welcome to the professional page of an architectural designer and international philanthropist....
about me
My name is Katie May Godkin. I was born and raised in the beautiful city of Derbyshire England. Growing up I was surrounded by the beauty of historic buildings and the restoration process in order to breath life back into historic structures. Upon my move across the seas to Orlando, Florida I began to realize how much architecture had a missing identity. What was architecture? Who was the Architect? Why were people so concerned with building new, poorly constructed buildings instead of appreciating historic structures and the true meaning of what architecture has always stood for.
Upon graduation of high school, I decided to attend the Savannah College of Art and Design. It was a dream come true to have this opportunity to begin my studies in Historic Preservation. As I began my degree I began to meet architectural professors and discuss the course of attaining my Masters Degree in Architecture. I was very opposed to the idea as my 4 years of living in a town of cookie cutter houses had deferred my understanding of what architecture had become in the 21st Century. After a few architectural courses and persuasive discussions with passionate professors I changed my degree to architecture.
Throughout my 4 years of architectural classes in order to attain my Bachelors Degree I became more and more interested in community work and rehabilitation architecture. Numerous trips to Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina to help communities architecturally touched my heart and I found my place of being within the big world of architecture. Now became the challenge of putting my passion to work for my Masters Degree in Architecture the following year.
Upon my graduation in May 2009, I began emailing numerous contacts whom were involved in work internationally in places such as Africa and South America. By July 2009 i was on board an airplane headed to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. My destination was a southern city named Barahona, that houses examples of some of the most poverity stricken environments we see worldwide today. I remember the first trip to a Batey Village, home to many Haitian families whom work the sugar industry. I could not believe my eyes and my work began. At the end of May 2010 I had a fully designed community village that was designed based around the people and children of these villages. It truly designed for the people of Barahona and was handed over as a finsihed project and story in December 2010.
One year after I graduated from SCAD I had the dream opportunity to continue my passion for working internationally in a poverty stricken village. I traveled across the seas to live and work within a rural community in the Southern Region of the Dominican Republic, where I had begun my Architectural Thesis two years prior! I was appointed the position of Technical Advisor for a non-profit organization called COPA in Bombita in November 2011. The opportunity to work within COPA and the Dominican Republic was a dream come true and one that was very unexpected. I was happy to accept the job offer in October of 2011 and to become a resident of Bombita in November 2011. I worked daily to not only bring hope to the community I lived in, but to also gain love, knowledge, wisdom and hope from the people themselves. I strived to become an activist designer and to rehabilitate not only these types of communities but individuals lives. Learning and growing as a Techincal Advisor for COPA enabled myself to grow as an individual and designer, leading me fourth into my current position within an architectural firm and the CEO & Founder of my own non-profit serving these communities in the Dominican Republic.
Currently I hold the position of Designer I at Atkins North America, an Engineering and Design firm located in Orlando, Florida. Within this position I am learning from an elite group of architects and designers in order to grow and develop as an architectural intern.
In my own time I run my new non-profit known as the Batey Rehab Project, founded in January of this year. BRP's mission is to partner with locals to provide community development within Haitian Migrant Labor Camps, known as Bateyes, alongside villagers, enabling the rehabilitation and re-build of their communities. We hold numerous fundraising events in order to provide the funds to do international projects within these villages and run our vocational study programs. Our projects range from new concrete floors, new roofs, new construction and church aid projects for Haitian Migrants and their families. We lead two mission trips a year with American volunteers of all ages and of all trades in order to make this projects possible.
The opportunity to live your dream is one every human being should be entitled to. My dream is to aid families living in poverty within third world countries such as the Dominican Republic. Through architecture alongside my passion I am trying to make my dreams come true alongside every Haitian immigrant living within these villages.
Until the next life event....
Upon graduation of high school, I decided to attend the Savannah College of Art and Design. It was a dream come true to have this opportunity to begin my studies in Historic Preservation. As I began my degree I began to meet architectural professors and discuss the course of attaining my Masters Degree in Architecture. I was very opposed to the idea as my 4 years of living in a town of cookie cutter houses had deferred my understanding of what architecture had become in the 21st Century. After a few architectural courses and persuasive discussions with passionate professors I changed my degree to architecture.
Throughout my 4 years of architectural classes in order to attain my Bachelors Degree I became more and more interested in community work and rehabilitation architecture. Numerous trips to Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina to help communities architecturally touched my heart and I found my place of being within the big world of architecture. Now became the challenge of putting my passion to work for my Masters Degree in Architecture the following year.
Upon my graduation in May 2009, I began emailing numerous contacts whom were involved in work internationally in places such as Africa and South America. By July 2009 i was on board an airplane headed to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. My destination was a southern city named Barahona, that houses examples of some of the most poverity stricken environments we see worldwide today. I remember the first trip to a Batey Village, home to many Haitian families whom work the sugar industry. I could not believe my eyes and my work began. At the end of May 2010 I had a fully designed community village that was designed based around the people and children of these villages. It truly designed for the people of Barahona and was handed over as a finsihed project and story in December 2010.
One year after I graduated from SCAD I had the dream opportunity to continue my passion for working internationally in a poverty stricken village. I traveled across the seas to live and work within a rural community in the Southern Region of the Dominican Republic, where I had begun my Architectural Thesis two years prior! I was appointed the position of Technical Advisor for a non-profit organization called COPA in Bombita in November 2011. The opportunity to work within COPA and the Dominican Republic was a dream come true and one that was very unexpected. I was happy to accept the job offer in October of 2011 and to become a resident of Bombita in November 2011. I worked daily to not only bring hope to the community I lived in, but to also gain love, knowledge, wisdom and hope from the people themselves. I strived to become an activist designer and to rehabilitate not only these types of communities but individuals lives. Learning and growing as a Techincal Advisor for COPA enabled myself to grow as an individual and designer, leading me fourth into my current position within an architectural firm and the CEO & Founder of my own non-profit serving these communities in the Dominican Republic.
Currently I hold the position of Designer I at Atkins North America, an Engineering and Design firm located in Orlando, Florida. Within this position I am learning from an elite group of architects and designers in order to grow and develop as an architectural intern.
In my own time I run my new non-profit known as the Batey Rehab Project, founded in January of this year. BRP's mission is to partner with locals to provide community development within Haitian Migrant Labor Camps, known as Bateyes, alongside villagers, enabling the rehabilitation and re-build of their communities. We hold numerous fundraising events in order to provide the funds to do international projects within these villages and run our vocational study programs. Our projects range from new concrete floors, new roofs, new construction and church aid projects for Haitian Migrants and their families. We lead two mission trips a year with American volunteers of all ages and of all trades in order to make this projects possible.
The opportunity to live your dream is one every human being should be entitled to. My dream is to aid families living in poverty within third world countries such as the Dominican Republic. Through architecture alongside my passion I am trying to make my dreams come true alongside every Haitian immigrant living within these villages.
Until the next life event....
