Desirée has a Master’s degree in Depth Psychology with a specialization in Community, Liberation, Indigenous, and Ecological Psychologies and is certified in Social, Economic, Environmental Design (SEED AP) and Trauma-Informed Design (TiD-B) as well as Ecological Landscape Design.

Her Master’s research focused on restorative justice and applying that to the built environment to create restorative environments and an applicable “restorative container” framework. As part of her research, she conducted a fieldwork study/praxis at a county jail where she worked with a group of women in custody to explore if it was possible to create a “restorative container” even in a place like jail (conditions of imprisonment/oppression), answering the research question “how might imagination play a role in the prison industrial complex schema abolition as a liberatory possibility”, which can be found in: Taylor and Francis’ Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community, Positive Psychology special edition. This study was the foundation of her current design work. She presented on this as a featured Plenary Panelist on Transnational and Local Struggles and Strategies and Paper Presenter at the Centre for Integrative Anti-Racism Studies of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto in March (2026).

Desirée is currently a Fellow at Design Corps’ and the Project Manager leading their Indigenous Pubic Interest Design Institute working with Indigenous Architects, Designers, Planners & Engineers from around the world. The Institute was held on October 24, 2025 and has led into monthly webinars throughout 2025 and 2026 as well as the in-person, international conference, Structures for Inclusion, at Portland State University (Center for Public Interest Design) – taking place on October 8, 9, & 10th 2026.

Furthermore, Desirée is a Consultant & Instructor for Hausense Design where she taught a Masterclass/Course on Restorative Design from a Social Equity & Systemic Trauma-Informed Lens, which can be found below, and she will be teaching a webinar on this for Habitarmonia as well.

Overall, her work lies at the intersections of Design, Psychology, and Social Justice (website coming soon – RestorativeDesign.net), and she welcomes collaborations, partnerships, & consulting opportunities!