Programme Director
Allan Co studied at Rice University where they received a Bachelor of Architecture and the University of Washington where he was awarded a Master of Architecture and Master of Science in Architecture History and Theory.
Allan joined the CPI team in 2024.
Allan is the current co-president of the Open Architecture Collaborative, a US-based non-profit and global learning community mobilising architects, designers, and a diverse range of professionals who shape the built environment, with technical skills to build capacity with communities experiencing systemic racism and marginalisation.
Allan is interested in leveraging systems thinking and cross-sector learning networks that dovetail local government and deep community engagements to strengthen outcomes against historically marginalised populations and confront today’s most intractable urban challenges. Their career has focused on affordable housing and equitable community development, with their portfolio circling on projects with a broad urban community planning lens, such as work with King County (Washington) Metro, as they embark on a safe, equitable and fleet-wide electrification, and a nascent program that waves reciprocal knowledge between banks and BIPOC-led community developers to remove barriers to investment in historically under-resourced neighborhoods by building fiscal capacity and cultural competency.
In an article for Next City, Allan wrote about how small cities can learn from Pittsburgh’s urban transformation.
In his leisure time, Allan enjoys spending time with his husband and child.