Kim Steele

Kim Steele is Director of Urban and Health Initiatives at The Elemental Group where she works with communities and organizations to develop policies and strategies to increase opportunities for healthy, active living. Prior to this position she was Associate Professor at Arizona State University in the Design School and Assistant Professor at Auburn University in the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture. Her research and professional work focuses on improving community health and well-being across multiple scales through planning, design and policy, which she is further advancing in her doctoral research at UCLA. She has published numerous research reports, chapters and articles, has received several research grants, collaborated on several Health Impact Assessments, and routinely presents her work at national and international conferences. She co-authored with Sherry Ahrentzen the book, At Home with Autism: Designing Housing for the Spectrum, published in fall 2015 by Policy Press. Her most recent research addresses issues of segregation and community access for developmentally and/or intellectually disabled people. Ms. Steele received a Master of Architecture and Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Colorado, Denver, as well as a Master of Arts from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Ms. Steele is the parent of an autistic child.