underserved or disadvantaged populations. Lya is a member of the International Association of Lighting Designers, the Illuminating Engineering Society, and the International Dark Sky Association, and is Community Friendly Lighting Certified.

Kerem Asfuroglu is the founder of Dark Source, a London-based lighting design studio driven by social and environmental values. Throughout his career, he has won several design awards including Red Dot, PLDC, LAMP & LIT. In 2017, he was awarded with the title of Dark Sky Defender by the IDA for advocating the importance of darkness through design. Some of his environmental lighting projects include the Plas Y Brenin Outdoor Centre, Presteigne Dark Sky Masterplan, Newport Dark Sky Masterplan, Cloughjordan Ecovillage, Clwydian Range & Dee Valley and Dark Sky Planning Guidelines for Cumbria.

Alexandra Gadawski AIA, WELL AP, LEED AP BD+C, LFA, is an Associate and sustainability leader at HMFH Architects, where her knowledge of building performance and healthy material research provides integral support to project teams at all stages of design. Her passion for sustainability and community involvement intersects through her work as the Co-Chair of the Mindful Materials Architecture & Design Engagement Group and as the Co-Chair of the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) Sustainable Lighting Committee. With a background in energy consumption and voluntary building standards, Ms. Gadawski holds a Master of Science in Environmental Design of Buildings from Cardiff University in Wales and a Master of Architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design.

Leela Shanker is a New York-based lighting designer with Borealis Lighting Studio of BR+A. Through the GreenLight Alliance (GLA) - an international network of lighting professionals progressing industry-led standards, research and advocacy for circular design principles - she founded the Lighting Industry LCA Incubator. In collaboration with the IALD Lighting Industry Resource Council, manufacturers and designers from every continent are collaborating toward global harmonization of the lighting industry’s approach to Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Her work with the AIA’s Committee on the Environment (COTE), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Carbon Leadership Forum New York chapter address lighting-specific issues related to Embodied Carbon and LCA.  She holds Masters of Architecture (Hons) and Fine Arts - Lighting Design from Parsons School of Design and Bachelors of Law and Commerce from the University of Sydney.