Mary Kraus is an architect and facilitator who has been working with cohousing communities throughout North America for the past thirty years. She uses a participatory process to help large client groups reach consensus on design decisions, all while strengthening their sense of connection and community. She has served on the boards of the Cohousing Network and the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association. Her work has been featured in green design books and on national television, and she was named one of the “Top Ten Green Architects of 2005” by Natural Home and Garden magazine. Mary lives at Pioneer Valley Cohousing, the first cohousing community to be completed on the east coast (in 1994); her daily experience living in her ecologically-designed neighborhood lends inspiration to her work with sustainable development.