Love Letter to New York: Open House New York's Kristin LaBuz on Culture, Leadership, and the Collective Power of Convening
Portrait by Diana Zuluaga.
Kristin LaBuz is the executive director of Open House New York. She joined the organization in 2018 and was promoted to the leadership role in 2024. An urban planner by training, Kristin is a nonprofit leader with fifteen years of experience working in the sector. Before leading Open House New York, Kristin was a part of multiple mission-driven organizations like the Design Trust for Public Space, the DUMBO Improvement District, and NYC Health’s Active Design Department. She strives to enrich the shared public life of cities, improve the built environment, and promote the power of design.
In her interview with Julia Gamolina, Kristin talks about organizational culture and the importance of in-person connection, advising those new to the profession to take advantage of what their city has to offer and show up.
JG: We at Madame Architect are so excited for this year's OHNY Weekend. What should our readers be looking out for this weekend? And what's perhaps new this weekend that you haven't done in previous years?
KL: This October 18-20, OHNY Weekend will open up more than 270 sites across the five boroughs. This citywide fest invites participants to explore the built environment by offering behind-the-scenes tours of everything from Lever House to Ravenswood Generating Station, the city’s only power plant. Want to climb up a water tower, canoe in the Gowanus Canal, or take a hard hat tour? OHNY Weekend offers something for everyone. OHNY Weekend is both a love letter to the New York and a testament to the extraordinary generosity of New Yorkers. A shout out to the community that makes it all possible: Open House New York’s passionate staff of six, the partners and site hosts — including a number of Madame Architect alums — who open their doors and lead tours, and the army of over 1,000 volunteers who help us unlock the city.
I am proud of three new series that we produced with industry partners spotlighting Structural Engineering, Innovation in Preservation, and an Urban-Omnibus view of the city. OHNY Weekend reaches a broad audience, so there is real value in giving everyday New Yorkers direct access to the engineers, preservationists, architects, and planners who are shaping the city. Backstage, our team took a “people-first” approach, seeking out new ways to make the festival experience more user-friendly. For example, each site listing has detailed accessibility features, from ADA compliance to gender-neutral restrooms. Plus, for the first time in our twenty-two year history, OHNY Weekend is offering tours in Spanish and Mandarin.
Green Economy Boat Tour. Photography by Ben Tso.
Panel for The Urbanist by Dan Doctoroff. Photography by Michael Lee.
Now let's go back a little bit — you first studied urban studies and then went on to obtain a Masters in City Planning. What were the reasons behind both degrees, and what were you hoping to do in the world with both?
Growing up in a small college town in upstate New York honed a strong sense of place. My hometown, Oneonta, is anchored by the kind of historic Main Street politicians like to evoke—local shops, walkable streets, strong civic spirit. Within three blocks, one could go to the library, the bank, a park, a pizza joint, an art gallery, or a locally-owned movie theater.
In college, I read The Power Broker and The Death and Life of Great American Cities in the same semester — though in separate classes — and began to understand that places like Main Street weren’t the result of happenstance, but rather the product of deliberate policy, investment, and design decisions. The discovery of city planning as a career pathway led me to pursue a graduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania immediately after college graduation. I took classes on economic development, design theory, transportation planning, and real estate law. But the most influential lesson was a fellowship at the Community Design Collaborative, part of AIA Philadelphia, a nonprofit that delivers pro bono design services to community-based organizations. Nearly two decades later, I am still inspired by that early experience of witnessing how design can change lives and transform neighborhoods.
“What motivates a team to show up every day? How can a leader foster a sense of community, creativity, and collaboration? Do colleagues feel safe to take risks? To me, a strong culture emerges from an alignment between values, purpose, and the tone from the top.”
What did you learn throughout your professional experiences before OHNY that you still apply today?
I believe in Peter Drucker’s famous management quote: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” This applies whether I’m working with a scrappy team of six or a city agency of six thousand. What motivates a team to show up every day? How can a leader foster a sense of community, creativity, and collaboration? Do colleagues feel safe to take risks? To me, a strong culture emerges from an alignment between values, purpose, and the tone from the top.
How did you get to OHNY? What have you learned and how did you evolve during your tenure here?
In 2017, I met OHNY director Gregory Wessner for a coffee that turned out to be a low-key job interview. He was looking to hire someone to lead the organization’s development and communications efforts. I had been participating in OHNY Weekend for years and jumped at the chance to work for an organization that I had long admired.
