On Thursday, January 28, the AIANY WIA Committee hosted our 5th Annual Fellows Happy Hour honoring the women who were elevated to the AIA College of Fellows in 2020. This year’s honorees included Alexandra Barker, FAIA of BAAO Architects, Madeline Burke-Vigeland, FAIA of Gensler, Susannah Drake, FAIA of DLANDstudio Architecture and Landscape Architecture, Vivian Lee, FAIA of Woods Bagot, Sara Lopergolo, FAIA of Selldorf Architects, Susan B. McClymonds, FAIA of Susan McClymonds Architect, Pascale Sablan, FAIA of Adjaye Associates, Porie Saikia, FAIA of the Metropolitan Transit Authority, and Barbara Spandorf, FAIA of The City University of New York.

The honorees shared their stories on the path to Fellowship, including the importance of a Sponsor is the application process (and picking the right one!), writing in the active voice, and keeping a running history of accomplishments. There was a candid discussion of how we can support each other including making space for other women and fighting to dismantle the injustice inherent in the profession. We finished the event by asking the honorees what Fellowship means to them.

We encourage our members to take the example shown by these women as well as past honorees and see that this is achievable! In 2020, 9 women were elevated out of a total of 21 members of AIANY; this is an improvement over past years and the numbers can only go up.