Please join us on Friday, July 15, 2022 (12-2pm PST) for our fourth and final virtual session - The JE:DI Agenda in Action: With Liberation and Justice for All. In this session, we will explore Design Justice strategies in the context of Urban Planning, Policy and Development in shaping a future that centers practices of decolonization, anti-racist/anti-harm, and liberation from systems that limit our ability to thrive. For the first part of the workshop, we will convene notable Design Justice leaders in development and our city government in the Bay Area. They will share a broad range of practice, process and frameworks that support liberation and just outcomes in the built environment. In sharing examples of how they manifested their goals into sustained actions and broader impact, Alyssa Victory, Kyle Rawlins, and John Bauters will inspire us to reflect and take action in meaningful ways in our regional communities. 

This opening segment will be followed by a moderated panel discussion with these trailblazers to gather input on how we can be more effective in serving our communities and transform our profession in the process. In the second part of the workshop, we will revisit the Frameworks for Action (introduced in the 12/3 session) to discuss current work, identify barriers to advancing JEDI goals and to ideate and assess strategies for promoting persistence and success.

Session Background and Learning Prompts:

Our society is at a critical inflection point. The choices and actions we take today will determine our collective future. This is contextualized by a historic confluence of catastrophic events creating great disruption and uncertainty - a global pandemic disproportionately impacting the most vulnerable, long term economic disruption, racist violence, civil unrest, and environmental peril caused by climate change. This perfect storm exposes the intersectional impacts of a systemic injustices in socio-economic, environmental, and health policies within the urban planning process. The legacy of which continues to perpetuate inequities for historically disenfranchised communities of color, LGBTQIA+, and other identities who are disproportionately at-risk.  

With the newly adopted requirements for the California State General Plan Updates, the City and community members of each California city stand at the precipice of a unique opportunity in history to make a significant impact in civic policy, Elements, Environmental Justice and Racial Equity components that are grounded in truth telling, de-colonization and are co-created to authentically serve every community member (prioritizing the most vulnerable) in effective and sustainable ways, with enduring outcomes.

We recognized that this effort requires highly strategic, innovative, and collaborative ideas and practices for implementation that are deeply aligned core values and guiding principles for each City’s General Plan Update: Racial Equity and Environmental Justice, Transparency, Relevance and Clarity, Focused Planning Process that is Flexible and Adaptable, Strategic and Long-Range Though Leadership, Interdisciplinary Coordination, and a place-based approach prioritizing strong partnerships with Community Based Organizations (CBO’s).  Transit-oriented development, equitable/affordable/mixed-income housing incentives and strategies, and equitable access to urban resources.

Learning Objectives:

After attending this program, participants will be able to:

1. Identify key components and frameworks utilized successfully by key Civic Leaders and Developers (ie.- past experience and case studies that show policies and practices implemented into urban design and development) that is Design Justice driven. 

2. Comprehend new vocabulary and meaning (ie., liberation, decolonization and sovereignty) as these related to designing projects for historically underserved communities and assess impacts for a range of solutions.

3. Apply Civic scale examples of Design Justice to the EQxD Frameworks for Action to identify and assess the potential impact of systems interventions designed to promote just and equitable design outcomes for underserved communities. 

4. Commit to implementing one of these identified civic/urban Design Justice strategies with the support of fellow members of Equity by Design’s Community of Practice.

Featured Panelists:

Allyssa Victory, Esq. - 2022 Candidate for Mayor, City of Oakland

Allyssa Victory (born Villanueva) was raised in North Oakland and has since lived in every district of Oakland and even overcame homelessness.  Allyssa has devoted her entire career to advocacy on behalf of the public’s interest and underserved communities starting with clothing and food distribution with her West Oakland church and as a social justice student organizer with Oakland’s Youth Together. Allyssa is a civil rights leader, educator, and licensed attorney serving across the Bay Area and state of California. Allyssa holds a B.A. with honors in Ethnic Studies and minor in Black Studies as well as J.D. concentrated in Government Law. Allyssa currently practices in policing and labor law and is an elected ADEM Delegate to the CA Democratic Party for Assembly District 18. Allyssa is an author on the history of racial terrorism in the U.S. and currently teaches Black Studies inside San Quentin state prison. Allyssa is a candidate for Oakland Mayor in the November 8 general election.

Kyle Rawlins, BIG Oakland

Kyle Rawlins is a co-founder of BIG Oakland, an incubator/coworking space dedicated to the architecture/engineering/construction/real estate industry. In 2018, the San Francisco Business Times included BIG in its Upstart 50 business creators of the Bay Area. He is also a co-founder of Oakland-based Designing Justice + Designing Spaces (DJDS), a public interest architecture and real estate development firm focused on addressing the root causes of mass incarceration. DJDS is a winner of the ArtPlace America 2017 National Creative Placemaking Fund. Kyle has been active in analyzing, financing, design, development, construction, and management of real estate in North and South America for more than 20 years.

Before his entrepreneurial ventures, Kyle held senior positions with Prudential Real Estate Investors (PREI).  As Senior Investment Associate of Latin American Merchant Banking, he was responsible for the management and development of PREI's portfolio companies within Latin America, capital market-based product development and the integration of PREI's regional offices with its NJ headquarters. Subsequently, as Director of Corporate Development for its Brazil-based portfolio company, Atlântica Residencial, he took on deal sourcing, product development, feasibility studies, financing, marketing, and day-to-day oversight of the construction of 4,000 residential units in Brazil.

Kyle is an Echoing Green Fellow - 2016 Black Male Achievement Cohort. Kyle holds a BS in Architecture from the University of Virginia, an MBA from the Harvard Business School. In 2020, he joined the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley where he teaches equitable and inclusive development for the Master of Real Estate Development + Design program.

John Bauters - Mayor of Emeryville, Ca / State Director at Alliance for Safety and Justice

John Bauters is the Mayor of Emeryville, California. He serves as the Chair of both the Alameda County Transportation Commission and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, where he has been an outspoken and progressive voice on sustainable land use and active transportation policies that yield equitable, people-oriented communities. 

Professionally, John has over 20 years of experience as a nonprofit professional, working as a legal aid attorney for people experiencing homelessness, an eviction defense trial attorney, and more recently as a policy director on trauma-informed and community-based health services as an alternative to incarceration. 

An animal lover, cyclist, and long-distance hiker, John is an all-around outdoors enthusiast and loves helping other people discover the joy of active transportation as a lifestyle.

About the Series:

Last year, in the wake of multiple pandemics impacting societal and environmental challenges, we came together to grapple with the resultant shifts and compounding disruptions that have challenged how we live, work and thrive. At this inflection point, we quickly pivoted and expanded our platform to respond to the rapidly changing needs of our profession and community members. #ED2020 Series, The JE:DI. Agenda introduced a Justice and Equity driven approach to drive Diverse representation and Inclusive results at the contextual intersections of Social/Economic, Health, Environment, and Practice. 

This year we will continue the next chapter with The JE:DI. Agenda in Action with an augmented series of panels and workshops that will build on the outcomes of last year’s critical discourse and frameworks. We will begin with a summary of what we learned in 2020 and build upon it with today’s evolving challenges with an overview of JE:DI frameworks for solving these challenges proposed to date across multiple organizations. Together, we will begin to co-create an intersectional “Roadmap for Action'' designed to guide practitioners and firm leaders in their commitments to initiating and sustaining systemic change by dismantling systems of harm and oppression. We will propose a new paradigm for designing a just future in which the built environment cultivates dignity, belonging, agency and mutualism.

