Driven by the belief that everyone deserves access to a healthy environment, Aquilla will design biodiverse landscapes that serve as spaces for reflection, play, and connection. 

Aquilla Odera Igwe is a passionate environmental advocate, educator, and emerging landscape architect committed to environmental justice and inclusive design. Aquilla earned her bachelor’s in environmental science from Chatham University in 2018. Aquilla spent the next seven years prioritizing family, personal growth, and professional development following the sudden loss of her mother. During that time, she took on various roles as a project coordinator for an environmental nonprofit and as a horticulturist and field technician in green spaces.

Ultimately, however, she found her calling in sustainability education, and she currently serves as the sustainability education programs assistant at the Marsal School of Education’s Center for Education Design, Evaluation, and Research. There, she mentors K–12 educators to help embed sustainability into classrooms across Michigan. She has also facilitated professional development for educators in the Saginaw Bay Watershed. Her work has impacted hundreds of students and teachers. She completed the 2023–2024 “Champion for Change” by Nonprofit Enterprise at Work. She also secured a $15,000 grant for Our Community Reads, which funded a field trip for Black students to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Aquilla is also pursuing her Master of Landscape Architecture at the School for Environment and Sustainability. She is among the few women of color in a field where they are historically underrepresented. Aquilla’s vision for her future includes designing green spaces that foster healing, education, and belonging for communities of color historically denied equitable access to nature. Driven by the belief that everyone deserves access to a healthy environment, Aquilla will design biodiverse landscapes that serve as spaces for reflection, play, and connection.

CEW+ commends Aquilla’s dedication to environmental justice and names her a Margaret Dow Towsley Scholar.