People
Site Story is a multi-disciplinary group of listeners, creators, problems solvers and allies. We are experienced facilitators and implementers dedicated to strengthening communities through public engagement, conservation, sustainability and green building, and cultural resource protection. We get things done effectively and respectfully while uncovering the stories of the people we engage and the untold tales of the everyday issues we face in Puget Sound and throughout Western Washington.
Ellen Southard
Ellen Southard has 29 years’ experience in the green building industry. She was an early adopter of building and site certifications and a founding member of Cascadia Green Building Council. Her firm Site Story has worked with Salmon-Safe for 9 years as the organization’s alliance partner for urban projects and strategy in Puget Sound. Salmon-Safe offers a series of peer-reviewed certification and accreditation programs linking site development and land management practices for the protection of agricultural and urban watersheds. Salmon-Safe's development standards set the goal of elevating environmental performance through design and construction to ongoing operation. Ellen has been a consultant to many local governments working on green building policy, parks and open space projects and eco-tourism planning. In 2016 Ellen was named Sustainable Seattle’s Community Hero and Stewardship Partners Hero of Salmon. She volunteers for Girl Scouts of Western Washington leading farm tours for girls teaching them about agricultural practices for wildlife protection and restoring habitats for salmon. She is an Oxfam America Ambassador and a member of the Puget Sound Partnership Environmental Caucus.
Since 2016 Ellen has served as the Project Manager for the Greenbridges project facilitating efforts to advance permitting pathways for public private partnerships and convening the design, construction and fund-raising team to build the first bioswale/GSI Greenbridges Project under the Aurora Bridge.
Marin Bjork
Marin Bjork has supported Site Story’s design projects since 2013. She is a licensed landscape architect with more than ten years of project management experience. The bulk of her work has comprised of urban projects integrating sustainability strategies and place making through community design. She works in all phases of research and community design.
Recently she has enjoyed working on concepts to integrate placemaking and stormwater treatment at local bridges and expanding her experience with stormwater policy development. She likes connecting with both municipal and private agencies/firms to identify realistic opportunities to persuade developers to go beyond compliance.
Marin also has a masters in whole systems design and has a BA in both Norwegian and anthropology. In addition to her work with Site Story Marin also serves as a Project Manager with the West Studio.
Jescelle Major
Jescelle is a native of the American Southeast whose practice continues to take her to landscapes far and wide. In the Pacific Northwest she has worked across a range of project typologies including landscape architecture, strategy, research and planning and policy.
She has centered community engagement, advocacy and social impact in her work, always. Outside of work Jescelle is a Next Gen committee member with the Trust for Public Land, she serves on the Sawhorse Revolution Board of Directors and is a past member of the the Seattle Design Commission, Arts Commision and Public Art Advisory Committee. She was also a design team member for Seattle Public Utilities’ Shape Our Water work.