Support

The Toledo Design Collective (TDC) is a volunteer-supported, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Your contributions help further the mission of the TDC.

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation.

In 2001 Bob Seyfang and Dick Meyers founded the TDC on the mission of centering excellence and sustainability in design and planning services to be a right for all Toledo neighborhoods. The TDC has grown from a few dedicated volunteer architects and planners, to a full time staff of two, multiple interns every year, and a board of over 35.

Donations will be matched dollar-for-dollar, up to $10k, by an anonymous foundation. Match is awarded in 2021 for the TDC Sustaining Campaign. You can donate today using the link below OR send a check to our address

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IN HONOR OF

Eugene H. Naujock

The 2021 Sustaining Campaign honors Eugene Naujock for his dedicated volunteerism to the Toledo Design Collective.

"We are fortunate to have access to talented architecture and planning students, their technical skills and creativity are an excellent resource and it is gratifying when these talented young people gain employment in the Toledo area after graduation. Working with neighborhood residents, the TDC has proven that our community need not accept ‘it’ll do’ planning for it simply will not do.”

Eugene grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After military service he attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee earning a B.S. in Journalism/Urban Studies and a M.S. in Planning/Urban Studies. Graduating in 1968, Gene joined the Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions where he spent his entire career. In 2004 Gene retired and joined the TDC bringing his vast knowledge of the government side of the planning process to the organization. His expertise strengthened the TDC’s voice in advocating for the difference design and planning excellence could make.

2021 Year in Review

Awarded Funds

$10k KeyBank National Association, Nellie Bash Trust Fund for Junction6 Block Action Plan
$51k City of Toledo, Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding for Englewood Neighborhood Plan
$10k Fifth Third Bank funding for Englewood Neighborhood Plan

2021 Projects

Garfield Community Plan with East Toledo Family Center
Broadway Mile Corridor Study with Broadway Corridor Coalition
Courtyard Study with Friends of Lucas County Children Services
Junction 6 Block Action Plan with Junction Coalition
Englewood Neighborhood Plan with Englewood SW Initiatives
St. Paul’s Feasibility Study with St. Paul’s Community Center

Developments

Molly Burns was hired as Project Manager in October 2020 after graduating from Miami University with a Bachelors in Architecture and a minor in Urban Design
We welcomed five new board members to our board: Erin Curley, Tiffanie McNair, Debra Pearson, Sean Stewart, and Anne Wistow
We restructured our board committees, creating 4 new committees: Executive Committees, Committee on Directors, Education and Outreach Committee, Finance and Fundraising, and the Projects Committee

“I started as an intern at the Toledo Design Collective in 2011. My time as an intern at TDC helped cultivate my interest in urban design and sparked my desire to help revitalize places and strengthen communities through planning..."

Rachel was an Intern from Miami University for TDC in 2010. She completed her Master in Architecture from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Rachel previously worked for SOM, Valero Dewilt Train, and Marek Landscaping, and currently she has returned to Toledo working for The Collaborative as a Senior Urban Planner/Project Manager. Rachel joined the TDC board in 2021.

Rachel Momenee, AICP | Senior Planner, THE COLLABORATIVE | 2010 TDC Intern

“I interned with the Toledo Design Collective in the Summer of 2017. This was my first internship and first exposure to the planning field. I could not imagine a more valuable work experience than interning at the Toledo Design Collective.”

“The projects we worked on called on us to create maps and graphics, extrapolate and manipulate census information, make presentations to community groups, and interface directly with residents in the neighborhoods in which we were working. This was invaluable in creating a resume and building a professional portfolio. Additionally, the networking opportunities provided through interning at the Toledo Design Collective created the connections that led to full time employment in Toledo, an opportunity I could only have dreamed of when I set out to graduate school. The Toledo Design Collective was one of the most impactful three months of my professional career, and I look forward to being a part of the TDC’s future efforts.”

MacGregor Driscoll | Urban Planner, ConnecToledo | TDC Intern 2017

“My internship at the Toledo Design Collective taught me that a city, no matter how large or small it may be, is a lot more than it’s physical infrastructure. I learned how a place's social infrastructure leads to the creation of the city as a whole.”

“Toledo is composed of many different neighborhood identities with their own assets and challenges. The TDC works with these neighborhoods through a grassroots planning approach which hopes to bring out the collective voice of the neighborhood, which is drawn together into an urban plan; a record of aspirations for the future. I had the pleasure of working in the Old South End, the Warehouse District, Uptown, and the Junction neighborhood and with the stakeholders and residences who identified with these neighborhoods.

The diversity of experiences in my short time as an intern at the TDC is one that I don’t believe I could have been given anywhere else. Immediately following my internship I received a job as an Architectural Associate at Duket Architects Planners, a local Toledo-based firm that has been in business for nearly 50 years. This was made possible because the principle of which served as a board member of the Toledo Design Collective and allowed me to tour their office. I have been at Duket Architects Planners for over three years now and have continued my connection with the TDC and the mentors I made through my internship, which have been instrumental in guiding my career path today."

Jeremy Mizak | Architectural Associate, Duket Architects Planners | TDC Intern 2016-17

“To work at the TDC is an indescribable experience. As the TDC has nearly 40 volunteer board members from various expertise, there is always something new to learn. They all share the same passion for pushing the needle towards sustainable design and equitable development: both human and built development. I would not be where I am today without our incredible board members.”

Elizabeth Ellis started at the Toledo Design Center, now Collective in 2017 as LISC AmeriCorps member. As an AmeriCorps, Elizabeth had the opportunity to re-discover her hometown with deeper respect for its pre and post-industrial architecture and city infrastructure. She has fostered meaningful relationships with neighborhood organizations through her passion of equity through sustainable urban design.

Experiences and opportunities gained through working at the TDC allow Elizabeth to serve on other active volunteer boards including Junction Coalition, UpTown Architectural Review Committee, and the AIA Toledo High School Design Competition Committee.

As recently appointed Studio Director, Elizabeth is excited to maintain and even increase the momentum of the TDC mission: that thoughtful urban design and planning should be a right of everyone, not a privilege of few.

Elizabeth Ellis | Studio Manager, Toledo Design Collective | TDC Intern 2017

"My internship at the Toledo Design Collective allowed me to invest in a community that I did not grow up in and see the real impact that long term urban planning can have in neighborhoods."

"I am now the VP of Construction and Planning at the Toledo Zoo—a job I never knew existed prior to moving to Toledo, in a city that I did not have on my radar prior to my internship. TDC gives young professionals opportunities to make an impact that's larger than themselves, draws people to and back to northwest Ohio, and gives them the skills to run large charrettes, make presentations and produce work that communicates complex ideas in simple forms. Continuing to support the TDC as a board member has given me more opportunities to connect to neighborhoods and partners in the Old South End, Central business district, the Vistula neighborhood and Toledo as a whole."

Jennifer Van Horn | Vice President, Construction and Planning, Toledo Zoo | 2013 TDC Intern

Celebrating Twenty Years

In 2001 Bob Seyfang and Dick Meyers founded the Toledo Design Collective (TDC), on the mission of centering excellence and sustainability in design and planning services, that is a right for all Toledo neighborhoods, not just privilege. The TDC has grown from a few dedicated volunteer architects and planners, to a full time staff of two, multiple interns every year, and a board of over 35.

Make A Donation

$ .00