Thank You #EQxD022 JE:DI Agenda in Action Program Sponsors

Special Thanks to our Equity by Design / AIASF Sponsors for this year’s programming!

Silver Sponsors - 5000

• HOK

Steel Sponsors - 3500

• Mithun

Bronze Sponsors - 2500

• Gensler

• PYATOK

• SmithGroup

Copper Sponsors - 1500

• Tipping Structural Engineers

• Walker Warner

• Sherwin-Williams Coil Coatings

Please join us on Friday, April 8, 2022 (12-2pm PST) for our third virtual session of The JE:DI Agenda in Action: Intersections of Design Justice. In this session, we will explore the evolution of Design Justice and ways to establish more consistent actions in our daily and long term goals to advance JUST outcomes. For the first part of the workshop, we will convene two notable Design Justice activists who will share a broad range of work to advance anti-racism and Justice in the built environment. In sharing examples of how they manifested their goals into sustained actions and broader impact, Wandile Mthiyane (Ubuntu Design Group, The Anti-Racist Hotdog; Obama Leader) and Melissa R. Daniel (Architecture is Political podcast and 2022 AIA Whitney M. Young Award Recipient) will inspire us to reflect and take action in meaningful ways. 

This opening segment will be followed by a moderated panel discussion with these trailblazers to gather input on how we can be more effective in serving our communities and transform our profession in the process. In the second part of the workshop, we will gather in break-out groups to revisit the Frameworks for Action (introduced in the 12/3 session) to discuss current work, identify barriers to advancing JEDI goals and to ideate and assess strategies for promoting persistence and success. Design Justice Activists Daniel and Mthiyane will have a chance to discuss current projects in a group setting to solicit input from participants with the goal of breaking through challenges and sustaining progress towards their aspirations.

Learning Objectives: After attending this program, participants will be able to: 

1. Identify what Design Justice means and understand the impact of this work on historically underserved communities.

2. Explore the DAP Anti-Racist Design Justice Index as it relates to designing projects for historically underserved communities and assess impacts for a range of solutions.

3. Explore concepts of Design Justice in the context of EQxD Frameworks for Action to identify and assess the potential impact of systems interventions designed to promote just and equitable design outcomes for underserved communities. 

4. Commit to implementing one of these identified Design Justice strategies with the support of fellow members of Equity by Design’s Community of Practice. 

About the Series:

Last year in the wake of multiple pandemics impacting societal and environmental challenges, we came together to grapple with the resultant shifts and compounding disruptions that have challenged how we live, work and thrive. At this inflection point, we quickly pivoted and expanded our platform to respond to the rapidly changing needs of our profession and community members. #ED2020 Series, The JE:DI. Agenda introduced a Justice and Equity driven approach to drive Diverse representation and Inclusive results at the contextual intersections of Social/Economic, Health, Environment, and Practice. 

This year we will continue the next chapter with The JE:DI. Agenda in Action with an augmented series of panels and workshops that will build on the outcomes of last year’s critical discourse and frameworks. We will begin with a summary of what we learned in 2020 and build upon it with today’s evolving challenges with an overview of JE:DI frameworks for solving these challenges proposed to date across multiple organizations. Together, we will begin to co-create an intersectional “Roadmap for Action'' designed to guide practitioners and firm leaders in their commitments to initiating and sustaining systemic change by dismantling systems of harm and oppression. We will propose a new paradigm for designing a just future in which the built environment cultivates dignity, belonging, agency and mutualism.

Wandile Mthiyane  

Instagram & Twitter: @wandileubuntu 

Founder + Anti-Racist Chef he/him/his

Wandile is an Obama Leader, dynamic speaker, equity and inclusion thought leader, adjunct professor, and architect who holds a master’s in architecture from Andrews University in Michigan. He is a Resolution Fellow, One Young World ambassador, and the CEO of a social impact architecture firm, Ubuntu Design Group, The Anti-Racist Hotdog, and Ubuntu Architecture Summer Abroad Design Justice school. He was recently named one of the top 12 Black Architects Making History Today by Architiziter.

Diversity and inclusion are core themes for Wandile in serving his purpose as an architect and DEI Guide, as a result of his upbringing and life experiences. He was born during apartheid South Africa, attended a high school in Zimbabwe, and then went on to complete his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in architecture at the most ethnically diverse university in the United States; Andrews University in the state of Michigan.

Melissa R. Daniel

Instagram and Twitter: @ArchisPolly

Architectural Designer and Activist  she/her/hers

Melissa is an architectural designer in Maryland, and the creator and host of the Architecture is Political (AIP). A 2021 grant recipient of the Black & Brown Podcast Collective and was shortlisted for the Best Podcast Awards in London, the AIP podcast is where Black and Brown folks have a conversation about architecture. Melissa is a recipient of the 2022 AIA Whitney M. Young Award and the 2018 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Associates Award. She is currently on the AIA Housing and Community Development Knowledge Community executive committee.

#EQxD Core Team Moderator and Facilitators

#EQxD2022 Architect Registration Examination (ARE) Challenge Scholarship Program

The ARE Challenge Scholarship Program recognizes that the effort and expense of the architectural licensing process as a barrier to achieving this professional milestone and disproportionately affects candidates of historically underrepresented identities in the profession. In light of the extremely challenging and economically unstable conditions that we are collectively facing, AIASF Equity by Design has established financial assistance scholarships for licensure candidates who are eligible to take the ARE exams. Submissions are due by Friday, April 15, 2022.

Selected Recipients of the ARE Challenge Scholarship will be reimbursed for three (3) ARE Exams (Value $705 per recipient), regardless of pass or fail status. Recipients will also receive six (6) complimentary registrations to AIASF ARE prep classes.

We are also seeking AEC co-sponsorship of this program to fund additional ARE Challenge Scholarship recipients; contact sponsorship@aiasf.org to learn more.

Eligibility:

• Applicants must be currently eligible to take the ARE Exams for Architectural Licensure.

• Candidates must be currently authorized to work in the United States.

• Applicants are strongly encouraged to participate in 2021 EQxD programming.

#EQxD022 JE:DI in Action Program Sponsors

Special Thanks to our Equity by Design / AIASF Sponsors for this year’s programming!

Silver Sponsors - 5000

• HOK

Steel Sponsors - 3500

• Mithun

Bronze Sponsors - 2500

• Gensler

• PYATOK

• SmithGroup

Copper Sponsors - 1500

• Tipping Structural Engineers

• Walker Warner

• Sherwin-Williams Coil Coatings

The JE:DI Agenda in Action #2 - The ARE Challenge ‘360’ Overcoming barriers to licensure

Please join us on Friday, February 4, 2022 (12-2pm PST) for our second virtual session of The JE:DI Agenda in Action – The ARE Challenge ‘360’ to overcoming barriers to licensure. In the first part of the workshop, we will reconvene the cohort of scholarship recipients from the inaugural 2021 EQxD ARE Challenge. Cohort members will share their journeys in the past year, including progress towards Architectural Licensure. This opening segment will be followed by a moderated panel discussion to gather input on how we can better support pathways to licensure. In the second part of the workshop, we will gather in break-out groups to revisit the Frameworks for Action (introduced in the 12/3 session) to identify barriers to licensure and to ideate and assess strategies for promoting persistence and success towards achieving this pivotal professional milestone.

Learning Objectives

(This session is worth 1.5 HSW credits)

After attending this program, participants will be able to:

1. Describe AIASF’s EQxD ARE Challenge Scholarship program, including the program’s goals, strategies implemented to date, and preliminary outcomes.

