Vayle Khalaf is of the Iraqi diaspora and was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. From a very young age, she had a yearning for the arts. During her high school years she attended New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA). She developed a keen eye for visual arts that led her to attending interior design school at Louisiana State University. She learned to create inclusive environments that incorporate social and environmental sustainability and support the psychological, physical, and emotional well-being of the users in the space. Through her work and from her studies in design school she was inspired to continue her education, and she pursued two masters degrees. She studied at the University of Oregon, where she obtained a masters of architecture and masters of interior architecture.

Vayle incorporates equity into design to intentionally organize, advocate, and design spaces of environmental, social, and cultural justice throughout the built environment. She recognizes the impact design has on communities and approaches it as a tool for collective liberation. She believes that our ways of living, working, healing, and thinking are the critical connection between us and our visions for an equitable future.

She is currently teaching at the University of Washington in the College of Built Environments and working with a Seattle-based design practice, Third Place Design Co-operative. She supports Third Place Design Co-operative’s mission and her students by participating in creating imaginative futures as cornerstones of shaping space. This comes with a love for visual storytelling and facilitating community dialogue to collaborate and build authentic relationships. Through her work, she is fulfilling her aspirations to create meaningful change in her community through design activism and building collective power.