April is a leading voice in the advancement of alternative, climate-smart & healthy building methods and has been a pioneer in the southeast. She is an Architect, small business owner, Executive Director, and Adjunct Professor; April has been a keynote speaker and presenter to many organizations and universities over the past decade.

April has been a Charleston County resident since 2004 and has devoted her career to the advancement of sustainable architecture and affordable housing. After advancing her career at several Charleston architecture firms, in 2011 she took a leap of faith and founded Root Down Designs, a women-led architecture firm dedicated to sustainable architecture and affordable housing in the south where she serves as the Principal Architect. April pioneered several carbon-negative and alternative housing prototypes in Charleston, such as a Rammed-Earth home and Compressed Earth Blocks. She has worked with multiple building jurisdictions in helping clients obtain building permits for alternative materials and healthy housing. Working with financially-challenged clients and creating affordable building options has been a strong tenant of the Root Down team.

As a way to educate about these healthy and natural building materials, she began teaching building workshops with a ‘community-building’ ethos embedded. April has led over 4 dozen community-building workshops and courses across the southeast, including educational institutions such as Greenville Technical College, The Governor’s School of Science & Math, and the American College of Building Arts. Her passion for sustainable architecture and community-building workshops was noticed by The American College of the Building Arts, and she began serving as the Professor of Sustainable Materials in 2018.

www.rootdowndesigns.com

Tracy is the Executive Director of the Black Belt Justice Center and the Co-Alchemist of the Acres of Ancestry Initiative/Black Agrarian Fund, a multidisciplinary, cooperative ecosystem rooted in Black ecocultural traditions and textile arts to regenerate custodial landownership, ecological stewardship, and food and fiber economies in the rural South. As a great-great granddaughter of sharecroppers turned independent farmers in eastern North Carolina, Tracy views her work as a continuation of her ancestors’ value paradigm rooted in collective land tenure, spirit-culture reclamation, and ecological harmony. Decades of farmer-led organizing combined with Tracy’s leadership over the last three years through the Black Farmers’ Appeal: Cancel Pigford Debt Campaign advanced reparative land justice for Black farmers through various federal legislations and agricultural policies including a USDA foreclosure moratorium, debt cancellation, and direct payments for past discrimination (these policy recommendations became pillars in President Biden’s 100-day action plan). Tracy has elevated both intracommunity and national discourses regarding reparative justice through participation in numerous racial and land justice convenings including the “Whiteness As Property: A Twenty-Year Appraisal” Critical Race Studies Symposium at UCLA School of Law. Tracy is energized by the urgent call to (re)build a decolonized society governed by the values of racial equity, indigenous knowledges, spiritual journeying, and cooperative economy. She believes the Southern Black Rural Imagination is regenerative when boundless and interdependent. To learn more about our liberatory ecosystem, visit www.acresofancestry.org.

Gina has been an interior designer and architectural draftsman in Charleston, SC for over 10 years. She joined Root Down Designs in 2018 to re-introduce alternative building materials + advocate for affordable healthy housing. 

Over the past 5 years, Gina has been studying scientific research and journals on redlist chemicals, VOCs, and other toxic materials commonly found in North American homes. Her focus was to understand how these compounds interact with our hot and humid Southeastern climate, leading to poor indoor air quality. With this information as a driving force, her designs are geared towards providing materials and fixtures that promote healthier living and encourage a better world through ethical manufacturing. In 2023, she earned a certificate from Parsons School of Design for ‘Healthier Materials and Sustainable Building.

In her free time, Gina makes sentimental keepsakes and memorial jewelry with human hair. Following patterns from the mid-1800s, she taught herself the ancient technique of weaving strands of hair into intricate and durable jewelry to keep close to the heart.  Check out her work!   

