TEAM
In finding creative ways to tell these stories, Brick & Story provides engagement strategy and implementation, facilitation and convening, creative storytelling, and planning and policy support services to real estate developers, non-profits, urban planning, housing, and economic development agencies, and other organizations whose work is centered in the built environment.
Brick & Story brings over 15 years of experience in urban planning, affordable housing, strategic business development, and engagement and advocacy, as well as expertise in and a passion for the built environment, to this practice.
MEET THE TEAM
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Principal and Founder
LaToya Thomas is the Principal & Founder of Brick & Story, an urban, rural, & regional planning consultancy focused on telling the stories of the built environment and, in turn, using those stories to push for positive action in communities.
In her nearly 20 years of experience working in the built environment, LaToya has developed a particular unique focus in the areas of affordable housing, urban revitalization, and community development. She has a strong commitment to creating opportunities for marginalized populations - particularly those in urban areas. Her career has merged her knowledge of urban planning and policy with her talents as a strategic business developer, marketer, facilitator, and consensus-builder.
LaToya guides strategy and implementation across Brick & Story’s portfolio, leads the firm’s business development efforts, and supports the project teams with outreach, engagement, and facilitation efforts.
Additionally, LaToya serves on the board of Friendship Place and is affiliated with the Aspen Institute as part of the Speaker Corp for Weave: The Social Fabric Project and as a Moderator for the Executive Seminar.
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Consultant Partner
Joni Kaden is a community engagement consultant with over a decade of experience leading projects to ensure that public policies, plans, and programs meaningfully reflect the perspectives and needs of the people they serve. Joni’s expertise spans facilitation, strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, policy writing, community-network building, and technical assistance. She is especially skilled at developing creative tools to promote meaningful and authentic community participation and relationship building.
Joni has managed projects related to mixed-income and affordable housing, equitable transportation, economic and community development, criminal justice, and sustainability. She holds a Masters in City Planning from UC Berkeley.
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Assistant Project Manager
Monishka joined Brick & Story in the summer of 2022 as an intern and became a full-time Assistant Project Manager in July 2024. She supports and leads projects that center community voices in the planning and development process. Monishka has contributed to a wide range of initiatives, including planning studies, zoning updates, small area and comprehensive plans, community-building efforts, climate studies, affordable housing projects and more.
With an academic foundation in sociology, political science, and public administration, Monishka brings an interdisciplinary perspective to her work. She excels at turning complex community feedback and information into clear, actionable insights that inform client strategies and decisions. Deeply committed to fostering inclusive engagement, she is passionate about ensuring that people’s stories and perspectives are meaningfully represented in the decisions that shape their communities.
Monishka holds a Master of Public Administration degree with a Certificate in Sustainable Communities from Binghamton University, where she also earned dual bachelor’s degrees in Sociology and Political Science.
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Consultant Partner
Yerodin Avent is a co-founder of Dofat-Avent Group, a human services consultant group specializing in community outreach and personal development coaching. Yerodin has provided community network building training in affordable and public housing developments in several U.S. cities. Yerodin has over 25 years organizing community projects and creating nonprofit programs.
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Consultant Partner
Eric Hirsch is a Consultant Partner at Brick & Story with over five years of experience in project management and client-facing roles. Since joining Brick & Story in April 2024, Eric has coordinated, facilitated, and staffed dozens of targeted community and stakeholder engagement events to collect informative data from people representing a diversity of racial, cultural, socio-economic, and professional backgrounds. With a professional and educational background in business, Eric has extensive experience conducting data and trend analysis as well as synthesizing data insights and communicating key findings in written reports and decks for client usage. He has worked closely with numerous public sector clients on a wide array of projects focused on urban planning, community development, policy updates, tourism, and environmental initiatives.
Eric holds a B.A. in History from Williams College and is currently in his 2nd year as an MBA Candidate at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business.
