Shelley Davis Roberts is an Architectural Associate at Designing Justice + Designing Spaces (DJDS), an Oakland-based architecture and real estate development non-profit working to end mass incarceration by building infrastructure that addresses its root causes: poverty, racism, and the criminal justice system itself. At DJDS, Roberts focuses on social justice architecture, which creates the infrastructure needed to end mass incarceration and its disproportionate impact on underserved communities of color.
Originally from Las Vegas, Nevada, Roberts earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Spelman College in Atlanta, GA and a Master of Architecture Degree from U.C. Berkeley.
Her multi-disciplinary interests have guided her work in architecture, diversified community development, identity and culture while working as a visual and performing artist and educator for over 20 years. Roberts has worked on a wide range of architectural project types including affordable multifamily housing, schools, private family residences, commercial and sacred spaces.
As a former Chapter President for the San Francisco Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects, Roberts researched and presented on the contributions of African American Architects in her lecture “Evolution of the African American Architect.” In addition to teaching Architecture and Diversity as a former instructor at the City College of San Francisco, she has also completed large-scale art installations as a collaborating artist of House/Full of Black Women for their 2016-2020 Episodes, which address the displacement of black women and trafficking of young girls in Oakland.
