Studio Laitio builds understanding, capability and solutions for civic, cultural and public organizations to navigate urban friction. 

We specialize in public innovation, public life, youth engagement, civic participation, and public sector leadership. Our work is grounded in award-winning city leadership and service delivery, expertise on participatory design and partnerships, global networks, and research on urban friction. 

We are a boutique urban consultancy, founded by Tommi Laitio, an award-winning city leader and urbanist. Next to our core team, we bring world class designers, researchers, artists and writers to our projects based on the client’s needs.

[ STUDIO ]

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[ TEAM ]

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Tommi Laitio

Founder + PRINCIPAL
SANTA MONICA, CA, USA

Tommi is an internationally recognized city leader and strategist, with over two decades of experience in public innovation and city leadership. Tommi is a popular public speaker on public life and he advises mayors and other civic leaders around the world on how to navigate urban friction. 

Tommi started his public service in 2012 as the Director of Youth Affairs for the City of Helsinki, becoming the city’s youngest and first openly gay department head. With his leadership, the department launched the largest participatory budgeting in Finnish history and deepened partnerships with libraries, the police and arts institutions on making the city work for and with its young people. 

Tommi was appointed to lead a team of 1,800 staff members as the Finnish capital’s first Executive Director for Culture and Leisure (2012-2021). Next to delivering over 20 million annual experiences in libraries, arts, sports and youth work, the city opened its internationally celebrated Central Library Oodi, initiated a free-of-charge public art biennial, strengthened collaboration with the police on downtown safety for youth, delivered critical support to seniors during COVID-19 crisis, and expanded access and wellbeing for children, seniors, and migrant youth. His service was recognized with the medal for Knight First Class of the Order of the White Rose of Finland. 

Tommi was appointed as the inaugural Bloomberg Public Innovation Fellow at Johns Hopkins University (2022-2024). His international research focused on the skills public institutions need for navigating friction in partnerships.

Tommi holds an MA in Political Science and an Executive MBA and lives in Los Angeles.

Shannon Slade

Civic Design Lead
Charleston, SC, USA

Shannon guides clients in defining priorities and programs for public spaces and civic projects. She conducts research and strategic planning, synthesizes insights into clear strategies and visual materials, and supports cross-sector collaboration.

As the former Director of Innovation for the City of Charleston, Shannon brings experience in leveraging creative tools for public service and data-driven insights. Shannon has a decade of experience across city government, urban policy and architecture, and holds a Master in Design Studies from Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Juan Arellano

DELIVERY LEAD (FREELANCE)
Chicago, IL, USA

Juan provides project management, coordination, and administrative support across Studio Laitio's engagements. He manages interview scheduling, stakeholder communications, documentation, and logistics, ensuring that the team can focus on the substantive design work.

Arellano brings experience supporting complex multi-stakeholder projects with international dimensions.

We feel very fortunate to work with a skilled network of people and organizations in our projects. We tailor our team to the needs of each project.

[ COLLABORATORS ]

Henna Aaltonen Helsinki, Finland

Henna is an expert on art history and cultural history. She has published and edited photo books, curated photo exhibitions and has also worked as a newspaper photo editor. She also worked as a photojournalist for over 20 years. We work with Henna on research on cultural institutions and urban life.

Federico Batista Poitier Barcelona, Spain

Federico is an international policy expert and advisor specializing in equity, community engagement, and inclusive urban development. He brings deep expertise in youth development, accessibility, disability policy and education, with cross-regional professional and educational experience in Southern Africa, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas.

Annina Laaksonen Helsinki, Finland

Annina is leading one of Finland’s oldest NGOs for women and girls, YWCA Finland. She has previously led both European and Finnish youth organizations and movements. She is a highly experienced facilitator, especially when it comes to working with young people and youth policy. We work with Annina on facilitation and youth development.

Chuck Peebles (Peebs Productions) Charlotte, NC, USA

Charles "Chuck" Peebles is an award-winning documentary director of photography. He began his career at the PGA TOUR,with one of his proudest moments being his work featured in the obituary of legendary golf course architect Pete Dye. Today, Chuck travels the world creating visually compelling documentaries that spotlight people and organizations making a meaningful impact. We work with Chuck when we need visual storytelling with empathy, curiosity, and a commitment to telling authentic stories.

Keval Shah Helsinki, Finland

Keval is a multi-award-winning pianist and curator, celebrated for his artistry and cross-cultural programming, exploring the intersection of Western classical traditions with global musical languages. Raised in a Gujarati family near London, he trained at Cambridge University and the Royal Academy of Music before becoming, at 25, the youngest professor in the history of Helsinki’s Sibelius Academy. Keval has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, taught as a guest at Juilliard and universities across Europe, and is the subject of an upcoming documentary by Antti Vuori. We collaborate with Keval on arts and culture projects and experiences.

Rajan Hoyle Los Angeles, CA, USA

Rajan is the Founder of Studio MUA and an urban planner and researcher who has worked alongside local governments, community-based organizations, private businesses, and academic institutions to center the voices and perspectives of those who are too often excluded from traditional planning processes. We work with Rajan especially on public innovation and youth engagement.

Lakshman Nirthanakumaran Sydney, Australia

Lakshman is the Founder of Kolam Studios. He was trained as a doctor with frontline experience in pediatrics and emergency medicine and has worked with city, state, and federal governments since transitioning to management consulting 15 years ago. He has a particular interest in delivering teaching-quality improvements and shifting educational standards across Australia. He has developed innovative policy platforms for education reform in his home state of New South Wales, as well as helped drive ambitious public innovation initiatives across the world. We work with Lakshman on public innovation.

Communities in Schools Charlotte (USA)

Conic Group (USA)

Demos Helsinki (FIN)

Do Greater Charlotte (USA)

Gehl (DK/USA)

GenerationNation (USA)

Gensler (USA)

My Brother’s Keeper Charlotte-Mecklenburg (USA)

UNC Charlotte Urban Institute (USA)

Urban Practice (FIN) 

[ ORGANIZATIONS ]
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