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.