Women in Architecture

At our first Women in Architecture Monthly Committee Meeting, we kicked off 2020 with a presentation of “A Year Celebrating Women in Architecture“, a recap of the 33 programs and events we had in 2019, followed by announcements of Upcoming Events, Around Town & Related Events, Topics, and Good Reads & More. You can view the meeting agenda here.

Cameron Ringness, an Associate at FXCollaborative then presented the AIA award-winning Statue of Liberty Museum project. Her beautiful sketches reflect a comprehensive design process, sensitive to the history, site, and the visitor’s experience. The Statue of Liberty Museum’s unique design solution not only celebrates the history and symbolism of the island, but captures the essence of purpose that truly represents the power of design. She talked about how the careful selection of materials, the meticulous attention to the details, and the rigor applied to the execution, which all complimented the design and delivered an extraordinary work of “A”-rchitecture.

We look forward to having Cameron give our members a tour of the Statue of Liberty Museum this Fall.

On January 8, 2020,  the AIANY WIA Committee held its 10th Annual Women in Architecture Recognition Award and Holiday Party at the Fisher & Paykel Experience Center and it started with a slide show of A Year Celebrating Women in Architecture, with photos and video of all 33 inspiring, educational and fun events the committee had in 2019.

Andrea Lamberti, AIA, the AIANY Board of Directors and Vice President for Professional Development, then presented the 2019 Vice President Citation for Professional Development for the committee’s wide array of programming to promote women in design and leadership and to foster more equitable practice environments for all, to the WIA Committee Co-Chairs Vivian Lee and Kerry Nolan.

The AIANY WIA Committee also honored Grace Yu as the recipient for the 10th Annual Women in Architecture Recognition Award for being licensed in 2019 and for demonstrating strong leadership skills with a commitment to the growth and advancement of our profession. A plaque was presented to Grace, along with a check of $1,000 for her expenses to attend the A’20 in Los Angeles this coming May.

Grace Yu, together with the five other candidates for the WIA Recognition Award, Alexia Beghi, Kaitlin Gerson, Siobhan Lee, Kelly McFadden, and Hanxiao Yang, shared with the WIA members their aspirations, professional experiences, and licensure tips and advice.

Mary Burnham, AIA, Jennifer Graham, IIDA, Anik Pearson, RA, and Andrea Steele, AIA were the jurors for this year’s WIA Recognition Award. The jurors talked about their selection process and were impressed by the accomplishments of all candidates who submitted their qualifications. Catherine Joseph and Leanne Zick were two applicants for the award who were not present at the event.

Danei Cesario, AIA, was the lucky winner of the WIA raffle and received the book “How Women Rise”, by Sally Helgesen and Marshall Goldsmith, with their advice on how to break the habits holding women back from the next raise, promotion or job.

The AIANY WIA Committee would like to congratulate all the following 56 New York City licensed architects and we hope the numbers will continue to rise for the next decade.

Dorit Aviv, AIA; Marissa Barresi, AIA; Alexia D. Beghi, AIA; Marrina Boontheekul, AIA; Amina Bouayad, AIA; Julia R. Brooks, AIA; Jingyu Cao, AIA; Beth C. Carliner, AIA; Xinyang Chen, AIA; Shu-Hsuan Cheng, AIA; Monica Coghlan, AIA; Betsy Daniel, AIA; Carly Epler, AIA; Laura E. Fiset, AIA; Arianna M. Galan Montas, AIA; Yiwei Gao, AIA; Kaitlin M. Gerson, AIA; Lauren M. Greer, AIA; Tinglan Guo, AIA; Alkananda Y. Jakkaraju, AIA; Catherine Joseph; Rachel E. Kaplan, AIA; Olivia M. Lau, AIA; Siobhan Lee, AIA; Tietong Lu, AIA; Kristin Luks, AIA; Kelly McFadden;Tess McNamara, AIA; Kasey A. Motley, AIA; Anna L. Oursler, AIA; Maja Paklar, AIA; Soyun Park, AIA; Karen E. Rebele, AIA; Heather Rosen, AIA; Carrie Rothfeld, AIA; Nelya Sachakova, AIA; Shefali H. Sanghvi, AIA; Tanvi D. Sanghvi, AIA; Bisma Sarfaraz, AIA; Andrea N. Sforza, AIA; Amy E. Shell, AIA; Elizabeth Snow, AIA; Jacquelyn Stinson, AIA; Mengshi Sun, AIA; Iris Wang, AIA; Jennifer T. Wang, AIA; Peijen J. Wang, AIA; Jennifer L. Whisenhunt, AIA; Hanxiao Yang, AIA; Li Yang, AIA; Grace Yu; Leanny Zick.

