The ADA at 25

Alana Theriault

Alexis Denton

Alexis has a passion: to “make aging cool,” and she’s already making a mark. With dual master’s degrees in architecture and gerontology, she brings a holistic approach to designing senior living environments. She has worked on numerous senior-focused communities, and serves on the AIA Design for Aging Advisory Group. “People have an image of what senior living looks like, so I love showing them how fantastic those communities can be,” she says. “There’s a huge potential to do innovative and meaningful work.” Alexis almost became a university professor. “I found nothing more fun than being challenged by students,” she says. “Their questions made me think very differently and solidify my opinions about environmental gerontology.” She describes her work style as “kind of like playing baseball. There’s a lot of casual thinking and collaborating as a team, followed by short bursts of individual intensity. When you’re up to bat, it’s on.”

Christopher Downey, AIA

Christopher Downey, AIA, is an architect, planner and consultant who lost all sight in 2008. Today, he is dedicated to creating more helpful and enriching environments for the blind and visually impaired. Chris consults on design for the blind and visually impaired, encompassing specialized centers as well as facilities serving the broader public. His work ranges from a new Department of Veterans Affairs blind rehabilitation center, to renovations of housing for the blind in New York City, and to the new Transbay Transit Center in San Francisco.

As one of the few practicing blind architects in the world, Chris has been featured in local, national and international media stories and speaks regularly about architecture and visual impairment. He also teaches accessibility and universal design at UC Berkeley and serves on the Board of Directors for the Lighthouse for the Blind in San Francisco.

He starts each day rowing with the East Bay Rowing Club on the Oakland Estuary before commuting on public transit to his office in San Francisco.

Gilda Puente-Peters

Gilda Puente-Peters is a Certified Access Specialist, CASp-24. In addition, Ms. Puente-Peters served as a Subject Matter Expert on the Certified Access Specialist Program committee for the Division of the State Architect, to advice in the development of the California Certified Access Specialist certification program.

Zoe Chernicoff

Zoe Chernicoff is a Staff Attorney at Disability Rights Advocates. Ms. Chernicoff advocates for the basic rights of persons with disabilities, including issues relating to criminal justice, education, transportation, and health care access.

Zoe Chernicoff joined Disability Rights Advocates in 2013 as the John W. Carson Fellowship Attorney, and became a staff attorney in 2014. She received her J.D. from Columbia Law School in 2010 and her B.A. from Yale University in 2006. Prior to joining Disability Rights Advocates, Ms. Chernicoff clerked for Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in the Southern District of New York from 2011-2012, and for Judge Chester J. Straub in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals from 2012-2013. She was also a litigation associate at the Los Angeles Office of Sullivan & Cromwell from 2010-2011. During law school, Ms. Chernicoff worked for a year in Columbia’s Human Rights Clinic, worked pro bono on several immigration matters, and was an Articles Editor for the Columbia Law Review.

Ms. Chernicoff is admitted to the U.S. District Court of California (Northern, Central, and Eastern Districts) and the State Bar of California.