When Jeff Pastva and Virginia Marquardt of AIA YAF first approached us about collaborating on the April 2015 issue of YAF Connections, we thought that it was the right fit and timely way to broaden the conversation with you; the community of architects. The Equity discussions started with a focus on the AIA report of the low number of women who are licensed architects and Principals. Since then, The Missing 32% Project has evolved into a broader discussion on talent retention within the profession. The key findings from the 2014 Equity in Architecture survey looked to gain knowledge on the pinch points that cause architects to leave the profession. But we knew that data by itself was not enough. Thus, Equity by Design is call to action for both women and men to realize the goal of equitable practice in order to retain talent, advance the architecture profession, and communicate the value of design to society.
There are many great articles written by EQxD contributors and we would like to thank all of them here for taking the time to write for the April Issue. Special thanks goes to EQxD contributors Emily Grandstaff-Rice, Amy Kalar, Ashley Hinton, Annelise Pitts, Matthew Gaul, Adrianne Steichen, Katherine Williams, Karen Williams, Kristina Osborn, Robert Yuen, Ming Thompson, Christina Cho Yoo, Katie D. Hall, Emily Kohoute, and Heather Vasquez.