Placemaking & urban revitalization
In 2013 Krista helped found the Downtown Hazleton Alliance for Progress (DHAP), a diverse 501c3 nonprofit coalition of city officials, community and economic development organizations, educational institutions, business owners, and volunteers. As Executive Director she led the strategic planning, fundraising and implementation of nearly $7M worth of investment raised to revitalize the downtown and establish an Arts & Innovation District. These partnership initiatives contributed to 165 new net businesses (more than half Hispanic-owned), more than 340 net new jobs, 300,000 square feet of renovated vacant and/or underutilized property, and $30 million worth of leveraged private investment. The downtown district was awarded Pennsylvania and National Main Street Program designation (2016-2021).
Hazleton Arts & Innovation District
Working closely with partners, Krista spearheaded the acquisition, rehabilitation, and adaptive reuse of the historic Security Savings Bank and adjacent vacant parcel as anchors of Hazleton's emerging Arts & Innovation District.
Photo by Joe Pecora.
CAN DO Community Park. Led $1.5 million redevelopment of a vacant lot into a new 1/2-acre civic space for community gathering and special events.
Hayden Family Center for the Arts. Led $2.5 million rehabilitation of a vacant and historic (ca. 1909) bank for adaptive reuse as a new 12,000 SF community multicultural art center.
Penn State Hazleton LaunchBox. Led $1 million rehabilitation of a vacant building for reuse as a business incubator and a five-year strategic plan for the Hazleton Innovation Collaborative (THInC).
Vacant and Underutilized Property Program. Strategically engaged with owners of more than 50 vacant properties to develop plans for renovation and adaptive reuse or sale, explore financing, and provide design assistance.
The HUB Welcome Center. Led planning and development of a new welcome center for downtown Hazleton, which also doubles as pop-up cafe and retail space for food entrepreneurs.
Facade Rehabilitation Program. Administered $160K in grant funding to support the renovation of 20 properties, leveraging more than $500K of private investment.
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Throughout her career, Krista has led the strategic planning, fundraising, and implementation of education programs and capital improvements designed to address the socioeconomic and cultural needs of her community and the broader Northeastern Pennsylvania region. Many projects have focused on advancing innovative technologies and developing entrepreneurship opportunities for youth and new Americans. She also works to advance research collaborations between industry and academia to provide experiential learning opportunities and drive economic development.
Hazleton Kitchen Incubator
As Executive Director of the Downtown Hazleton Alliance for Progress, Krista led the planning and development of the Hazleton Kitchen. This culinary incubator gives food entrepreneurs a low-risk opportunity to start small, test, develop, and scale without the cost of equipping, and maintaining their own commercially licensed facility.
Teen Entrepreneurship Challenge. Launched a pitch competition for high school students in partnership with Penn State Hazleton. The program is now offered for dual enrollment.
Butler Township Community Garden. Founded and led development of the 1.3-acre Butler Township Community Garden and Growing Markets Entrepreneurship Program.
Leadership on the Rise. Led development of an education program designed to enhance the leadership skills of Hazleton's immigrant business community.
Project-based Learning. Facilitated Penn State partnerships to provide experiential learning opportunities through industry-sponsored capstones and community design studios.
Pennsylvania Industrial Hemp Engine. Secured a $1M NSF Regional Innovation Engine Development Grant (2023) and served as project manager for the Engine's launch phase.
Industry Research Partnerships. Assisted tech startups connect with Penn State faculty and students to advance research commercialization and secure funding.
Energy & Environment. Provided technical assistance to dozens of small and medium-size Pennsylvania manufacturers to help decarbonize building operations.
Outreach and Education. Hosted a regional Technology-Economy-Community (TEC Talk) forum series designed to educate local industries on emerging Penn State technologies.
Downtown Hazleton Farmer's Market.
Established and managed the Downtown Hazleton Farmer's Market in cooperation with the Greater Hazleton Chamber.
teaching & public scholarship
Krista’s teaching philosophy centers on the belief that meaningful engagement with local communities is vital to student learning. Grounded in critical geography and the concept of critical proximity, her approach views placemaking as a dynamic and relational process—shaped by power structures through which place identities are continuously negotiated and redefined. By examining complex, real-world challenges within their cultural contexts, students are encouraged to value local knowledge, engage with diverse perspectives, recognize the landscape as a reflection of ideological forces, and grapple with issues of social and spatial justice. This philosophy was informed by Krista’s experience as both a Visiting and Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Kentucky, where she taught advanced planning and design studios for four years.
HUD Innovation in Affordable Housing Student Design & Planning Competition
With the support of Penn State's Hamer Center for Community Design, Krista led an interdisciplinary graduate student team submission to the annual 2024 U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Innovation in Affordable Housing Student Design and Planning Competition. The team was awarded an Honorable Mention.
Negotiating the Image of the Inner Bluegrass. Independent research concerning the preservation of Lexington's African American hamlets. Published in Landscape Journal 26:1 (2007).
Nelson County Rural Design Guidelines, Nelson County, Kentucky. University of Kentucky, Department of Landscape Architecture. 5th year community planning & design studio.
The Paris-Lexington Road: Community-Based Planning and Context Sensitive Highway Design: Landscape Architecture Foundation Land and Community Design Case Study Series, Island Press.
Your Town: Lower Luzerne County. Secured a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to host a Citizen's Institute on Rural Design workshop in collaboration with a PSU Department of Landscape Architecture studio led by Prof. Barry Kew.
Legacy Plan: A Vision for the Future of Mercer County, Kentucky. University of Kentucky, Department of Landscape Architecture. 5th year community planning & design studio.
Stories from the Field: Place, Race & Partnership in Downtown Hazleton. A conversation with the PSU College of Agriculture's Center for Community and Economic Development.
planning & design
In her role as a private consultant with John Milner Associates (JMA) and Heritage Strategies LLC, Krista worked with communities, non-profit organizations, and state and federal agencies to plan for the preservation and interpretation of historically significant properties throughout the U.S. This includes city-wide park systems, National Heritage Areas, national parks, historic sites and districts, battlefields, campuses, vernacular and designed landscapes, and neighborhoods. This is complemented by her experience with Barry Isett & Associates, which included the planning, design, and construction management of projects for wide variety of municipal, institutional, and economic development organizations throughout Northeast PA.
Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area Management Plan
As principal of Heritage Strategies, Krista helped develop the Management Plan for the heritage area's strategy towards resource conservation, recreation, preservation, interpretation, tourism, and organizational governance.
Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park. Completed a Cultural Landscape Assessment supporting the National Park Service's Special Resource Study for the park's creation, with JMA.
City in a Park. City of Niagara Fall Citywide Parks Master Plan, with Heritage Strategies and led by Bergman Associates. Recipient of the 2014 ASLA NY Upstate Chapter, Planning & Analysis Honor Award.
Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area Developed the Management Plan that guides the Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalition's strategy towards NHA management, with Heritage Strategies.