Three forms of expertise, rarely held under one roof.

Jeffrey Shumaker, AICP

Jeffrey Shumaker, AICP, has been working at the intersection of architecture, urban design, and planning for more than twenty-five years, in both the public and private sectors, and in cities across the globe. He served the City of New York as its Chief Urban Designer and Director of Urban Design and held leadership roles in some of the world’s top architecture, urban planning, and design firms, including SOM, KPF, and BIG.

Jeffrey is currently President of Urbanscape, an international urban design and planning consultancy, and Co-Founder of Partners in Public Design. Taking a place-based approach to his work, Jeffrey helps communities, architecture and planning firms, private and non-profit institutions, towns, and cities create better places to live, work, study, and play, providing a full range of services from urban design, planning, and placemaking to consulting with city agencies and advising on strategy and public approvals. Globally, he serves as expert advisor to UN-Habitat on implementing the Sustainable Development Goals and works with cities around the world to build internal urban design capacity, most recently in Bangkok, Pretoria, and Seoul.

Jeffrey holds dual Master’s degrees in Architecture, Planning, and Urban Design from MIT and a Bachelor of Architecture with Honors from Syracuse University. He is the recipient of the Public Architect Award from AIANY and the Michael Weil Award from the NYC Department of City Planning, both recognizing excellence in urban design in the public realm, and is currently an adjunct professor of urban design and planning at Columbia University.

Jonathan Drescher, LEED ND AP

Jonathan is a creative and seasoned real estate development executive whose work spans large-scale commercial development, principally in midtown Manhattan; mixed-use, high-end, mixed-income, and affordable residential development; complex transportation infrastructure; and several rezoning and entitlement projects, most recently Anable Basin in Long Island City. In 2021 he formed The Drescher Group, a development platform built for independent ventures on the proposition that quality design and execution create value.

As Director of Major Projects and SVP of Project Development with the Durst Organization for nearly ten years, his leadership was instrumental in the development, design, and construction of One Bryant Park, The New School University Center, the rezoning and development of VIA 57 West, EOS at 855 Sixth Avenue, Halletts Point, and the SVEN/Clocktower Building at Queens Plaza Park, along with numerous acquisitions and pre-development efforts comprising millions of square feet. Earlier, as an Associate Principal with Arup, he led the post-9/11 master plan for the World Trade Center with Silverstein Properties and the Port Authority, Fulton Center with the MTA, strategic projects for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, the Office of the Mayor, and NYCDOT, and the rezoning of Hudson Square with Trinity Real Estate.

Jonathan holds a Master of Architecture from UCLA and a BA in Economics from Allegheny College, with studies at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú and Carnegie Mellon University and continuing education at Harvard and MIT business schools. He currently serves as Treasurer of the New York League of Conservation Voters.

Jay Decker

Jay is an entrepreneur and co-founder of Avocado Green Brands, a healthy lifestyle company in the mattress, bedding, and furniture industries. During his eight years at Avocado, Jay served in leadership positions spanning Customer Experience, Sustainable Supply Chain management, and Information and E-commerce Systems, helping the company navigate rapid growth while deepening vertical integration.

As Chief Experience Officer, Jay led Avocado’s 150-person customer service operation, focused on experiences that drive growth, retention, and brand awareness; the program now serves millions of customers in the US and Canada. An advocate for clean manufacturing, he oversaw the company’s sustainability initiatives, including manufacturing waste reduction, product and packaging biodegradability, clean energy sourcing, and a national, first-of-its-kind closed-loop mattress returns system. He championed Avocado’s B Corp certification and the analysis of its scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions; in 2019, Avocado became the first mattress company to achieve Climate Neutral certification.

As a technology leader, Jay was responsible for the company’s IT operations, including ERP implementation, e-commerce systems, data compliance, network operations, retail POS, and security. Before Avocado, he held senior positions leading software engineering teams that built B2B and B2C products focused on commercial real estate systems.

Jay is an advocate for a cleaner, more resilient, and more thoughtful built environment. In November 2023, he moved with his family to the Hudson Valley to found Eudora: a vertically integrated neighborhood development company focused on walkability and sustainable community development.