2. Identify systemic barriers to licensure that cause this pivotal professional milestone to act as a career pinch point that disproportionately impacts the career progression and persistence of BIPOC, female, and mid-career professionals.

3. Practice using the EQxD’s Frameworks for Action to identify and assess the potential impact of systems interventions designed to promote just and equitable pathways to licensure.

4. Commit to implementing one of these identified strategies with the support of fellow members of Equity by Design’s Community of Practice.

ARE Challenge Scholarship - 2021 Recipients

Meet Returning ARE Challenge Scholarship Panelists

Jamilla Afandi

Jamilla is a local San Franciscan, born and raised in the Bayview/Hunterspoint. She was introduced to architecture through my 7th grade math course. She pursued architecture through ACE Mentor, Build SF, while in high school and continued on to earn an M.Arch and MUP from the University of Michigan.

Niknaz Aftahi

Niknaz received her BA from the BIHE, the Bahai institute for Higher education, in Iran, and finished her M.arch at UC Berkeley in 2014. She has worked at els architecture firm, and has been teaching online to Bahai students who are still banned from entering university due to their beliefs.

Marie Biaggi

Marie attended UC Santa Barbara where she earned degrees in Architectural History and Environmental Studies. Driven by a passion for high performance building, she is a LEED Green Associate and Certified Passive House Consultant. When she’s not in the studio, you can find her enjoying the outdoors with her dogs.

Jenn Hamrick

Jenn Hamrick, Assoc. AIA, LEED Green Associate is an Architectural Designer at Wilson Associates, a design/build/development firm in Oakland, CA. She is currently tackling the ARE while managing a group of volunteers 3D printing PPE face shields for teachers and medical professionals on the frontlines of the pandemic.

Mona Nahm

Mona is a designer at Y.A. studio in San Francisco working on affordable and supportive housing projects. It is a rewarding experience because she has the opportunity to design diverse and inclusive spaces that respond to our current economic and environmental pressures. Most importantly, she engages with a community that shares the same vision of a sustainable, equitable, and just future.

About the Series

Last year in the wake of multiple pandemics impacting societal and environmental challenges, we came together to grapple with the resultant shifts and compounding disruptions that have challenged how we live, work and thrive. At this inflection point, we quickly pivoted and expanded our platform to respond to the rapidly changing needs of our profession and community members. #EQxD2020 Series, The JE:DI. Agenda introduced a Justice– and Equity-driven approach to drive Diverse representation and Inclusive results at the contextual intersections of Social/Economic, Health, Environment, and Practice.

This year we will continue the next chapter with The JE:DI. Agenda in Action with an augmented series of panels and workshops that will build on the outcomes of last year’s critical discourse and frameworks. We will begin with a summary of what we learned in 2020 and build upon it with today’s evolving challenges with an overview of JE:DI frameworks for solving these challenges proposed to date across multiple organizations. Together, we will begin to co-create an intersectional “Roadmap for Action” designed to guide practitioners and firm leaders in their commitments to initiating and sustaining systemic change by dismantling systems of harm and oppression. We will propose a new paradigm for designing a just future in which the built environment cultivates dignity, belonging, agency and mutualism.

EQxD Core Team Moderator and Facilitators

#EQxD2022 Architect Registration Examination (ARE) Challenge Scholarship Program

The ARE Challenge Scholarship Program recognizes that the effort and expense of the architectural licensing process as a barrier to achieving this professional milestone and disproportionately affects candidates of historically underrepresented identities in the profession. In light of the extremely challenging and economically unstable conditions that we are collectively facing, AIASF Equity by Design has established financial assistance scholarships for licensure candidates who are eligible to take the ARE exams. Submissions are due by Friday, April 15, 2022.

Selected Recipients of the ARE Challenge Scholarship will be reimbursed for three (3) ARE Exams (Value $705 per recipient), regardless of pass or fail status. Recipients will also receive six (6) complimentary registrations to AIASF ARE prep classes.

We are also seeking AEC co-sponsorship of this program to fund additional ARE Challenge Scholarship recipients; contact sponsorship@aiasf.org to learn more.

Eligibility:

• Applicants must be currently eligible to take the ARE Exams for Architectural Licensure.

• Candidates must be currently authorized to work in the United States.

• Applicants are strongly encouraged to participate in 2021 EQxD programming.

#EQxD022 JE:DI in Action Program Sponsors

Special Thanks to our Equity by Design / AIASF Sponsors for this year’s programming!

Silver Sponsors - 5000

• HOK

Steel Sponsors - 3500

• Mithun

Bronze Sponsors - 2500

• Gensler

• PYATOK

• SmithGroup

Copper Sponsors - 1500

• Tipping Structural Engineers

• Walker Warner

• Sherwin-Williams Coil Coatings

(For full description of the EQxD2020 SERIES - CLICK HERE)

Closing Session Workshop Description -

We will summarize the key concepts and lessons from the Series to translate into a draft of  strategic actions and sustained outcomes that are imperative in order to realize the JEDI Agenda within the civic realm. These practices and processes will aggregate into paradigm shifts evidenced in policy amendments, measured progress towards dismantling of systems of oppression, and a motivated workforce that understands and promotes effective change in the built environment. 

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will be able to understand and implement solutions that mitigate  identified barriers, to effectively advocate for workplace, social, health, and environmental justice. 

• Participants will understand practices and processed championed by equity and justice activists and be empowered to embrace their own identity and lived experiences to set or refresh professional career goals for meaningful activism.  and

• Participants will investigate an intersectional concept of justice, articulating ways in which architectural practitioners can become change agents by designing holistically to address issues related to health, social mobility, and the environment.

• Participants will self-assess their growth in understanding and awareness regarding each of the intersectional lenses identified and outline an action plan for effective engagement that leads to a paradigm shift in the practice of disciplines that contribute to the built environment.

AIA CEU CREDITS AVAILABLE

About the Speakers/Panelists

Hop Hopkins, Director of Organizational Transformation for the Sierra Club.

Born in Dallas, Texas to working class parents, Hop sharpened his analysis organizing as an HIV/AIDS organizer and anti-globalization activist during the WTO uprising. Hop is also a certified Arborist, a Master Gardener and is a certified Community Emergency Response Team instructor. Alongside his wife of seventeen years, Hop homeschools their two daughters and maintains a food forest inhabited by their pet Australian shepherds, chickens, honey bees, fruit trees and multiple compost piles.

Bryan C. Lee Jr.
Founder + Design Principal, Colloqate Design

Bryan is an Architect, educator, writer, and Design Justice Advocate. He is the founder/Design Principal of Colloqate Design a nonprofit multidisciplinary design practice, in New Orleans, Louisiana, dedicated to expanding community access to design and creating spaces of racial, social, and cultural equity. He has led two award-winning youth design programs nationwide and is the founding co-organizer of the DAP (Design As Protest) Collective. He was most recently noted as one of the 2018 Fast Company Most Creative People in Business, a USC Annenberg MacArthur Civic Media Fellow, and the youngest design firm to win the Architectural League’s Emerging Voices award in 2019.

Gilbert C. Gee, Ph.D.

Gilbert C. Gee, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the Fielding School of Public Health at UCLA. He received his bachelor degree in neuroscience from Oberlin College, his doctorate in Health Policy and Management from the Johns Hopkins University, and post-doctoral training in sociology from Indiana University. His research focuses on the social determinants of health inequities of racial, ethnic, and immigrant minority populations using a multi-level and life course perspective. A primary line of his research focuses on conceptualizing and measuring racial discrimination, and in understanding how discrimination may be related to illness. He has also published more broadly on the topics of stress, neighborhoods, immigration, environmental exposures, occupational health, and on Asian American populations.