Sam is a licensed Architect and the Founder/Owner of Green's Design & Supply in Chattanooga, TN. Sam is an expert and a leading voice on healthy, non-toxic, sustainable building materials. Fun Fact: Sam and April are old college buddies……….Go Hokies! Visit www.greens.build

Tim Callahan is a former naval architect and general contractor. He is now in his fifth decade of design-build work, with extensive experience in guitar-making, timber framing, custom cabinetry, custom blue-water sailboats and residential construction. Since 1995, his work has been focused on the creation of healthy & energy-efficient homes. In an effort to develop a model for a low-carbon and non-toxic living environment, Tim led the design team for the Nauhaus Prototype in 2009; this was the first of 10 permitted hemp-lime projects which he has designed, ranging in size from 1200-9600 square feet. In 2005, Tim authored the book, ‘Building Green: A Complete Guide to Alternative Building Methods.” Tim lives in Asheville, NC, where he enjoys the outdoors and making music with his friends. Nauhaus Prototype

Connect with Tim! Donate $300 to RDBC for a 1-hour Zoom/Call Consultation on Hempcrete!

Chaze Williams serves as the Executive Director for the South Carolina Hemp Association, which provides outreach and educational resources and trainings. Chaz is working closely with SC farmers to help inform them of the many uses of industrial hemp in SC. Chaze started The Hemp District in 2019 with a mission to better educate his community about hemp and hemp products. Chaze is in the process of building one of the first industrial hemp product supply stores in the U.S. He has also worked on the first hempcrete juice bars in the U.S and is excited to share his experience and passion with others. Chaze lives in Branchville, SC. www.schempassociation.org

Zauditu is in her 3rd year of studying carpentry at the American College of Building Arts in Charleston. She is originally from Brooklyn NY and the bay area of Northern California. She is a woman of a certain age, passionate about sustainable building, building materials and preservation. www.acba.edu

Belvin is a writer, activist, and organizer. He co-founded the Charleston Climate Coalition to help build the climate liberation movement in the Lowcountry and currently serves as its co-director. As CCC co-director and Surge: The Lowcountry Climate Magazine co-Editor-in-Chief, he uses his creative writing background to bring creativity, vision, and joy to local climate work. He grew up on Isle of Palms and looks forward to the day when he no longer fears for the beach’s future. www.charlestonclimatecoalition.com

Ken is an adjunct professor at the American College of the Building Arts, where he earned his bachelor’s in applied science with an emphasis on timber framing. He is the owner of Arcadia Acres LLC sustainable design and custom sawmill, kiln drying, CNC operation, He is also a United States Marine Corps veteran. Hobbies include sustainable homestead animal husbandry and permaculture.

Tom is the owner of Queen and Comb! They provide raw honey from their hives, nucleus colonies, honeybee education and consultation in Charleston, SC

Currently residing in the Golden Corner of South Carolina, James was an intern at the Owl Swamp Project from 2013-2015. In 2014 he worked with community residences and a local artist to help organize several public cob installations around Greenville. Currently he serves on the Board for Oconee Cultivation Project and works part-time for another local nonprofit, the Foothills Farmstead. His passion for sustainable affordable housing comes from personal struggles and a desire to see truly affordable housing built with sustainable materials.

This video outlines the work we do at the Farmstead, We plan to completely disassemble this Schoolhouse this month and get it moved into storage: https://fb.watch/mQc2ySjG2H/

Johanna was born in 1931 in the Howard Heights neighborhood of North Charleston. Her life has been dedicated to the service of others. She spent many years leading the efforts at the Jenkins Home for Children, serves as an Emeritus non-profit board member for ACBA, has been in integral part of the work of the Gullah Society, and was awarded the 2018 Charleston Branch NACCP Lifetime Achievement Award by former US Attorney General Eric Holder. At the age of 91, Johanna remains a vibrant, active, and passionate community member and is a part of the retelling of 91 years of Charleston history. She is passionate about affordable and equitable housing and remains steadfast in her work and is not slowing down one bit!

BLACK BELT JUSTICE CENTER

ACRES OF ANCESTRY

SC HEMP ASSOCIATION

T. CALLAHAN DESIGNS

BRIGHTMA FARMS

FRESH FUTURE FARMS

ACBA

CHS FAB LAB

CFLT

BFCA