Collab Lab 71: Connecting Architecture, Real Estate, & Construction

Season 10/Collab Lab 71

TRUE Skool’s leadership has been dreaming of a new campus. Since 2016, their students and others have participated in hands-on ‘Designed Awareness’ workshops with the Wisconsin Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (Wisco NOMA) the UWM School of Architecture & Urban Planning’s Community Design Solutions, local firms and industry professionals to envision what spaces in a ‘Future TRUE Skool Campus’ might look like. How can we extend this idea to engage more students in the entire creative learning experience?

How/Where can we work with and support organizations that connect students from underserved communities to architecture, real estate, construction, and other fields while offering them a chance to participate in bringing TRUE Skool’s Future Campus to Milwaukee?

Join peers, professionals, and students to explore what this could look like and how we might come together to make it happen.

Agenda

5:30 to 6:00 pm Grab something to eat and meet someone new

6:00 to 6:20 pm Welcome and introductions

6:20 to 8:15 pm Let's explore some possibilities

8:15 to 8:30 pm Wrap up and next steps

Featured Participants

Fidel Verdin & Shalina Ali — Co-Executive Directors, TRUE Skool

Fidel and Shalina are Co-Executive Directors, TRUE Skool, a nonprofit organization with a mission to engage, educate and empower youth and families through Transformative Creative Arts & Hip Hop Culture. Growing up in the “Golden Era of Hip Hop” they understand that Hip Hop culture was a positive empowering force in their lives. It introduced them to past and present leaders, educated them on political and social issues through music and art, created new entrepreneurial opportunities and exposed them to different global cultures in ways that school never did.

TRUE Skool is outgrowing its space on the lower level inside The Ave and looks to build out a new facility within the next few years. This creates a unique opportunity to expose participating students and citywide youth to a broad range of careers, be part of a legacy project, and create both a new vision for what a school could be and how business and community partners can come together to make that happen.

Michael Sykes — Wisco NOMA Project Pipeline Chair

Mike is an Architectural Technician at Mead & Hunt’s Green Bay office. He brings to his work a commitment to community empowerment and a passion to introduce underserved youth to career opportunities in architecture and design. In 2023, Mike organized Wisco NOMA’s first Project Pipeline Camp. That camp engaged Milwaukee middle and high school students in a design challenge focused on TRUE Skool. In 2024 and 2025, the Project Pipeline camps expanded to serve students in Madison as well as Milwaukee.

Danya Almoghrabi — UWM School of Architecture & Urban Planning/Community Design Solutions

Danya is a Milwaukee-based designer and educator whose work blends architecture, community engagement, and playful storytelling. Her practice explores intersections of public space while engaging communities through participatory design. Recognized with several student and professional awards, Danya is committed to socially responsive design that celebrates place, identity, and underrepresented voices.

About the Project

TRUE Skool’s current space is vibrant but limited, restricting how many young people we can serve and the scope of our public facing activities. The Future TRUE Skool Campus will be a purpose-built downtown Milwaukee hub where students and community gain access to professional-level indoor/outdoor design environments—serving as a transformative anchor of equity, creative entrepreneurial opportunity, and cultural innovation.