Karen Brean brings thirty years of professional experience to the firm. As an experienced architect and planner, she has a strong grasp of technical issues. As an experienced facilitator and teacher, she has the ability to convey these issues in a format that is understandable to the public and useful to the project team.
Much of her experience during the last twenty-four years has involved achieving policy consensus among multiple stakeholders, acting as a liaison between local government officials and citizens, and leading strategic planning efforts within organizations and communities.
Karen holds a Master of Architecture from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Brandeis University.
.Lillian is a community planner who joined Brean Associates in 2012. Her primary areas of expertise are in analyzing and synthesizing quantitative statistical or spatial data and qualitative data, such as interviews or public input, and effectively communicating that data to diverse audiences.
From public comments during ALCOSAN’s Wet Weather Project to ethnographic interviews of Massachusetts homeowners to a plan for Penn Avenue’s next five years, she has worked to distill key themes that will move local policy forward.
Lillian is also an active board member at the Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation, where she is currently helps to create policies to reuse vacant homes in Garfield, guides the creation of a Green Zone, and represents the BGC at Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group member events.