ASLA-NY Announces the Recipients of the 2025 ASLA-NY Grants

ASLA-NY is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2025 ASLA-NY Grants for the ASLA National Conference and the LARE. The National Conference Grant provides $1,500 toward the cost of attending the annual ALSA Conference on Landscape Architecture, and the LARE Grant offers $1,000 to support the exam registration and preparation. The ASLA-NY Grants are open to landscape architecture professionals who live or work within the ASLA-NY chapter boundary and who promote and advance the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion in our profession and the communities it serves. Selection decisions are made without regard to race or ethnicity, and grants are available to professionals at all career stages. Applicants who identify as Black, Indigenous, or as a Person of Color are strongly encouraged to apply.

Ximena Diaz Velasco | 2025 ASLA National Conference Grant Recipient

Ximena Diaz Velasco is a model maker, community organizer, and recent graduate of the Master of Landscape Architecture program at the City College of New York. Before pursuing her master’s degree, Ximena’s undergraduate studies in international development laid the foundation for her commitment to social systemic change. She spent several years working with NGOs and government agencies, focusing on projects that reduce barriers to public spaces such as libraries and national parks for under-resourced communities. Ximena aims to grow as a landscape architect focused on designing public spaces that establish regenerative, localized water cycles and engage communities to strengthen people’s healing connections to green spaces and water.

Nicole Cheng | 2025 LARE Grant Recipient

Nicole Cheng is an interdisciplinary artist and designer committed to building the infrastructures for queer futures she wants to experience within her lifetime. As a Public Realm Planner with the NYC Department of Transportation, she pushes for equitable changes to our streets that make them accessible and enjoyable to all New Yorkers. Once licensed, she hopes to open more accessible pathways for others to join the field of landscape architecture. She holds a Master of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania.