April Hughes, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C is President and Managing Principal at Nurture. A graduate of the University of Kansas, April was named 2014 AIA Chicago Dubin Family Young Architect of the Year, and in 2013 she was the recipient of the AIA Illinois John Wellborn Root Award. Hughes is leading her firm, starting a new chapter in its history as a woman-owned business by embarking on a path to design and preserve a sustainable future for the Chicago community. Most recently, April was named a DuPont Emerging Leader at the Design Futures Council Sustainability Summit and led the AIA Chicago Board of Directors as Board President in 2020. As a champion of integrated design, April has extensive sustainable design experience, including four platinum-rated LEED projects and two net-zero energy designs in the City of Chicago – both firsts for the State of Illinois. Most recently, April completed the Midwest’s first certified PHIUS renovation, and is now leading the Midwest’s first full Living Building Challenge + PHIUS project. She also collaborated on the design of Chicago’s first greywater system for a single-family residence, and one of the first variable volume vent hood installations for a restaurant kitchen in the City. April has collaborated on the creation of the Smart Code Sustainability Module, the City of Chicago’s Public Building Commission Water Reuse Manual, and published Living Cities: Transforming APEC Cities into Models of Sustainability by 2030.