Closing Session Panel Moderator

Rosa T. Sheng, FAIA
Principal and Director of Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion | SmithGroup

Rosa T. Sheng, FAIA is Principal and Director of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion at SmithGroup. She is also the founder of Equity by Design [EQxD] and 2018 Past President of AIA San Francisco. Throughout the years, Rosa has led a variety of award-winning and internationally acclaimed projects, while launching a national movement for equitable practice, just and inclusive design outcomes in the built environment with a focus on higher education learning and space resources for student success. Rosa has delivered continuing educational programs and thought leadership outreach featured in Architect Magazine, Metropolis, Wall Street Journal, TEDxPhiladelphia, SxSW, KQED/NPR, and Cannes Lions. In 2019 she was recognized as a Metropolis Game Changer.

Closing Session Facilitators

Lilian Asperin, AIA
Partner | WRNS Studio

As one of WRNS Studio’s Partners, Lilian helps lead the design process and build teams that deliver aspirational outcomes. A leader within the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP), she is the 2018-2021 Pacific Regional Chair. Committed to advancing the practice of architecture, Lilian also has served as a Board Director of AIA San Francisco and is the Co-Chair of the Equity by Design Committee, a call to action for equitable practice and to communicate the value of design to society.

Ántonia Bowman, AIA
Architect | ELS

Ántonia is an architect at ELS and a registered architect in Texas and California. She earned her Master of Architecture degree from The University of Texas at Austin and holds a BA in Studio Art from Smith College. Ántonia is interested in the public experience of architecture and concentrates on cultural, civic, and higher education projects. She is committed to advocating for greater visibility and equitable opportunities for women, queer, and ethnically diverse architects in the profession. She is currently serving on the AIA CA Board of Directors as a representative of the East Bay Chapter. Outside of work, Ántonia is passionate about road cycling, spending time outdoors, and travelling.

Julia Mandell, AIA
Associate Design Director | Wilson Associates

Julia Mandell, AIA, is a designer, architect, and advocate for equity in the field of architecture. As Co-Chair of Equity by Design, she has co-authored three Equity in Architecture Surveys and developed and produced many educational sessions, including three acclaimed Equity by Design Symposia. She has shared her expertise and passion for equitable practice with conference audiences, student groups, and in publications such as The Plan Journal and Metropolis.

Currently Associate Design Director with Wilson Associates, a design/build/development firm in Oakland, California, she is committed to the design and development of thoughtful, well-crafted spaces that are comfortable, useful, and beautiful. Her work as a designer and builder focuses on adaptive reuse, reimagining neighborhoods through small-scale interventions that accumulate over time to create welcoming, inclusive, adaptable places. She is a licensed architect in the state of California.

Annelise Pitts, AIA

Annelise Pitts, AIA, is a passionate designer, researcher and advocate for justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in architectural practice and in the built environment. She is a Principal Consultant at Cameron MacAllister Group, advising firms in the design industry to advance these topics. As Research Chair for Equity by Design, she leads the Equity in Architecture research project and has guided the development and analysis of three national surveys exploring differential career experiences and aspirations of architecture school graduates on the basis of personal identity. This work has been widely published, most recently in Women [Re]Build: Stories, Polemics, Futures and The Plan Journal.

In her architectural practice, she works collaboratively across project scales and building typologies to develop living, learning, and gathering spaces that are both inviting and uplifting. She is a registered architect in New York State. Having recently relocated to the East Coast after years of practicing in the Bay Area with Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, she now lives and works in Brooklyn, NY, where she and her husband are raising their one-year-old daughter.

Join us.

Our collective exploration will have a deep focus on how Just and Equitable policies and frameworks drive Diversity and Inclusive opportunities and practices (J.E.D.I.). At the core, we will prioritize Justice, creating a common thread to expand our intersectional mindset. All sessions via Zoom and recorded for later viewing.

• Opening Session - J.E.D.I. Agenda - An Intersectional Approach for a Resilient Future

  • Wednesday - Sept. 30, 2020, 1:30-3:00pm PST 

• Session 1 - J.E.D.I. Agenda and Society/Economics/Social Mobility

  • Friday - Oct. 23, 2020, 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm PDT

• Session 2 - J.E.D.I. Agenda and Health

  • Friday - November 20, 2020, 11am-12:30pm PST

• Session 3 - J.E.D.I. Agenda and Environment

  • Friday - December 11, 2020, 11am-12:30pm PST 

• Session 4 - J.E.D.I. Agenda and Practice

  • Friday - January 22, 2021, 11am-12:30pm PST  

• Closing Session - Practice, Process and Paradigms for the J.E.D.I. Agenda

  • Friday - February 26, 2021, 11am-12:30pm PST

#EQxD2020 SERIES - Practice, Process and Paradigms for the J.E.D.I. Agenda

Thanks to our #EQxD2020 SERIES Champions!

• Silver Sponsors -

  • HOK

  • SHERWIN WILLIAMS COIL COATINGS

  • OBR Architecture

• Titanium Sponsors

  • SMARTci

  • AWV

  • PARKLEX USA

  • MORIN

• Bronze Sponsors -

  • PYATOK

  • CAMERON MACALLISTER

  • SOM

  • SMITHGROUP

  • WRNS STUDIO

(For full description of the EQxD2020 SERIES - CLICK HERE)

Session 4: J.E.D.I. Agenda + Practice

Architecture as a Professional Practice is a largely white, male, straight, cis-gendered profession, with roots that stem from the policies and practices within the educational pipeline and professional workplace. As such it is difficult to claim that the field is able to truly serve end-users who represent the intersection of identities and demographics of our country - especially those who have been historically marginalized. Recently, as we have witnessed a seeming awakening of much of America to a truer history and narrative of the experience of black identities and BIPOC communities , it has become abundantly clear that privilege blinds one to the lived experience of those with less of it. 

Architecture is a political act. Without a true representation of the populations we serve, the profession cannot fulfill its mission to design and advocate for the health, safety, and welfare of our society’s intersectional demographic.

• How do we create a truly just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive (JEDI) profession that attracts, welcomes, and supports talented designers of all races, ethnicities, genders, sexualities?  

• How can we identify and promote pathways for education and learning about the profession, much earlier? How do we improve the pipeline to bring more young people of color to architecture, and how do we mentor and champion them once they have arrived? 

• How do we ensure equal pay for women in architecture, implement leadership advancement, and create inclusive workplaces that allow all professionals, regardless of their sexuality or gender expression, to feel valued? 

This session will provide an introduction to these questions and explore strategies and solutions for creating a JEDI workplace.

Learning Objectives:

• Using key readings on equity and justice in the architectural practice, participants will be able to describe ways in which the profession has played a role in perpetuating barriers that limit access to the opportunities and resources needed for satisfying and sustainable careers, while also narrowing the profession’s collective ability to effectively shape social, health, and environmental justice. 

• Participants will learn about the work of architectural equity and justice activists who are implementing new practices and processes that in turn create a paradigm shift towards a just future in which our profession is more relevant and provides meaningful and inclusive career opportunities to all architectural professionals, regardless of their identity or background.

• Participants will investigate an intersectional concept of justice, articulating ways in which architectural practitioners can become change agents delivering a tripartite platform for justice by designing holistically to address issues related to health, social mobility, and the environment.