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Consultant Partner
Khyati Desai-Seltzer is a Consultant Partner focusing on community development and resident engagement in affordable and mixed-income housing for 12 years. During her career, Khyati has worked on a number of social issues from hunger and homelessness to domestic violence and education. She realized she had a particular passion for housing during her work as the Director of Resident Engagement with a not-for-profit housing developer in the DC area. As a consultant, she works with a team to support owners and property management staff to meaningfully engage residents to create thriving communities.
Khyati has her Masters in Public Administration and Nonprofit Management and her Bachelors in Sociology. She enjoys yoga, meditation, travel, dancing, and exploring new places in her free time.
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Assistant Project Manager
KPeter Manarin joined Brick and Story in September 2024 as a Community Engagement Consultant. During that time, he assisted multiple clients with a wide range of community engagement activities. In April 2025, he joined the team full-time as an Assistant Project Manager. At Brick & Story, he has gained experience coordinating stakeholder engagement events that reached people from diverse racial, cultural, socio-economic, and professional backgrounds across D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.
Peter is passionate about creating inclusive, community-centered processes and brings a thoughtful, strategic approach to every project. His work spans sectors such as urban planning, transportation, and public health, where he supports teams through stakeholder outreach, meeting facilitation, and collaborative problem-solving. He plays an active role in ensuring that community voices are not only heard but meaningfully integrated into planning and decision-making efforts.
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Account & Operations Manager
Carolina Cabezas-Tadesse is the Accounts and Operations Manager at Brick & Story. She has over 15 years experience in the Human Resources field, working at various sized for-profit and non-profit organizations. Carolina received a Bachelors in Economics, with a minor in French Studies from the University of Maryland College Park and a Masters in Interdisciplinary Management from the University of Maryland University College.
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Senior Project Manager
Emily is an urban planner and educator, with a gift for organizing ideas into action. She has the ability to be both strategic and detail oriented; a good listener and facilitator. Complicated, important, and high intensity projects are her best work.
Prior to her consulting work, Emily managed and co-wrote the curriculum update for the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI’s) Urban Plan program. While at ULI headquarters, she trained over 100 teachers, professors, and volunteers. At ULI’s Washington chapter, Emily grew the Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) program from zero to six Panels in one year. In this capacity, she has become a well-respected practitioner in the region for her adept ability to recruit experts, scope projects, guide clients, write meaningful reports, and facilitate across lines of difference.
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Consultant Partner
Molly Jamison Juárez is a Consultant Partner at Brick & Story, a consultancy practice focused on telling the stories of the built environment and, in turn, using those stories to push for positive action in communities.
In her 10 years of community engagement experience, Molly has experience working with a wide array of stakeholders as a liaison and strategic team member, working to bring less-heard voices into public processes. As a strong communicator and critical thinker, Molly offers strategic planning and meaningful facilitation to projects that address challenging issues. She also brings project management experience ranging from her leadership founding and managing a non-profit organization in El Salvador to her collaborative work with residents in affordable housing communities in Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties. Molly is passionate about supporting individuals and organizations to build communities where all people feel a sense of belonging, have opportunities to contribute, and feel empowered to seek their full potential, as individuals and collectively.
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Project Manager
Regan Carver joined the Brick & Story team in 2023 after extensive training, marketing communications, and community outreach experience in the DC community. In particular, during almost ten years at Georgetown University, he conducted countless outreach events throughout the DC-metro region in English and Spanish to meet potential students where they live and work resulting in several thousand students recruited for community ESL programming. Carver has also used his facility in project management and training to help Georgetown University and several government consulting groups to implement complex projects on behalf of the US State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA) and the Center’s for Disease Control (CDC).
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Intern
Vera “V.V.” Janney is an intern with Brick & Story. Since joining the team in May 2023, V.V. has contributed to a range of projects. Her work involves coordinating outreach efforts, supporting community workshops and focus groups, and synthesizing qualitative and quantitative data to inform equitable planning outcomes.
V.V. is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies with a minor in Economics at Barnard College. Her academic and professional work focuses on the relationship between community, economy, and the built environment, with a particular interest in how data-driven engagement can shape inclusive urban policy and design.