Trauma-Informed Design Interventions

Christine Cowart is dually certified as a trauma professional by Florida State University and the International Association of Trauma Professionals, and she is a member of the ACEs Connection’s Speakers and Trainers Bureau. Ms. Cowart has built a career in the human services field, with a focus on the criminal legal system and family services policy. Through this work, she developed an in-depth understanding of trauma, its possible effects, and what can be done to change the story.

Recognizing that the physical spaces in which we spend time can impact our perceptions, stress levels, and ability to regulate our emotional responses and behaviors, Ms. Cowart co-founded the Trauma-informed Design Society (TiDS) with Janet E. Roche, MDS, CAPS, and J. Davis Harte, Ph.D., WELL AP, in 2021. The Trauma-informed Design Society is a transdisciplinary team with a focus on turning research into practice then back into research.

Located across the United States, the TiDS merges the co-founders’ extensive experience in human services and interior design with an understanding of trauma science to help organizations implement a trauma-informed approach in their services and create stress-reducing physical spaces. In 2023, Ms. Cowart and Ms. Roche formed Trauma-informed Design Consultants in response to increasing requests for consultation services on architectural and design projects.

Christine Foster practices as a New York State licensed interior design professional and operates eight two three Interior Planning / Design LLC, located in Horseheads, New York. A graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology, she received her BFA in Interior Design with a concentration in Environmental Studies in 1995. While New York State licensure and NCIDQ certification attest to her understanding of public health, safety, and welfare requirements, Ms. Foster’s commitment to design extends well beyond these critical fundamentals.

Heather Kolakowski is a lecturer in food and beverage management at Cornell’s Nolan School of Hotel Administration and Associate Director of the Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures. She teaches several food and beverage courses, including “Restaurant Management” and “Nonprofit Social Enterprise and Food Justice.” Ms. Kolakowski is also the faculty advisor for Hotel Ezra Cornell (HEC), the student-run hospitality showcase conference that allows students the opportunity to put theory into practice each spring while taking on leadership responsibilities. She is the recipient of the 2017 Kaplan Family Distinguished Faculty Fellowship for her dedication to service learning.

Janet Roche is a leader in designing for health and wellness. She received her Master’s in Design for Human Health within the Master’s of Design Studies program at the Boston Architectural College (BAC). Since graduation, Ms. Roche has been an adjunct BAC instructor teaching Environmental Health, Human Conditions + Design, and Biophilia. She mentors BAC students in various work-study programs to examine, among other things, health determinants with the built environment. Ms. Roche is also currently the Chair for the Alumni Council for the BAC.

With a background that includes a B.S. in Social Work from Boston University, a Certificate of Business and Management from Harvard University Extension School, and nearly two decades of owning her own production company, Ms. Roche is now engaging her love of design, helping others, and business by owning her own company, Janet Roche Designs, LLC. Her company believes that it can find real design solutions to the human condition.

In 2019, Ms. Roche launched her own podcast, Inclusive Designers™, and in 2020 she started the Trauma-informed Design Society along with J. Davis Harte, Ph.D., and eventually adding Christine Cowart (2021). Ms. Roche and Ms. Cowart do a variety of presentations on trauma and trauma-informed design for marginalized populations and consult on projects around the world. They also started Trauma-informed Design Consultants, LLC, in 2023.