Meet the Living Building Equity Champions

The Living Building Equity Champions (LBECs) are students charged with fully engaging in the development and realization of the Equity Petal of The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design at Georgia Tech.

Angelica Acevedo 

Hometown: Orlando, Fla.
Class: First-Year
Major: Environmental Engineering

Angelica Acevedo is a first-year environmental engineering major from Orlando, Florida. With her degree, she hopes to focus on water filtration in third-world countries. This summer, Acevedo participated in OMED’s Challenge program and currently holds a position as a student assistant for the Center of Student Diversity and Inclusion. As a bilingual Puerto Rican, she is also involved in FresHRT where she helps to recruit more Hispanics to come to Tech. 

 

Chaselyn Baca 

Hometown: Akron, N.Y.
Class: Third-Year
Major: Public Policy and Computer Science

Chaselyn Baca is a third-year public policy and computer science student from Akron, N.Y. She is extremely passionate about politics and sustainability. Baca spent the past summer interning for the Mayor of New York City and is currently working for Stacey Abrams. She plans to attend law school and practice environmental or civil rights law. When she’s not attending class, Baca can usually be found rock climbing or drinking tea with a good book.  

John Butler III 

Hometown: Phoenix City, Ala.
Class: Second-Year
Major: Civil Engineering

John Butler III is a second-year civil engineering major with a minor in sustainable cities. He is involved in various student organizations, including NSBE, AASU, Edge, and Team Leaders, and he serves as president of the Lambda Sigma Honor Society. Since coming to Georgia Tech, Butler has always found himself drawn to the mission, objectives, and atmosphere of the Serve-Learn-Sustain initiative. Thus, his love for implementing sustainable practices throughout campus led him to become a Living Building Equity Champion. Because of his background, the sustainability component of equity—especially regarding the Living Building—intrigues him due to its social complexity and aspects. But, then again, Butler loves challenges! 

Helen Chang 

Hometown: Taiwan
Class: Third-Year
Major: Mechanical Engineering

Helen (Hailun) Chang is a third-year transferred mechanical engineering student. Environmental sustainability has always been her interest, so she would like to contribute to the community as much as possible. Chang's work at the Computation and Advancement of Sustainable Systems Lab emphasizes the importance of social sustainability and equity. Being a Living Building Equity Champion, she is looking forward to promoting the community's awareness of social and environmental impacts of the Living Building.

Simon Clopton 

Hometown: Palo Alto, Calif. / Chicxulub Puerto, Yucatan, Mexico
Class: Master's
Major: Building Construction and Facility Management

Simon Clopton spent the last three years managing project development in Mexico for Allotrope Partners, a clean energy investment firm based in the San Francisco area. He has worked in environmental conservation and community development for more than 10 years, including the creation and management of a nature reserve and research center in southeastern Mexico. Clopton lived in Mexico from 2003-2013 where he served as director of an NGO dedicated to ecosystem restoration and biodiversity preservation on the Yucatan Peninsula. He received his bachelor’s degree from UC San Diego and is currently pursuing a master's degree in building construction and facility management from Georgia Tech. 

Tamera Flowers 

Hometown: Arnoldsville, Ga.
Class: Fourth-Year
Major: Civil Engineering

Tamera Flowers is a fourth-year civil engineering student with a structural concentration. She earned her  associate degree in business administration during spring 2016. Flowers will graduate in spring 2019 with her bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, and she is planning to pursue her master’s degree. She believes being a part of the solution is better than merely understanding the problem. In her spare time, Flowers enjoys studying cultures, playing the piano, and helping her community. 

Nataly Granados

Hometown: Houston, TX
Class: Second-Year
Major: Industrial Engineering

Nataly Granados is a second-year industrial engineering student at Georgia Tech. One of her passions is community service, and she is involved with many service organizations on campus, including Enchanted Encounters and Alternative Service Breaks. Granados believes it is important to get people involved in sustainability efforts through accessible and affordable ways.

Janay Jones

Hometown: Douglasville, Ga.
Class: Second-Year
Major: Environmental Engineering

Janay Jones is an environmental engineering student with a minor in international affairs. She works in the Women's Resource Center, and she also serves as a Georgia Tech Diversity Ambassador. Therefore, if you want to chat with Jones, you can find her in the Flag Building at nearly any point in the day! Her largest aspiration in life is to solve the world’s water crisis because water is essential to life. 

Lucy Kates

Hometown: Cheltenham, Pa.
Class: Second-Year
Major: Industrial Design 

Lucy Kates is a second-year industrial design student at Georgia Tech. She enjoys making movies, listening to good music, and hanging out with friends in her free time. Kates is a part of Wish 4 Wash, a group in Engineers Without Borders, and she is also a team leader for the industrial design GT 1000 section. Sustainable design is very important to her because Kates loves the environment and nature.  

Amber Roberts 

Hometown: Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Class: Master's
Major: MBA

As an MBA student, Amber Roberts often searches for value-adding opportunities. She felt that her unique perspectives would be a great value to this opportunity, and she could begin leaving her meaningful, lasting contributions to Georgia Tech even as a student. Roberts is grateful for the chance to use her years of IT and project management experience to give back to Tech now. Her interest in equity buildings and more energy-efficient architecture could only benefit from this learning experience as she plans to apply this knowledge in her own storage container home design.  

Arionna Russell 

Hometown: Beaufort, South Carolina
Class: Fourth-Year
Major: Mechanical Engineering

Arionna Russell is a fourth-year mechanical engineering major from Beaufort, South Carolina. She has a passion for the creating safe, affirming spaces that contribute to the well-being of marginalized groups on and off campus. Russell has created the Black Queer Lives Matter Initiative between the African American Student Union and the LGBTQIA Resource Center, volunteered as a Peer Coach with the Counseling Center and as a FASET Leader, and co-founded the Black Women's Initiative. She seeks to use her engineering degree to design and manufacturer affordable medical devices accessible to low-income, disabled, and elderly people. Russell also wants to use her degree to create sustainable housing for homeless people.