Brandon Dake, FAIA grew up on a small farm in the sleepy town of Cuba, Missouri. After high school, he pursued an architecture degree at Kansas State University and began his career at a small firm in St. Louis. When he moved to Springfield in 1997, he met Andrew Wells and they immediately hit it off. These two like-minded young architects founded Dake Wells Architecture in 2004 with the purpose of creating places that enrich the human spirit. DWa is an idea-based design studio in Springfield and Kansas City, Missouri. As a collaborative practice, they have received over 60 design awards, published in over 120 print and digital media, and was recently recognized as a Top 50 Design Firm by Architect Magazine. Brandon has a passion for education and pursues design excellence for K-12 schools across the Midwest. His leadership on the Reeds Spring Middle School and Exeter School has received national acclaim, including a national Honor Award for Interiors from the American Institute of Architects. Brandon has a passion for architecture and the future of education, and has been invited to participate as a critic or speaker at over 25 lectures, conferences, and awards programs.