The AIANY Women in Architecture Committee hosted the 12th Annual Speed Mentoring Event in December. As one of WIA’s core programs, Speed Mentoring provides networking opportunities for women architects at all levels and facilitates interaction across multiple professional levels.

We are grateful to our mentors who offered advice, shared experiences, and discussed career goals. This event was structured so that each attendee met with professionals of all levels in three 20-minute sessions for informal discussions. 

It was a wonderful evening of networking, valuable exchange and conversation.

We are very excited to share with you all that the AIANY Women in Architecture Committee was awarded the 2019 Vice President Citation for Professional Development at the AIA New York 2020 Board Inaugural on December 10, held at the Center for Architecture.

The AIANY New York Chapter recognized the committee “for their wide array of programming in support of women and the fostering of more equitable practice environments for all.WIA’s programming and guidance for members is conducted with a consistently high level of energy, rigor and momentum. Meetings are efficiently organized and regularly held, allowing group members to depend on it’s networking and drawing in many new participants throughout the year. WIA’s work clearly increases contact among professionals, engages members who may not have ever participated in or attended an event, and supports newly licensed professionals and recent graduates embarking on their career journey.”

Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to our meetings, workshops and lecture series. We look forward to seeing you at our upcoming events!

On November 20, the AIANY Women in Architecture held its last Monthly Committee Meeting for 2019. You can view the full WIA November Meeting Agenda here.

The AIANY WIA Committee will resume the Monthly Committee Meeting on January 15, 2020, at the Center for Architecture, and Cameron Ringness, from FXCollaborative, will start the year at our January meeting with a design presentation of The Statue of Liberty Museum.

After the WIA Monthly Committee Meeting announcements, a well-attended round-table discussion on Motherhood and the Career Path was held as a follow-up from our June 20, 2019 roundtable on Rejoining the Workforce After Taking Parental Leave.

Betty Rexrode, AIA, Principal at Rexrode Chirigos Architects and mother of two children, ages 17 and 15, moderated a group of panelists who shared their experiences, challenges, and rewards of motherhood and how it runs parallel with their career paths. This open discussion addressed a number of pertinent questions in planning to start a family, in making it all work, and in moving forward.

The panelists were: Sara Davis, AIA, Senior Associate at FXCollaborative and mother of an 11 month-old; Rayna Erlich, AIA, Principal at Beyer Blinder Belle and mother of two, ages 12 and 9; Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick, Owner & Founder, Co-Creating Inclusion and mother of two boys, ages 10 and 7; Jennifer Graham, AIA, Associate Principal at Perkins and Will and mother of twin girls, ages 15; Sara Grant, AIA, Partner at MBB Architects and mother of two, ages 9 and 7; Sara Jazayeri, AIA, Principal at Studio 360 and mother of two, ages 28 and 15; and Hayes Slade, AIA, Principal, at Slade Architecture and mother of four, ages 27, 25, 15, and 12.

You can view full bios of the moderator and the panelists here.

You can also view and download the panelists’ responses to the panel questions here.

The AIANY Women in Architecture Committee is extremely grateful to the moderator, Betty Rexrode, and to all the panelists in taking time in their busy schedules to offer their guidance and advice on how to achieve rewards of motherhood and accomplishments in their careers. We would also like to thank them for sharing their responses with the AIA and WIA members.