A graduate of Michigan State University with dual degrees in Park Planning & Design and Landscape Horticulture, Steve began his career as a park and playground designer with the city of Orlando, Florida.

In 1988, he relocated to upstate New York to take a position with Leathers & Associates, an architecture firm internationally known for its wooden community-built play areas. As technical director and landscape architect, Steve was responsible for compliance with CPSC and ASTM safety standards and with regulations of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1991. During his tenure at Leathers, he worked with over 100 communities throughout the country on designing, organizing and constructing their play environments.

In 1995, Steve left Leathers & Associates to consult with the product-development team at Landscape Structures, Inc. (LSI). In 1996, Steve founded Parkitects and became the upstate New York designer and distributor for LSI. With an emphasis on whole-site design that integrates structure and landscape, Steve now works closely with local communities on play-area projects.

As a parent of a child with a disability, Steve also specializes in creating play areas for children with special needs.

A graduate of Cornell University with a degree in Design & Environmental Analysis, Diane began her career with traditional architecture firms where she specialized in computer modeling and rendering. She continues to consult with and instruct architects on CAD-related projects.

At Parkitects, Diane consults on most of the company’s marketing and promotional materials.

In the future, she hopes to bring color 3-D capabilities in-house, to give Parkitects the ability to create accurate computer models of both structure and site.

Karen graduated from SUNY Cortland with a BA in Sociology and a concentration in Gerontology.

By nature KJ is a great storyteller, and a very animated woman with a knack for working with people.

She worked as a social worker for several years before joining Parkitects in 2004, where she began as Inside Sales & Client Services. She also managed the office until the beginning of 2007 when she began working as the Recreation Project Manager.

KJ works with municipalities in Central and Eastern New York from initial concept designs to volunteer installs and everything in between.

Just like she does at work, outside the office she spends as much time making people smile as possible, especially her nieces and nephew.

Armed with a degree in mathematics from SUNY Brockport, Ben joined AmeriCorps’ National Civilian Community Corps, where he worked on a variety of projects and was the training coordinator for his region. With NCCC he rehabilitated public housing units, worked to preserve trails, streams and beaches, tutored in inner-city schools, created recreation programs and even fought a forest fire in Idaho!

Ben next went to work for KaBOOM!, a national not-for-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., whose mission is to unite major corporations with inner city and other low-income communities to sponsor playground projects.

In 1999, Ben returned home to upstate New York to become the Western Region Project Manager for Parkitects. He works with communities in the Rochester, Buffalo and Jamestown areas from initial design to volunteer installation and anything in between.

Erin is a graduate of Boston University’s School of Management with a BS in business administration and a concentration in marketing.

A native of Upstate New York, Erin enjoys the creative side of marketing, such as promotions and event coordination, and she previously worked for the local mall in this capacity. She also worked for a local software company helping to coordinate their user conferences.

Bill comes from a construction background and retired from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation as a Recreation Supervisor. He has been a Certified Playground Safety Inspector since 2001.

Upon joining Parkitects in 2007, he began traveling throughout the state inspecting playgrounds for Parkitects' clients. He also speaks to Early Childhood Education classes at Cobleskill College.

Bill and his family reside in Cobleskill, where he has been a volunteer fire fighter for 37 years.

Brian brings to Parkitects an extensive background in AutoCAD and construction. He enjoys his spot in the Parkitects family as the playground designer and construction coordinator. In 2007 he and his wife Lori moved to the area from Rockford, Illinois. Before moving, Brian worked at Benson Stone Company where he did installs, worked with CAD, and did other miscellaneous jobs.

Since moving to the east coast, Brian has really taken a liking to the scenery that upstate New York has to offer. When he’s not working, you can find Brian outdoors or working on one of his many projects around the house.

Matt is a graduate of Wake Forest University with a BS in Business.  After relocating to Upstate NY in 2000, he worked for a continuing medical education company in Ithaca for 9 years, working his way up to Controller.  Matt joined the Parkitects team in 2009.

Away from the office, he can usually be found playing with his 2 little girls and his pug, Charles.  When the little ones aren’t keeping him busy, he is usually involved in some type of house project or trying to relax with his wife, Liz, while watching a good football or baseball game.