On Thursday, November 11, 2021, the AIANY Women in Architecture Committee hosted our 6th annual ‘Happy Hour: Honoring the 2021 Women Fellows’ event at the Cosentino showroom. The event was attended by a range of attendees from architecture students, practitioners at every level and women owned firms, as well as previously elevated Fellows.

Our Honorees, Hilary Kinder Bertsch, FAIA, Principal, Perkins Eastman; Laura Ettelman-Gunter, FAIA, Managing Partner, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Karen Fairbanks, FAIA, Founding Partner, Marble Fairbanks; Pascale Sablan, FAIA, Associate, Adjaye Associates and Hilary Sample, FAIA, Co-Founder, MOS Architects talked about their journey to Fellowship and gave valuable advice on how to get there. They shared how the path to Fellowship teaches us to look back and appreciate our contribution to the profession, especially when women tend to shy away from taking credit for their good work.

We received some actionable tips such as starting to think about our capsule statements right away; keeping track of all our activities and achievements; increasing our engagement by writing articles and speaking at events; taking leadership roles; advocating for ourselves and articulating our contributions confidently; reaching out to peers and mentors for valuable feedback; and considering the ripple effect of our work, whether nationally/globally, or within our own cities and communities. The honorees concluded by looking ahead and talking about how they intend to impact the field of architecture and society even more with the Fellowship.

It was lovely to connect in-person after a series of virtual events. We would like to thank all the honorees for sharing their inspiring stories as well as the attendees for asking helpful questions, making the event a success. We would also like to thank Cosentino for being wonderful hosts as always.