Dr. Victoria Lanteigne is a researcher, practitioner, and entrepreneur with expertise across design, public policy, and social impact. For nearly two decades, she has worked to advance more equitable, inclusive, and community-centered approaches for built environments.

Early Career

Victoria began her career in disability rights, working with a nonprofit civil rights organization in Washington, DC. Through her work leading a consortium of multifamily housing developers, she became interested in Inclusive Design as a way to create environments that better support people with disabilities and other historically underrepresented groups. What began as a focus on accessibility evolved into a broader, career-defining passion for ensuring that all underrepresented groups, communities, and individuals have access to built environment shapes human experiences.

Advancing Inclusive Design

Over the course of her career, Victoria has advised organizations across the public, nonprofit, and private sectors on inclusive design strategies and community-centered approaches. Her consulting work has supported projects for organizations including the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Obama Presidential Center, the YMCA, the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), among others. She has been a longstanding advocate for recognizing health, equity, accessibility, and inclusion as critical dimensions of building performance and was instrumental in the development of the universal and inclusive design credits within LEED v4 and WELL v2.

Creating Best Spaces

In 2020, Victoria began doctoral research exploring how community priorities are gathered, translated into design decisions, and evaluated after occupancy. That work ultimately led to the creation of the Best Spaces™ Standard and the concept of Experience-Driven Design. What began as a doctoral dissertation evolved into a nonprofit organization, a national framework, and a growing movement dedicated to ensuring that community priorities are meaningfully reflected in design decisions and measured through user experiences.

Today, Victoria serves as Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Best Spaces Design Institute (BSDI), where she leads efforts to advance Experience-Driven Design and build the first national evidence base focused on Experience Performance in the built environment. She also serves as Co-Director of the Alliance for Inclusive Design Practice and Research at North Carolina State University College of Design.

Research and Education

She is currently authoring a forthcoming book with Routledge, tentatively titled Experience-Driven Design for Identity-Based Communities, which explores how community priorities can be translated into responsive design strategies and evaluated through post-occupancy experiences. The book is anticipated for publication in 2028.

Victoria holds a Master of Public Policy (MPP) from George Washington University and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Design from North Carolina State University.