• Participants understand ways to establish goals and establish measures of success to track improvements in practice which promote justice in architectural practices, in their projects, and in their communities. 

Pre-readings for Discussion

• James Garrett Jr. Hopes George Floyd Is the Final Wake-Up Call Architects Need  

• AIA Guides to Equitable Practice  - Read Intercultural Competence Chapter

• EQXD Survey Data: Topic Specific, Data Driven (Recruiting, Retention, Advancement) 

Recommended Additional Resources

• 3 ways Firms Can Cultivate the Careers of Black Architects and Why They Should by BY Taz Khatri

• Architecture Camps (Hip Hop Architecture Camp, NOMA Project Pipeline)

• 400 Forward - Sponsoring and Mentoring Women of Color in Architecture

• Parlour Guides - (women and Australia)

• JUST Label (still underbaked - but getting better) - Fees required to participate

• https://www.acsa-arch.org/resources/data-resources/where-are-my-people-black-in-architecture/

AIA CEU CREDITS AVAILABLE

Join us.

Our collective exploration will have a deep focus on how Just and Equitable policies and frameworks drive Diversity and Inclusive opportunities and practices (J.E.D.I.). At the core, we will prioritize Justice, creating a common thread to expand our intersectional mindset. All sessions via Zoom and recorded for later viewing.

• Opening Session - J.E.D.I. Agenda - An Intersectional Approach for a Resilient Future

  • Wednesday - Sept. 30, 2020, 1:30-3:00pm PST 

• Session 1 - J.E.D.I. Agenda and Society/Economics/Social Mobility

  • Friday - Oct. 23, 2020, 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm PDT

• Session 2 - J.E.D.I. Agenda and Health

  • Friday - November 20, 2020, 11am-12:30pm PST

• Session 3 - J.E.D.I. Agenda and Environment

  • Friday - December 11, 2020, 11am-12:30pm PST 

• Session 4 - J.E.D.I. Agenda and Practice

  • Friday - January 22, 2021, 11am-12:30pm PST  

• Closing Session - Practice, Process and Paradigms for the J.E.D.I. Agenda

  • Friday - February 26, 2021, 11am-12:30pm PST

Presenters

Practice Champions

Kendall A. Nicholson, Ed.D, Assoc. AIA, NOMA, LEED GA
Director of Research and Information, ACSA

Kendall Nicholson is a licensed educator, trained architectural designer, and an avid researcher.  He works as the Director of Research and Information at the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA).  With degrees in architecture, real estate and education, his research explores the discipline of architecture through the lens of a social scientist.  He has presented research internationally and his research interests surround equity, education, and curriculum within the discipline of architecture. 

Nationally, his passion for equity and race relations manifests in his role as the research consultant for the 2016 and 2018 Equity in Architecture Survey sponsored by AIA San Francisco and Equity by Design (EQxD). He also volunteers as a member of the AIA’s Equity and the Future of Architecture board committee and as an at-large director for the AIA National Associate Committee leading a work group on Mentorship and Equity.

Karen E. Williams, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C
Architect, Pivot Architecture

Karen E. Williams joined PIVOT Architecture Eugene, OR, as a Project Architect in 2014. Currently she is working CA on a local elementary school. Born in London, England, Karen has always had an international perspective. Karen attended Florida A & M University where she received a Master of Architecture degree. In addition to practicing architecture, she is an Adjunct professor at the University of Oregon, instructing the courses of Professional Practice and Fundamentals of Revit, as well as serving as a career advisor. Karen was the emeritus chairperson of the Women In Architecture – Orlando (WIA-O) committee where her personal goal was to learn from the influential women in Orlando’s architecture community. Consistently she is works to educate people about the overall benefits of the architecture community. She believes strongly in the need to market architecture to citizens of all ages and is willing to share her talents with the community.

In 2014 Karen was a recipient of the National Young Architects Award. In 2012 she received the Fred Pryor Young Architects Award at the AIA Orlando Design awards program for her demonstrated commitment to the profession and community via leadership and community service. She is consistently working to educate people about the inner benefits of the architecture community. She believes strongly in the need to market architecture to citizens of all ages and is willing to share her talents with the community.

F. Jason Campbell
Associate, SmithGroup, Lecturer at UC Berkeley, Creative Director at Ell

F. Jason Campbell is an interdisciplinary designer and artist, leveraging the fields of architecture, photography, and exhibition design. He leads design efforts as an Associate for SmithGroup Higher Education San Francisco, and instructs undergraduate and graduate level design studios at the University of California, Berkeley. He has presented at the local and national conference level on topics such as: equitable and alternative methods of architectural practice, and the intersection of academia and professional practice.

Campbell’s work has been steered by interests in the spatial properties and actions required to claim, make, and keep space; and alternative use of space resources. He recently completed a 5-year design research initiative in the form of a flex-use art space, ELL, forged at the intersection of architectural discourse and performance art. Collaborations include, ‘Evidence’ with the editors of Perspecta50: Urban Divides - the Yale Architectural Journal, and the ARDR (Anti-Racism Design Resources) with SPACE INDUSTRIES.

Campbell earned his Master of Architecture degree from the University of California, Berkeley and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University at Buffalo.

—————————————————-

Session Moderator

Lilian Asperin, AIA
Partner | WRNS Studio

As one of WRNS Studio’s Partners, Lilian helps lead the design process and build teams that deliver aspirational outcomes. A leader within the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP), she is the 2018-2021 Pacific Regional Chair. Committed to advancing the practice of architecture, Lilian also has served as a Board Director of AIA San Francisco and is the Co-Chair of the Equity by Design Committee, a call to action for equitable practice and to communicate the value of design to society

Session Facilitators

Ántonia Bowman, AIA
Architect | ELS

Ántonia is an architect at ELS and a registered architect in Texas and California. She earned her Master of Architecture degree from The University of Texas at Austin and holds a BA in Studio Art from Smith College. Ántonia is interested in the public experience of architecture and concentrates on cultural, civic, and higher education projects. She is committed to advocating for greater visibility and equitable opportunities for women, queer, and ethnically diverse architects in the profession. She is currently serving on the AIA CA Board of Directors as a representative of the East Bay Chapter. Outside of work, Ántonia is passionate about road cycling, spending time outdoors, and travelling.

Julia Mandell, AIA
Associate Design Director | Wilson Associates

Julia Mandell, AIA, is a designer, architect, and advocate for equity in the field of architecture. As Co-Chair of Equity by Design, she has co-authored three Equity in Architecture Surveys and developed and produced many educational sessions, including three acclaimed Equity by Design Symposia. She has shared her expertise and passion for equitable practice with conference audiences, student groups, and in publications such as The Plan Journal and Metropolis.

Currently Associate Design Director with Wilson Associates, a design/build/development firm in Oakland, California, she is committed to the design and development of thoughtful, well-crafted spaces that are comfortable, useful, and beautiful. Her work as a designer and builder focuses on adaptive reuse, reimagining neighborhoods through small-scale interventions that accumulate over time to create welcoming, inclusive, adaptable places. She is a licensed architect in the state of California.

Annelise Pitts, AIA

Principal Consultant / Cameron MacAllister Group

Annelise Pitts, AIA, is a passionate designer, researcher and advocate for justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in architectural practice and in the built environment. As Research Chair for Equity by Design, she leads the Equity in Architecture research project and has guided the development and analysis of three national surveys exploring differential career experiences and aspirations of architecture school graduates on the basis of personal identity. This work has been widely published, most recently in Women [Re]Build: Stories, Polemics, Futures and The Plan Journal.

