Joann Dao Le was born and raised in Vietnam and immigrated to Wisconsin in 1972. She earned her Bachelor's of Science in Architecture at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and subsequently acquired her Master's of Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley. She has practiced architecture in the California Bay Area and in Portland, Oregon, prior to founding DAO Architecture in 2004. Joann has more than 32 years architecture experience; she has worked on a wide variety of educational, cultural, and recreational facilities, including art museums, classroom buildings, and theaters. As design principal at DAO, she has directed work on multipurpose, educational, and arts facilities in Portland, Hillsboro, Forest Grove, Canby, Monmouth, and other communities in the Portland-metropolitan area. Her recent work includes architectural, interior, and urban design for mixed-use developments that have served to focus the revitalization of diverse districts such as Old Town, the MLK corridor, and Lents. She has lived and studied in various Asian, European, and Middle-Eastern regions and brings this broad spatial and cultural perspective to DAO's local and regional architectural solutions. Joann serves as a frequent architectural critic at the University of Oregon, Portland State University, and the University of Idaho. She is a registered architect in Oregon, Arizona, and California.

David Horsley was born in Denver, Colorado; earned his Bachelor's degree in Environmental Design at University of Colorado, Boulder; and subsequently received his Master's of Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley. Having directed work on projects in cultures and regions as diverse as Angola, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, China, and many communities across the western United States, David brings cultural sensitivity, technical expertise, and 34 years of experience as an architectural, interior, and urban designer to his work at DAO. Prior to becoming a principal at DAO, David practiced architecture in Boston, San Francisco, and Portland, where he directed large- and small-scale new construction, renovation, and master-planning for a variety of educational, residential, recreational, and agricultural projects. His extensive background in sustainable architecture has resulted in integrated, environmentally sensitive urban design solutions, which have won nationwide design awards and have been published extensively. David frequently serves on urban design and architecture review panels at the University of Oregon, Portland State University, and Washington State University. He is a registered architect in Oregon, California, and Washington.