OUR TEAM

“My work is led by the conviction that your well-being and mine are intertwined. Though the built environment has traditionally reinforced inequities, social impact design-build offers the opportunity to combine the processes and products of architecture to invest in our environment, our sense of place, and the people around us, particularly those who have been marginalized.”

Emily Roush-Elliott is a founding partner of the Delta Design Build Workshop (Delta DB). Delta DB is a social impact design build organization that builds equity through the built environment in the Mississippi Delta. The organization operates on the tenets that process is as important as product, waste is a social construct, and local leadership is necessary to realize impact. Projects include design, construction and development of healthy, affordable housing, capacity building alongside small municipalities and job training programming. Emily was awarded an Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship (2013-2015) that brought her, along with her partner Richard Elliott, to the Mississippi Delta in 2013.

Emily received a Master of Architecture from the University of Cincinnati and a Bachelor of Science in Design from Arizona State University. Her interest in socially impactful architecture solidified into a career path while studying abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina and while building homes in Biloxi, MS following Hurricane Katrina. Emily speaks regularly about Delta DB’s work at conferences and in academic settings. She received the AIA  Citizen Architect award in 2021 and the AIA Young Architect Award in 2022. She has served on various juries, boards and committees which currently include the AIA Housing and Community Development Knowledge Community, Baptist Town Community Development, and is currently the Chair of the Greenwood Housing Authority Board of Commissioners.  With Emily at the helm, Delta DB has managed over $9.5M in socially impactful design, construction and development projects.

"Construction is no different than chopping firewood. You got to find the best project, partners and materials that are available and keep working until it is completed.  That is how you keep warm in the winter."

Richard works with individuals and organizations to create opportunities for skill development among trainees and improved living conditions within the built environment. Richard maintains a balance of teaching throughout construction projects while maintaining quality results. 

Richard is a carpenter, teacher, and entrepreneur. Richard graduated from Jacksonville State University with a Bachelor of Business Management in 2003. After completing a Master of Design Build at Auburn University in 2007, he relocated to the Gulf Coast where he managed hundreds of volunteers and dozens of home rehabilitation projects in partnership with the Gulf Coast Community Design Studio until 2010. From 2010 through 2012, he became Project Manager and eventually Executive Director of Village Life Outreach Project, a healthcare non-profit that partners with communities in Tanzania. Richard and Emily moved to the Mississippi Delta in 2012 and co-founded Delta DB shortly after. Since that time, Richard has honed his skills managing home repair and replacement projects for low-wealth homeowners. Recently, Richard has become certified as a Fortified Evaluator and a Healthy Homes Assessor, increasing Delta DB’s ability to improving health outcomes and home resilience for clients.

Jeremiah  has been a part of the Delta DB family since 2014 and has continuously increased his skills as a carpenter and a construction project manager during his tenure. Jeremiah has capacity across a range of trades including framing, finish carpentry, and gypsum board installation and repair. He is inspired by the impact Delta DB’s work has on the people who live, play, and work in the spaces the team builds.

Jeremiah recently purchased a home in the Baptist Town neighborhood where he first began working with the team.

Michelle ingrains herself within communities to help empower residents to identify opportunities for growth and development. With a background of working throughout the United States and Rwanda in both traditional and non-traditional architectural and educator roles, she brings a broad skill set focused on meaningful results. Team building and development for stakeholders is a key tool Michelle uses to ensure the success of a project, no matter what the scale. 

Michelle is an architectural designer who came to the Delta through the Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship (2017-2019). She holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Architecture from Boston Architectural College. She has a deep portfolio of experience in sustainability, new building construction, historic preservation, retail design, commercial interiors, and furniture design. Michelle currently leads Delta DB’s disaster response home repair grant efforts, and is the program manager for a $2M HUD Healthy Homes grant received by the City of Greenwood.

Dontavius McLemore joined Delta DB after completing the Leflore Energy Efficiency Apprentice Program (LEAP), a 2016 job training program developed by Delta DB and funding by Enterprise Community Partners. Today, Dontavius manages tool and materials inventories and specializes in custom carpentry and cabinetry installation. Dontavius enjoys the daily opportunities to learn and help others that are built-in to working at Delta DB.