In her architectural practice, she works collaboratively across project scales and building typologies to develop living, learning, and gathering spaces that are both inviting and uplifting. She is a registered architect in New York State. Having recently relocated to the East Coast after years of practicing in the Bay Area with Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, she now lives and works in Brooklyn, NY, where she and her husband are raising their one-year-old daughter.

Rosa T. Sheng, FAIA
Principal and Director of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion | SmithGroup

Rosa T. Sheng, FAIA is Principal and Director of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion at SmithGroup. She is also the founder of Equity by Design [EQxD] and 2018 Past President of AIA San Francisco. Throughout the years, Rosa has led a variety of award-winning and internationally acclaimed projects, while launching a national movement for equitable practice, just and inclusive design outcomes in the built environment with a focus on higher education learning and space resources for student success. Rosa has delivered continuing educational programs and thought leadership outreach featured in Architect Magazine, Metropolis, Wall Street Journal, TEDxPhiladelphia, SxSW, KQED/NPR, and Cannes Lions. In 2019 she was recognized as a Metropolis Game Changer.

#EQxD2020 SERIES - Practice, Process and Paradigms for the J.E.D.I. Agenda

Pricing + Registration

Registration is available for individual sessions, for a package of three sessions (available for the first three and second three consecutive sessions), and for the full series suite of six sessions. To register for a package of three sessions or the full series of six sessions, please view the ticket options for the first session in that ticket bundle.

The Full Series+ option includes digital access to recordings of all sessions.

AIA Member

1. 1 Session  $20

   1. Package of 3 Sessions  $50

   2. Full Series+  $95

General Admission

1. 1 Session  $30

   1. Package of 3 Sessions  $80

   2. Full Series+  $155

AIASF Student Member

1. 1 Session $10

   1. Package of 3 Sessions  $20

   2. Full Series+  $35

REGISTER HERE

Need-Based Complimentary Tickets

The #EQxD2020 Series is welcoming and supportive of those interested in attending that are currently experiencing economic uncertainty. We will ensure that there are no barriers to access for this program.

In recognition of the compounded challenges of 2020, AIASF Equity by Design will be providing need-based complimentary series tickets for those challenged with financial hardship. If you are a student, emerging professional, or practitioner who is currently unemployed or under-employed, please complete this form to apply for complimentary registration for the series.

#EQxD2020 – (ARE) Licensure Challenge Scholarship Program

The ARE Challenge Scholarship Program recognizes that the effort and expense of the architectural licensing process as a barrier to achieving this professional milestone and disproportionately affects candidates of historically underrepresented identities in the profession. In light of the extremely challenging and economically unstable conditions that we are collectively facing, AIASF Equity by Design has established financial assistance scholarships for licensure candidates who are eligible to take the ARE licensure exams. Selected Recipients of the #EQxD2020 ARE Challenge Scholarship will be reimbursed for three (3) ARE Exams (Value $705 per recipient), regardless of pass or fail status.

We are also seeking AEC co-sponsorship of this program to fund additional ARE Challenge Scholarship recipients; contact Sponsorship@aiasf.org to learn more.

Eligibility:

• Applicants must be currently eligible to take the ARE Exams for Architectural Licensure.

• Candidates must be currently authorized to work in the United States.

• Applicants are strongly encouraged to participate in the #EQxD2020 series.

#EQxD2020 SERIES - Practice, Process and Paradigms for the J.E.D.I. Agenda

Thanks to our #EQxD2020 SERIES Champions!

• Silver Sponsors -

  • HOK

  • SHERWIN WILLIAMS COIL COATINGS

  • OBR Architecture

• Titanium Sponsors

  • SMARTci

  • AWV

  • PARKLEX USA

  • MORIN

• Bronze Sponsors -

  • PYATOK

  • CAMERON MACALLISTER

  • SOM

  • SMITHGROUP

  • WRNS STUDIO

(For full description of the EQxD2020 SERIES - CLICK HERE)

Session 3: J.E.D.I. + Environment 

The pandemic has demonstrated how much upheaval, suffering, and destruction can be wrought by a global natural disaster. As the effects of climate change continue to intensify, they will bring ever worsening conditions of a similar ilk. As we have seen in the coronavirus pandemic and in recent climate-related disasters, those with less will suffer more. How can the specter of this continued and coming injustice increase the urgency and effectiveness of our climate advocacy in the building sector? How can we increase access to high-performance buildings and healthy cities for poor communities and communities of color? The pandemic has also shown that rapid cultural change is possible. If this moment is an opportunity for societal transformation, how do we want to recalibrate our relationship to the earth? Can an effort to design inclusive and culturally competent high-performance buildings amplify awareness of architecture’s integrated functioning within biological, physical, and cultural systems, resulting in more just and sustainable design? This session will explore the intersections of equity and design for climate change mitigation and adaptation. 

Learning Objectives:

• Using key readings on justice and the built environment, participants will be able to describe ways in which the built environment plays a role in perpetuating social inequity as the impacts of climate change are disproportionately felt in marginalized communities.

• Participants will learn about the work of design justice activists who are developing new architectural practices, processes, and paradigms in order to build a just future that recalibrates our relationship to the earth through the design of inclusive and culturally competent high-performance buildings.

• Participants will investigate an intersectional concept of justice, articulating ways in which issues of justice and environment intersect with issues of justice in health, social justice, and equity and justice in the architectural workplace. 

• Participants will commit to take action to promote climate justice and resiliency in their architectural practices, in their projects, and in their communities. 

Pre-Readings for Discussion:

• Racism Is Killing the Planet by Hop Hopkins

• To Achieve Climate Justice, Don’t Leave Architecture to the Architects an interview with Dr. Robert Bullard

• Environmentalism's Racist History by Jedidiah Purdy

Recommended Additional Resources

• Pollution is Killing Black Americans. This Community Fought Back. by Linda Villarosa

• Social Justice and Climate Justice by SustainABLE (Lucy - doesn’t share last name)

• https://theweek.com/articles/937357/climate-refugees-are-here-theyre-americans

• The Climate Gap - Inequalities in How Climate Change Hurts Americans & How to Close the Gap by Rachel Morello-Frosch, Ph.D., MPH | Manuel Pastor, Ph.D. | James Sadd, Ph.D. | Seth B. Shonkoff, MPH 

• Climate350 video: What we must do to dismantle white supremacy

• Pellow, David N. 2016. “Toward a Critical Environmental Studies: Black Lives Matter as an Environmental Justice Challenge.” DuBois Review: Social Science Research on Race.

• Pulido, Laura. 2016. “Geographies of Race and Ethnicity: Environmental Racism, Racial Capitalism, and State Sanctioned Violence.” Progress in Human Geography. (PDF)

• There is no environmental justice without social justice

• Architecture 2030 Challenge Website

About the Speakers

Hop Hopkins, Director of Organizational Transformation for the Sierra Club.

Born in Dallas, Texas to working class parents, Hop sharpened his analysis organizing as an HIV/AIDS organizer and anti-globalization activist during the WTO uprising. Hop is also a certified Arborist, a Master Gardener and is a certified Community Emergency Response Team instructor. Alongside his wife of seventeen years, Hop homeschools their two daughters and maintains a food forest inhabited by their pet Australian shepherds, chickens, honey bees, fruit trees and multiple compost piles.

