Women in Architecture — AIA New York

Upcoming WIA Fall | Winter Events & Announcements

No events in December 2018
9th WIA Annual Recognition Award
- Wednesday, 19 December submission deadline

Wednesday, January 9, 2019 | 9th WIA Annual Recognition Award & Holiday Party
- Fisher & Paykel | 150 E 58^th Street #361

Tuesday, January 15, 2019 | January Committee Meeting
- Workplace Harassment Update
- Attendees: AIANY Board VPs

Wednesday, January 30, 2019 | Speed Mentoring
Friday, February 8, 2019 | Leadership Breakfast
- Frances Halsband, FAIA

Wednesday, February 20, 2019 | February Committee Meeting
- Post-Committee Meeting with Project Design Presentation
- RAMSA on Residential Master Plan Projects

Wednesday, March 6, 2019 | Architectural Practice Panel
- Strategic Design Communications: Marketing in Architecture
- Panel Speakers: Tami Hausman (Hausman), Yeng Wu (Ennead), Daria Pahotta (BIG), Carole Doscher (Graceworks) | Moderator: Molly Heintz (Oculus)

Wednesday, March 20, 2019 | March Committee Meeting
- Post-Committee Meeting topic TBD (Pecha Kucha Speed Presentation)

Wednesday, March 27, 2019 | Women’s History Month Presentation
- Women-Built NYC | Three Decades of Public Design
- Presenter: Public Design Commission of the City of New York

Saturday, 13 April 2019 | Girls Build!
Wednesday, 17 April 2019 | April Committee Meeting
- Post-Committee Meeting with Dinner Roundtable

Saturday, 27 April 2019 | Project Tour
- City Tech, Brooklyn, Perkins Eastman

Around Town & Related Events

NYIT Lecture | Monica Ponce de Leon

Wednesday, 28 November 2018 (6 pm – 8 pm)

BWAF Industry Leaders Roundtable | Women Up: Successfully Navigating #MeToo and the New Business Environment

December 3-4, 2018 – Miami

AIA New York 2019 Board Inaugural | Tuesday, 4 December 2018 (6 pm – 8 pm)

Hayes Slade, AIANY President

Topics & Good Reads

ARCHITECT | Retaining Women in Architecture: Four Perspectives (1 November 2018)
ARCHITECT | AIASF Equity by Design Releases 2018 Equity in Architecture Survey Findings (6 November 2018)
iRelaunch

Career reentry conference and events for employers and individuals returning to work after a career break, and also work directly with blue chip companies to introduce, implement and expand career reentry programs to engage with and hire from the return-to-work talent pool.

iRelaunch Return to Work Conference | Tuesday, 7 May 2019 in Stanford, CA

AIA & University of Minnesota | Guides for Equitable Practice (December 2018)

To provide architects and firms with guidance on best practices in equity, diversity, and inclusion principles, and how those values can be a part of any architectural practice.

To address issues such as career progression, work culture, leadership development, pay equity, talent recruitment and more.

Topics under work culture include attention to professional ethics and sexual harassment.

EQxDV Symposium Briefing | San Francisco 2-3 November 2018

The theme on VOICES, VALUES, and VISION
VOICES: A look at personal and professional milestones that can affect career progression and retention
VALUES: Examines how the personal ideals leading one into the profession compare with industry expectations and how valued they feel in their current positions
VISION: Distills what makes architecture a satisfying career and how designers and firms can create a culture of equity both within the workplace and in society

Storytellers

Damaris Hollingsworth, AIA | Her education in Brazil as a female student in architecture
A.L. Hu, Associate AIA | Her experience at Columbia GSAPP as a non-binary student
Beau Frail, AIA | Advocacy for work-life balance
Sandra Vivanco, RA | Ethic background and workplace expectations

Survey data briefing from 14,360 respondents (Refer to ARCHITECT article: 6 November 2018)

Female and minority architects and designers earned lower salaries than their white male peers and were less likely to hold positions of leadership.
Long workdays and uncertainty about employer values correlate with a lower likelihood of job satisfaction and firms are still lackluster in their effort to implement equitable practice.
White women have made some moves to close the leadership and pay gaps.
A graduate degree in architecture does little to elevate one’s salary, particularly in the first decade of work, and firms are not paying more for employees who can offer greater value and elevate the studio’s prestige.
Women with master’s degree reported lower salaries than men with bachelor’s degrees across all levels.
More likely to stay in a position if the work had an impact in the community, have friends in the firm, or the firm offered mentoring.
Architects want to and do have a family and more single women practitioners report being mothers (7-8 years post-graduation) that women working in firms (12 to 15 years post-graduation).
44% women report to be the prime caregiver compared to only 5% male, with 1/3 report to split child-rearing responsibilities equally.
Women prime caregivers make less than men secondary caregivers.
Firms could improve efforts to communicate performance and growth expectations.
More white male leaders (You can’t be what you can’t see…for a person of color as Principal).
Popular values are: personal growth, happiness, curiosity, honesty, and social justice.
Ambition, personal achievement, and success drive career decisions and not by wealth and social power.
Firm values identified as client satisfaction, profitability and company growth rather that individual growth and learning.

