Elizabeth Okeke-Von Batten, Founder & Principal of Context Ventures, has 15+ years experience connecting civic leaders and designers with the resources they need to collaborate and think strategically about development in the built and natural environments. She has worked successfully with 100+ municipalities and their public and private stakeholders to deliver sustainable design and planning solutions.  

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Raised in suburban Chicago, with subsequent professional experiences throughout throughout the U.S. and France, Elizabeth appreciates the unique character and heritage of communities and their places whether urban, suburban, or rural and believes that communities deserve context sensitive solutions for their land use challenges.

Elizabeth has been recognized by the Design Futures Council as an Emerging Leader in Sustainability and by Next City Vanguard as a 40 Under 40 Urban Thought Leader. She earned a Master of Arts in Historic Preservation from Cornell University's College of Art, Architecture, and Planning and a Bachelor of Arts from Augustana College. She is certified as a charrette facilitator by the National Charrette Institute.  

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Projects Elizabeth has led and developed include:

National Urban Ecosystems Forum

National Summit on Design & Urban Mobility

City Managers' Design Academy

Sustainable Cities Design Academy

Mayors' Institute on City Design - Alumni Technical Assistance

Context Ventures Partners are leaders in the design and development fields; experts in community and economic development, design, planning, architecture, real estate, business development, and public policy. The strong collaborative relationships that Context Ventures fosters through its leaders is unique and yields the highest quality technical expertise and skills to address clients' challenges.​