My role evolved from focusing on development and communications to thinking strategically about what kind of impact OHNY can have on the city. I have had to grow my professional skill set to meet the needs of the organization, from financial reporting to human resources. One lesson I’ve learned is to ask for help here, unapologetically. Nonprofit leadership requires a Swiss Army knife skill set, but it’s important seek expert advice when you don’t know what you don’t know.
St. George. Photography by Michael Lee.
Citywide Services Green Roof. Photography by Ben Helmer.
Port Infrastructure Boat Tour with Beth Rooney. Photography by Michael Lee.
Looking back at it all, what have been the biggest challenges? How did you both manage through perceived disappointments or setbacks? What have you also learned in the last six months?
I am not a shy person, but a fear of public speaking has dogged me my entire life. When I accepted the executive director position at Open House New York, I knew I would have to confront my fear sooner rather than later, because our annual gala was in a month, and I would be on the hook to deliver a five-minute speech. I wrote and rehearsed. I rewrote and rehearsed. I rewrote it again. I practiced in front of my colleagues and my cats. When the time came for the gala, I stood on stage, under bright lights, in front of a 300-person audience, and knew I was as ready as I would ever be.
I’ve learned the adage is true: public speaking is a muscle that can be strengthened through practice. Over the last six months, I’ve had the opportunity to speak in front of 400 people at The Shed and 500 people on a boat tour. I still feel a bit nervous. I still rewrite and rehearse. But I’ve proven to myself that I can do it.
“Communities will only thrive if people show up in person...These public events are not a balm...the collective power of convening makes us healthier, happier, and stronger.”
I’ve found that rehearsing, over and over, is totally the secret to public speaking. Who are you admiring now and why?
The first is architect and philanthropist Andrea Woodner, who founded the Design Trust for Public Space in 1995, and hired me for my first job in New York in 2009. Long before it was de rigeur, Andy recognized that public space was the connective tissue of our city. Andy’s leadership at the Design Trust blazed a trail for how nonprofits can work in partnership with designers, city agencies, and community groups, and provided early support for projects like the High Line.
The second New Yorker I admire is Beth Rooney, the Port Director for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Beth worked her way up from crew member to managing the New York Harbor, and she is one of the few women in the world at this level of maritime leadership. For the past four summers, Beth has led a Port Infrastructure boat tour for Open House New York, which is just as nerdy as it sounds. On a 2.5 hour trip from Pier 83 to the Bayonne Bridge, Beth drops encyclopedic knowledge on container ships and supply chain logistics—and has the audience eating out of her hands. You may not know Beth’s name, but her work touches the lives of every single New Yorker. She embodies the kind of passionate, highly-skilled civil servant that keeps our city afloat, in this case, quite literally.
On the national stage, Kamala Harris is transforming the playbook for women in leadership. Embracing joy is not incompatible with accomplishing big things. In fact, harnessing joy is a tool that can help advance a mission, whether it’s the pursuit of votes, policy change, or dollars. Laughter can be a revolutionary act! And it connects. Earlier this summer, my twenty-month-old daughter Livia was clapping along with the Democratic National Convention. I am buoyed to think that this new generation of Americans, and young women in particular, are witnessing such an unapologetic model of female leadership.
Kingsland wildflowers in front of the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant by Ennead Architects. Photography by Ben Helmer.
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church. Photography by Michael Lee.
What is the impact you’d like to have on the world? What is your core mission? And, what does success in that look like to you?
Communities will only thrive if people show up in person. I am motivated by finding new ways to bring people together for shared experience in shared space. Whether it is at the scale of a public space potluck, which I used to organize at the Design Trust, a World Cup watch party under the Manhattan Bridge, which I produced in 2014 at the DUMBO BID, or a citywide festival like Open House New York Weekend, public events invite our neighbors to become active participants in civic life. These public events are not a balm—of course we need unimpeachable leadership in City Hall, equitable policies, and budgets that don’t leave parks and libraries begging for change — the collective power of convening makes us healthier, happier, and stronger.
What does success in that look like? Knowing that I made some small corner of the city better for the next generation of New Yorkers, including my daughter.
Finally, what advice do you have for those starting their career? Would your advice be any different for women?
Specific to fellow New Yorkers, but gender-agnostic: You didn’t move to this city simply to shuttle between home and work. We are blessed to have a constellation of design, education, and advocacy organizations that produce an array of public programming, much of it free. Take advantage: Check out a lecture, participate in a workshop, attend that book talk, or, yes, explore the city during OHNY Weekend. Grab a friend or go solo. But show up! Rarely will you regret stepping outside your routine to try something new. And there’s a solid chance you will meet someone or learn something that will benefit your career.