Session Moderator

Julia Mandell, AIA
Associate Design Director | Wilson Associates

Julia Mandell, AIA, is a designer, architect, and advocate for equity in the field of architecture. As Co-Chair of Equity by Design, she has co-authored three Equity in Architecture Surveys and developed and produced many educational sessions, including three acclaimed Equity by Design Symposia. She has shared her expertise and passion for equitable practice with conference audiences, student groups, and in publications such as The Plan Journal and Metropolis.

Session Facilitators

Lilian Asperin, AIA
Partner | WRNS Studio

As one of WRNS Studio’s Partners, Lilian helps lead the design process and build teams that deliver aspirational outcomes. A leader within the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP), she is the 2018-2021 Pacific Regional Chair. Committed to advancing the practice of architecture, Lilian also has served as a Board Director of AIA San Francisco and is the Co-Chair of the Equity by Design Committee, a call to action for equitable practice and to communicate the value of design to society.

Ántonia Bowman, AIA
Architect | ELS

Ántonia is an architect at ELS and a registered architect in Texas and California. She earned her Master of Architecture degree from The University of Texas at Austin and holds a BA in Studio Art from Smith College. Ántonia is interested in the public experience of architecture and concentrates on cultural, civic, and higher education projects. She is committed to advocating for greater visibility and equitable opportunities for women, queer, and ethnically diverse architects in the profession. She is currently serving on the AIA CA Board of Directors as a representative of the East Bay Chapter. Outside of work, Ántonia is passionate about road cycling, spending time outdoors, and travelling.

Annelise Pitts, AIA

Principal Consultant / Cameron MacAllister Group

Annelise Pitts, AIA, is a passionate designer, researcher and advocate for justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in architectural practice and in the built environment. As Research Chair for Equity by Design, she leads the Equity in Architecture research project and has guided the development and analysis of three national surveys exploring differential career experiences and aspirations of architecture school graduates on the basis of personal identity. This work has been widely published, most recently in Women [Re]Build: Stories, Polemics, Futures and The Plan Journal.

In her architectural practice, she works collaboratively across project scales and building typologies to develop living, learning, and gathering spaces that are both inviting and uplifting. She is a registered architect in New York State. Having recently relocated to the East Coast after years of practicing in the Bay Area with Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, she now lives and works in Brooklyn, NY, where she and her husband are raising their one-year-old daughter.

Rosa T. Sheng, FAIA
Principal and Director of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion | SmithGroup

Rosa T. Sheng, FAIA is Principal and Director of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion at SmithGroup. She is also the founder of Equity by Design [EQxD] and 2018 Past President of AIA San Francisco. Throughout the years, Rosa has led a variety of award-winning and internationally acclaimed projects, while launching a national movement for equitable practice, just and inclusive design outcomes in the built environment with a focus on higher education learning and space resources for student success. Rosa has delivered continuing educational programs and thought leadership outreach featured in Architect Magazine, Metropolis, Wall Street Journal, TEDxPhiladelphia, SxSW, KQED/NPR, and Cannes Lions. In 2019 she was recognized as a Metropolis Game Changer.

#EQxD2020 SERIES

Join us.

Our collective exploration will have a deep focus on how Just and Equitable policies and frameworks drive Diversity and Inclusive opportunities and practices (J.E.D.I.). At the core, we will prioritize Justice, creating a common thread to expand our intersectional mindset. All sessions via Zoom and recorded for later viewing.

• Opening Session - J.E.D.I. Agenda - An Intersectional Approach for a Resilient Future

  • Wednesday - Sept. 30, 2020, 1:30-3:00pm PST 

• Session 1 - J.E.D.I. Agenda and Society/Economics/Social Mobility

  • Friday - Oct. 23, 2020, 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm PDT

• Session 2 - J.E.D.I. Agenda and Health

  • Friday - November 20, 2020, 11am-12:30pm PST

• Session 3 - J.E.D.I. Agenda and Environment

  • Friday - December 11, 2020, 11am-12:30pm PST 

• Session 4 - J.E.D.I. Agenda and Practice

  • Friday - January 22, 2021, 11am-12:30pm PST  

• Closing Session - Practice, Process and Paradigms for the J.E.D.I. Agenda

  • Friday - February 26, 2021, 11am-12:30pm PST

Pricing + Registration

Registration is available for individual sessions, for a package of three sessions (available for the first three and second three consecutive sessions), and for the full series suite of six sessions. To register for a package of three sessions or the full series of six sessions, please view the ticket options for the first session in that ticket bundle.

The Full Series+ option includes digital access to recordings of all sessions.

AIA Member

1. 1 Session  $20

   1. Package of 3 Sessions  $50

   2. Full Series+  $95

General Admission

1. 1 Session  $30

   1. Package of 3 Sessions  $80

   2. Full Series+  $155

AIASF Student Member

1. 1 Session $10

   1. Package of 3 Sessions  $20

   2. Full Series+  $35

REGISTER HERE

Need-Based Complimentary Tickets

The #EQxD2020 Series is welcoming and supportive of those interested in attending that are currently experiencing economic uncertainty. We will ensure that there are no barriers to access for this program.

In recognition of the compounded challenges of 2020, AIASF Equity by Design will be providing need-based complimentary series tickets for those challenged with financial hardship. If you are a student, emerging professional, or practitioner who is currently unemployed or under-employed, please complete this form to apply for complimentary registration for the series.

About the Series: Practice, Process and Paradigms for the J.E.D.I. Agenda

Our society is at a critical inflection point and choices and actions we make today will determine our collective future. This is contextualized by a historic confluence of catastrophic events – a global pandemic, severe economic disruption, racial violence causing civil unrest, and environmental peril caused by climate change. This perfect storm exposes the intersectional impacts of a legacy of systems of societal injustice that have perpetuated inequities for BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and others with at-risk identities. This is deeply rooted in systems of injustice that have existed within our society since the founding of our country.

The resulting shifts and disruptions mean that we live in a time risking peril or potential to overcome the adversity surrounding us. Real and necessary progress towards Justice in our world will only be achieved when we are willing to do the work to expose and dismantle the intricate web of racist and unjust policies and practices that have resulted in multigenerational and harmful outcomes for many. Given the challenging and complex conditions in which we find ourselves today, Equity by Design has committed to adapting from our originally planned symposium program towards a broader agenda.

AIASF Equity by Design will be hosting a series of workshops and teach-ins that will focus on collecting and evaluating an intentional intersection of research, writings and multi-media in support of developing a critical discourse to fuel strategic actions that result in sustained improvements in the civic realm. The outcome of these workshops will be a roadmap of new practices and policy amendments in activism and advocacy that dismantle systems of oppression and advance progress towards an Anti-racist paradigm in the built environment.

Join us. Our collective exploration will have a deep focus on how Just and Equitable policies and frameworks drive Diversity and Inclusive opportunities and practices (J.E.D.I.). At the core, we will prioritize Justice, creating a common thread to expand our intersectional mindset.

 #EQxD2020 – (ARE) Licensure Challenge Scholarship Program

The ARE Challenge Scholarship Program recognizes that the effort and expense of the architectural licensing process as a barrier to achieving this professional milestone and disproportionately affects candidates of historically underrepresented identities in the profession. In light of the extremely challenging and economically unstable conditions that we are collectively facing, AIASF Equity by Design has established financial assistance scholarships for licensure candidates who are eligible to take the ARE licensure exams. Selected Recipients of the #EQxD2020 ARE Challenge Scholarship will be reimbursed for three (3) ARE Exams (Value $705 per recipient), regardless of pass or fail status.

