Ali received her M.Arch with high distinction from Taubman College at the University of Michigan in 2019 and was awarded the Marian Sarah Parker Memorial Award for the most outstanding female M.Arch degree candidate who has demonstrated academic excellence, leadership qualities and outstanding contributions to the university and community. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Architecture and Urban Design from the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts in 2014 where she graduated magna cum laude. 

Gideon Schwartzman is an Architectural Designer and is currently a Visiting Assistant Teaching Professor at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.  Gideon received his Master of Architecture with distinction from the University of Michigan and his SMarchS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While at MIT, Gideon received the institute wide Marvin E. Goody Award for his thesis Many Mini Model Homes and the Louis C. Rosenberg Travel Fellowship to study Hundertwasser in Western Europe.