Ben Haywood

Project Associate

Anastasia Markiw

AIA, ACHA, LEED Green Associate, NCARB

Project Manager

Alex Keiser

AIA, NCARB

Project Architect

Abby Blend

Marketing Coordinator, Graphic Designer

Riley Zollars

NCIDQ, Associate IIDA, LEED AP

Associate Principal, Senior Interior Designer

Riley enjoys jigsaw puzzles almost as much as interior design. It’s not surprising – both take individual pieces and fit them together to create something beautiful. At an early age she knew she wanted to pursue a career in design, but it wasn’t until a college internship that she was first exposed to the power and complexity of interior design. That experience informed the collaborative, client-focused design philosophy she holds today.

Riley fosters the same kind of collaboration with her team that she experienced during her first internship. People are the focus of her work, and she loves projects that exceed expectations and create long-term success beyond what the client thought to be possible.

Riley credits her success to the many people who have mentored her throughout her career. Her coworkers and teammates continue to inspire her every day, contributing their expertise and advice at every turn. "We all have our strengths and areas of focus," Riley says of her teammates. "When we come together it makes for an unstoppable team."

Outside the office, Riley spends most of her free time at soccer fields, cheering on her kids from the sidelines. She also loves exploring local restaurants for great food — and design inspiration.

Tom Stanko

ACHA, AIA

Associate Principal, Project Manager

With more than 30 years of healthcare design experience, Tom brings a wealth of knowledge and awareness to our DesignGroup team.

As a project manager, Tom cultivates and maintains meaningful relationships with his clients and coworkers alike. As operations manager at the Pittsburgh office, he mentors, counsels, and challenges the firm’s team. It’s a good fit for his energetic, team-oriented personality.

His greatest source of inspiration? His parents. His dad worked in a steel mill while his mom served as a registered nurse. Tom reflects their work ethic every day.

John Ryan

AIA, LEED AP

Associate Principal, Project Manager

John practices architecture as a collaborative process, engaging with the client, user groups, stakeholders, and other project partners to discover the project solution. His experience includes a range of building types, including civic, healthcare, higher education, and commercial projects. Common to each of these projects is the use of design as a tool for engagement, conversation, and problem solving for the entire design team.

John’s passion for architecture stems from his belief that design can yield powerful results for the integration of built and natural environments, as well as strengthen the social fabric of our cities and communities.

People in a brightly and natural lit waiting area in a medical facility.

Education

Medical Education Design: Six Shifts You Need to Understand

From reuse of aging facilities to expansion of new ones, our MedEd leaders discuss the trends that will affect design in this space for decades to come.

Portrait of Ben Niebauer at the DesignGroup office.

John Ryan smiling, wearing a white stripped button down and gingham tie

by Ben Niebauer, John Ryan

Read Article More Insights

Mike Forejt

AIA, NCARB

Principal, Project Manager

For Mike, success is built on relationships. As a project manager, he oversees DesignGroup project teams while maintaining strong, ongoing communication with clients. His secret to managing complex projects and multiple responsibilities? It all comes down to effective communication. Mike is particularly proud of the lasting relationships he’s cultivated throughout his career—relationships that have fostered a uniquely productive and collaborative team dynamic. He is passionate about leading high-performing teams, guiding them with a focus on mutual respect, trust, and shared goals. This approach has consistently resulted in projects that are not only well-executed but also enriching for everyone involved.

Mike’s project management style is fair, balanced, and consistent. He expertly juggles a wide range of tasks, from overseeing project details and coordinating with stakeholders to guiding his team through challenges. With a background that spans a variety of design categories—residential, corporate, retail, hospitality, and parks and recreation—Mike’s expertise is broad and versatile. For the last eight years, he has specialized in healthcare projects, bringing both leadership and specialized knowledge to this critical sector.

Outside of work, Mike enjoys staying active in the outdoors—whether it’s hiking, running, climbing, skiing or camping. He especially values his time with family, friends, and dogs, nurturing solid relationships in all areas of his life.

Angela Kolosky

ACHA, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C

Principal, Healthcare Planning Market Leader

There was a specific moment in her final year of architecture school when Angela knew she wanted to specialize in healthcare design. She had grown to know the nursing staff at an infusion center in Columbus, Ohio, after years of specialized treatment for an ongoing condition. Knowing she was studying architecture, the nurses eagerly showed Angela plans for their long-overdue new space. “I’ll never forget how excited they were about the improvements it would make, and how much they wanted to engage in the design process,” she remembers. “Their passion was not just for how the space would make things better for them, but for how much better it would be for their patients — especially the kids.” That’s when it all clicked for her.

Since then, Angela credits lots of people for her success in healthcare design, both within DesignGroup and beyond it. Each provided life and career lessons she cherishes. That includes her own siblings, who inspire her more than anyone. They’re healthcare workers, and she sees and hears how hard they work to help others. She loves designing spaces for people just like them and their patients.

Angela advocates for healthcare design outside her client work as well. She previously served in a leadership position in the Central Ohio Cogence Alliance, a group that creates change in the design and construction industry. Currently, Angela is President of the Ohio Chapter of Women in Healthcare, which promotes professional development for women in healthcare administration, operations, facilities and those who work with them. She’s spoken nationally at the Healthcare Facilities Symposium & Expo and participated in an invitation-only Healthcare Thinktank called the Healthcare Design Forum.

It’s a busy life, but she loves it. Nights and weekends, Angela recharges by cooking and gardening. “What’s better than playing in the dirt,” she says, “and then preparing something delicious?”