New York City’s Public Design Commission (PDC) has elected Deborah Marton as its new president. She will succeed Signe Nielsen, and rise from her current role as a PDC commissioner.

Marton has served on the PDC since 2020. The commission is comprised of 11 members, including an architect, landscape architect, painter, sculptor, and three outside members. The group also includes representatives of the Brooklyn Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Public Library, and even the Mayor. The members meet once a month, and serve as New York City’s design review agency, reviewing proposals for permanent structures, landscape projects, and art proposed for City-owned properties. It also conducts the New York City Public Design Commission’s Annual Awards for Excellence in Design to recognize the best projects they review each year.

“Design excellence is about more than what — what material or color or form. It’s about the who — who are we designing for, and did they have meaningful opportunities to contribute their perspective?” said Marton in a press release. “The PDC is committed to ensuring public buildings and civic spaces welcome and serve every New Yorker.”

Marton’s work has proven her fitness for the role. She currently serves as the executive director of the Van Alen Institute, a nonprofit that promotes inclusive design. As director, alongside the Urban Design Forum, she oversaw the development of Neighborhoods Now, working to connect New York designers and professionals with community driven organizations to create pandemic recovery strategies. Under her leadership the organization partnered with the New York City Council for Reimagining Brooklyn Bridge, a 2019 competition to give the 19th century infrastructure a 21st-century facelift.

She also previously worked as the executive director of New York Restoration Project, and spearheaded the planting of one million trees under New York City’s MillionTreesNYC initiative, along with creating 50 community gardens. Additionally, as executive director of the Design Trust for Public Space she helped launch the Taxi07 program to create a new NYC taxi.

As president of the PDC, Marton will continue to work closely with the commission on public projects for the betterment of New York City, while also upholding its mission to focus on innovative, sustainable, and equitable design throughout the city.