VOICES Panelists

Tiffany D. Brown Associate AIA | The Smith Group

Leadership position to advocate change in policy in the firm

A.L. Hu, Associate AIA | Solomonoff Architecture Studio
Diane Jacobs, AIA | Holly Street Studio

Started her own firm due to the lack of childcare policy and recognizes that the system does not support women who decide to start a family.

Negotiates fees with clients to support financial cost for office benefits (healthcare and retirement)

Kevin Holland, AIA | Perkins + Will

The importance to have mentors or sponsors who will give you an opportunity to “figure it out” by yourself

Do, Fail, Recover…

VOICES Breakout Session | The Power of Our Stories

Patricia Alarcon, AIA | Ratcliff Associates
Advocate for yourself
Jessica Job Sea, AIA | Noll & Tam Architects
Do what you can and always look out for that next opportunity
Nancy Malone, AIA | Siegel & Strain Architects

What you can do to get the most out of your situation and always keep an eye out for that next opportunity

Group workshop: Identify how our stories differentiate us and can impact others

Simon Sinek: The importance of the story is the “why”

Start with Why, then How, and end with What

Elements of a good story

Appeal to emotions
Element of surprise
Have a connective tissue to the story
Beginning: Create empathy
Middle: Identify challenges
How do you resolve the “complication”?
What is the “call for action” component?
End: Resolution with a happy ending

VALUES Panelists

Meg Brown | Perkins + Will
Linna Jane Frederick, FAIA | 2020 AIA President
Marilyn Moedinger, AIA | Runcible Studios
Michael Thomas, Esq | Ogletree Deakins

Takeaways:

Clients are now asking for diversity in project teams
Creating and designing projects to give back to the community
Advocating for pay equity
AIA Guides for Equitable practice

VALUES Breakout Session | Aligning Workplace Values and Project Outcomes

Shalini Agrawal, Founder | Public Design for Equity
Tiffany D. Brown, Associate AIA | The Smith Group
Shawn Hesse, Community Engagement Manager | International Living Future Institute
Karen Robichaud, Director of Creative Engagement | Payette

Learning Objectives:

Define power, privilege, and bias, and understand how these terms relate to their own lived experience
Describe the relationship between sustainability and equity
Identify ways in which power, privilege and bias shape project outcomes
Explore strategies to incorporate equitable practices into projects at varying scales of influence from firm policy to project processes and outcomes

Scenarios:

To prepare an RFP for a sustainable dormitory building for a large university that has not punished a student accused of a high-profile sexual assault in the dorm
To work for a developer on a luxury mixed-use residential project in a gentrifying neighborhood with a low-income community of color and tax-incentives for building a “green district”
To interview for a civic building in Kenya where local builders for another completed building could not get more jobs because they have been stigmatized as “working for the white man”.

Takeaways:

Are there ways to address or acknowledge the issue through the design process or the project itself
Can you affect change?
What is your responsibility?
Do you have the tools or resources to address the issue?
How to raise concern with your firm/project team
How are privilege, power, and bias come into play in each scenario
Should the firm decline the opportunity

VISION Panelists

Susan Chin, FAIA | Design Trust for Public Spaces
Arezzo Riahi, Diversity & Inclusion Strategic Business Partner | Autodesk
Deanna Van Buren, RA | Designing Justice
Bryan Lee, Associate AIA | Colloqate Design

Takeaways:

Metrics of Success
Culture & Relationship
Engagement & Impact
Work-Life Balance
Success throughout life is not just about balance, or finding time to do everything, but about replenishing the energy to reinvigorate
Work ethic + Design = Positive Contributions
Saying “Yes” is harder than saying “No”
Don’t be afraid to ask stupid questions
Find your champions and be a champion
To be hired for your potential, not just for what has been accomplished
Fail fast, fail often, but do not quit!

The AIANY Women in Architecture Committee is currently accepting applications for this year’s Recognition Award! We will recognize recently licensed women architects at our annual WIA New Year Party this year on Wednesday, January 9, 2019. In addition to the festivities, we announce the recipient of our Recognition Award. This award honors one recently licensed woman architect who demonstrates strong leadership skills and a commitment to the growth and advancement of our profession. The winner receives a $1000 stipend towards travel and miscellaneous expenses at the AIA National Convention, which will be in Las Vegas, June 6-8, 2019.

Eligible candidates must have achieved licensure between December 2017 and December of 2018 and live in the New York City area.

Fisher Paykel has graciously agreed to host our annual WIA New Year Party where we will announce this year’s winner!

Entry Package Requirements:

One essay of not more than 500 words describing your leadership role in the professional community
Two (2) Letters of Recommendation
Proof of Licensure

The Women in Architecture committee launched this new component to its annual Recognition program in 2010.

Please plan to submit for 2018 if you expect to achieve licensure. Submission deadline will be Wednesday, 19 December 2018, and PDF documents of the Entry Package (max. 6MB) should be emailed to WIA@aiany.org.

Thank you and good luck!

Vivian Lee and Kerry Nolan, AIANY WIA Committee Co-Chairs