Sophia Francesco is a Mexican American (Tacuate-Mixtec) community organizer and architectural designer currently based in Providence, Rhode Island.
She earned her Bachelor of Architecture from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) with double minors in Nature-Culture-Sustainability Studies and History, Philosophy, and Social Sciences. While at RISD, she received the 2025 Alpha Rho Chi Bronze Medal︎︎︎, the Warner-Cook Prize, and the Undergraduate Architecture Thesis Award.
Sophia’s emerging design practice, being-belonging︎︎︎, focuses on community engagement to empower the active participation of all beings in forming stronger systems of care in the built environment. Her work has been exhibited at the RISD Museum︎︎︎ and featured in Madame Architect - Next Gen Series︎︎︎.
Sophia was a 2025 Maharam STEAM Fellow︎︎︎, concentrating on social justice and sustainability with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe Museum and Research Center︎︎︎ in Connecticut. In 2024, she was awarded the RISD Discovery Grant to work with the Navajo Nation Department of Community Development︎︎︎ on master planning for 110 Chapter communities.
She continues to work with organizations that intentionally center on an interdisciplinary team of designers addressing the complexities of the world around them. She serves on the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Bucks County︎︎︎ board and with the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA)︎︎︎ as an emerging professional.
You can currently find her supporting Indigenous-led programming working as the Community Organizing Program Associate with the Turtle Island Community Capital︎︎︎, a mission-driven financial institution dedicated to advancing Indigenous economic sovereignty.
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She earned her Bachelor of Architecture from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) with double minors in Nature-Culture-Sustainability Studies and History, Philosophy, and Social Sciences. While at RISD, she received the 2025 Alpha Rho Chi Bronze Medal︎︎︎, the Warner-Cook Prize, and the Undergraduate Architecture Thesis Award.
Sophia’s emerging design practice, being-belonging︎︎︎, focuses on community engagement to empower the active participation of all beings in forming stronger systems of care in the built environment. Her work has been exhibited at the RISD Museum︎︎︎ and featured in Madame Architect - Next Gen Series︎︎︎.
Sophia was a 2025 Maharam STEAM Fellow︎︎︎, concentrating on social justice and sustainability with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe Museum and Research Center︎︎︎ in Connecticut. In 2024, she was awarded the RISD Discovery Grant to work with the Navajo Nation Department of Community Development︎︎︎ on master planning for 110 Chapter communities.
She continues to work with organizations that intentionally center on an interdisciplinary team of designers addressing the complexities of the world around them. She serves on the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Bucks County︎︎︎ board and with the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA)︎︎︎ as an emerging professional.
You can currently find her supporting Indigenous-led programming working as the Community Organizing Program Associate with the Turtle Island Community Capital︎︎︎, a mission-driven financial institution dedicated to advancing Indigenous economic sovereignty.
Contact: sfrancescostudios@gmail.com
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︎Artist Liz Collins Invites Queer Communities Home in Upcoming RISD Museum Show /2025
︎Brown hosts bi-annual Ivy Native Conference highlighting Indigenous Activism / 2025
> Advancing Equity in Design: Ballinger Scholarship Recipients / 2025
︎@RISD1877 Student Spotlight / 2024
︎Madame Architect: RISD's Sophia Francesco on Community Efforts, Larger Narratives, and the Beauty of Change / 2024
︎RISD Students Expand Their Horizons Via Enlightening Summer Internships / 2024
︎Bucks County Herald: Summer internship in the Navajo Nation a lesson in community design / 2024
︎Studio Montclair: The Life & Culture of Modern Day Latinidad / 2023
︎Anderson Ranch Art Center Intern Exhibition: Magpie in the Morning / 2022
︎New Hope Arts: New Talent / 2021