CannonDesign Appoints Five Executive Directors to Advance Growth
BISWIRE/May 20, 2025 — CannonDesign has appointed five new Executive Directors to accelerate strategic growth across the firm. The group includes three executive leaders focused on national market strategy and two focused on regional leadership.
These executive leadership appointments mark an important step forward in CannonDesign’s growth as it continues to build a firm designed for the future, capable of tackling the most pressing challenges of our time through design.
Barbara Bouza, FAIA, NOMA, IIDA, has joined as Executive Director of Market Strategies and Growth – Live. Work. Play. Most recently President of Walt Disney Imagineering, Bouza led global teams responsible for designing Disney’s theme parks, resorts, cruise ships and immersive experiences. At CannonDesign, she will guide the firm’s growth across housing, civic and cultural spaces, sports, entertainment and workplace — markets that define how people live, work and connect.
Aaron Call joins as Executive Director of Market Strategies and Growth – Incubate and Launch. A biomedical engineer and strategist, Call has guided innovations from early-stage development through commercialization for leading research institutions and companies. He will champion innovation across CannonDesign, spurring the launch of startups and new services. He will also forge strategic partnerships and develop go-to-market strategies that ensure bold ideas become scalable solutions.
Abbie Clary, FAIA, FACHA, LEED AP, a nationally recognized leader in healthcare design and a longtime driver of innovation within the firm, has been promoted to Executive Director of Market Strategies and Growth – Health for All. She will drive market strategy, growth and visibility for CannonDesign across the full spectrum of health, from hospitals and clinics to public health, academic medicine, wellness, mental health, neurodiversity, survivorship, healthy communities and more. Her work includes projects for Kaiser Permanente, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab and University of Chicago Medicine, among others.
Brandon Dekker, M.S., DBIA, has been named Executive Director for the West Region. Previously the firm’s San Diego and Irvine office leader, Dekker drove both offices to be named No. 1 Best Places to Work by their respective business journals. He will now lead CannonDesign’s strategic growth and design impact across the West, specifically leading teams in Irvine, Los Angeles and San Diego, California; Portland, Oregon; and Seattle, Washington.
James Miner, a celebrated urban planner and former CEO of Sasaki, joins as Executive Director for the East Region. With over two decades of experience leading master planning and architecture projects around the world, Miner will drive growth across the East and provide leadership to CannonDesign’s teams in Boston, New York, Washington, D.C. and Baltimore.
Learn more at cannondesign.com