We are also seeking AEC co-sponsorship of this program to fund additional ARE Challenge Scholarship recipients; contact Sponsorship@aiasf.org to learn more.

Eligibility:

• Applicants must be currently eligible to take the ARE Exams for Architectural Licensure.

• Candidates must be currently authorized to work in the United States.

• Applicants are strongly encouraged to participate in the #EQxD2020 series.

  
  

#EQxD2020 SERIES - Practice, Process and Paradigms for the J.E.D.I. Agenda

Thanks to our #EQxD2020 SERIES Champions!

• Silver Sponsors -

  • HOK

  • SHERWIN WILLIAMS COIL COATINGS

  • OBR Architecture

• Titanium Sponsors

  • SMARTci

  • AWV

  • PARKLEX USA

  • MORIN

• Bronze Sponsors

  • PYATOK

  • CAMERON MACALLISTER

  • SOM

  • SMITHGROUP

Session 2: J.E.D.I. Agenda + Health

(For full description of the EQxD2020 SERIES - CLICK HERE)

The coronavirus pandemic and the disproportionate toll it has taken on BIPOC communities has exposed egregious inequities in our health care systems and the fact that entrenched policies and practices have resulted in negative impacts to the health of those with BIPOC identities. These now urgent concerns about race and health also pull into focus intersectional issues of gender, sexuality, and bodily diversity in relation to the health and healthcare of women and LGBTQIA+, neurodiverse and physical health-challenged identities. How do these issues play out in designed spaces? How can we redesign our cities to provide accessibility, mobility, safety and a sense of belonging to all inhabitants? Can we learn from the principles of universal design to expand our understanding of just, equitable, and inclusive experiences for all? How can we re-examine our work on access to healthcare to address issues of inequity in care? How is the restriction of access to public space and natural environments limited by racist and unjust environmental policies and practices that impact health? 

Learning Objectives:

• Using key readings on justice, public health and the built environment, participants will be able to describe ways in which the built environment reinforces and reifies inequities in access to and quality of healthcare and in the health outcomes on the basis of race, gender, sexuality, disability and social class. 

• Participants will learn about the work of health justice activists who are developing new architectural practices, processes, and paradigms in order to build a just future that centers the health of these historically marginalized communities.  

• Participants will investigate an intersectional concept of justice, articulating ways in which public health intersects with issues of social justice, environment, and equity in the architectural workplace. 

• Participants will commit to take action to promote just & equitable health outcomes for all in their architectural practices, in their projects, and in their communities. 

Pre-Readings for Discussion:

• 'I Will Not Stand Silent.' 10 Asian Americans Reflect on Racism During the Pandemic and the Need for Equality

• Inhospitable Healthcare Spaces: Why Diversity Training on LGBTQIA Issues Is Not Enough

• “The White Space’ by Elijah Anderson

• Racism Is a Public Health Crisis, Say Cities and Counties, by Christine Vestal

• She Knew It Was Breast Cancer. So Why Didn't Doctors Believe Her? by Chloe Hall

• The Fullest Look Yet at the Racial Inequity of Coronavirus - NYTimes by Richard A. Oppel Jr., Robert Gebeloff, K.K. Rebecca Lai, Will Wright, and Mitch Smith

Recommended Additional Resources

• Being and Becoming Asian in the Time of Covid-19 by Caroline Hsu

• Healing the Hidden Wounds of Racial Trauma by Ken Hardy

• How the Coronavirus Will Reshape Architecture: What kinds of space are we willing to live and work in now? By Kyle Chayka

• The Covid Racial Data Tracker

About the Speaker

Jessica Florence

Jessica is a 4th year Architecture student at Florida A & M University in Tallahassee, FL. At the age of 22, Jessica was diagnosed with stage 3A breast cancer in 2016 and 4 years later, at the age of 26 with stage 4 advanced metastatic breast cancer. She has no family history of breast cancer. Jessica is now a full-time millennial breast cancer survivor and advocate in the community, educating others on the disease, self-advocacy, and breast health. Her story was recently published in Elle magazine

Session Moderator

Ántonia Bowman, AIA
Architect | ELS

Ántonia is an architect at ELS and a registered architect in Texas and California. She earned her Master of Architecture degree from The University of Texas at Austin and holds a BA in Studio Art from Smith College. Ántonia is interested in the public experience of architecture and concentrates on cultural, civic, and higher education projects. She is committed to advocating for greater visibility and equitable opportunities for women, queer, and ethnically diverse architects in the profession. She is currently serving on the AIA CA Board of Directors as a representative of the East Bay Chapter. Outside of work, Ántonia is passionate about road cycling, spending time outdoors, and travelling

Session Facilitators.

Lilian Asperin, AIA
Partner | WRNS Studio

As one of WRNS Studio’s Partners, Lilian helps lead the design process and build teams that deliver aspirational outcomes. A leader within the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP), she is the 2018-2021 Pacific Regional Chair. Committed to advancing the practice of architecture, Lilian also has served as a Board Director of AIA San Francisco and is the Co-Chair of the Equity by Design Committee, a call to action for equitable practice and to communicate the value of design to society.

Julia Mandell, AIA
Associate Design Director | Wilson Associates

Julia Mandell, AIA, is a designer, architect, and advocate for equity in the field of architecture. As Co-Chair of Equity by Design, she has co-authored three Equity in Architecture Surveys and developed and produced many educational sessions, including three acclaimed Equity by Design Symposia. She has shared her expertise and passion for equitable practice with conference audiences, student groups, and in publications such as The Plan Journal and Metropolis.

Currently Associate Design Director with Wilson Associates, a design/build/development firm in Oakland, California, she is committed to the design and development of thoughtful, well-crafted spaces that are comfortable, useful, and beautiful. Her work as a designer and builder focuses on adaptive reuse, reimagining neighborhoods through small-scale interventions that accumulate over time to create welcoming, inclusive, adaptable places. She is a licensed architect in the state of California.

Annelise Pitts, AIA

Principal Consultant, Cameron MacAllister Group

Annelise Pitts, AIA, is a passionate designer, researcher and advocate for justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in architectural practice and in the built environment. As Research Chair for Equity by Design, she leads the Equity in Architecture research project and has guided the development and analysis of three national surveys exploring differential career experiences and aspirations of architecture school graduates on the basis of personal identity. This work has been widely published, most recently in Women [Re]Build: Stories, Polemics, Futures and The Plan Journal.

In her architectural practice, she works collaboratively across project scales and building typologies to develop living, learning, and gathering spaces that are both inviting and uplifting. She is a registered architect in New York State. Having recently relocated to the East Coast after years of practicing in the Bay Area with Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, she now lives and works in Brooklyn, NY, where she and her husband are raising their one-year-old daughter.

Rosa T. Sheng, FAIA
Principal and Director of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion | SmithGroup

Rosa T. Sheng, FAIA is Principal and Director of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion at SmithGroup. She is also the founder of Equity by Design [EQxD] and 2018 Past President of AIA San Francisco. Throughout the years, Rosa has led a variety of award-winning and internationally acclaimed projects, while launching a national movement for equitable practice, just and inclusive design outcomes in the built environment with a focus on higher education learning and space resources for student success. Rosa has delivered continuing educational programs and thought leadership outreach featured in Architect Magazine, Metropolis, Wall Street Journal, TEDxPhiladelphia, SxSW, KQED/NPR, and Cannes Lions. In 2019 she was recognized as a Metropolis Game Changer.

#EQxD2020 SERIES - Practice, Process and Paradigms for the J.E.D.I. Agenda 

Join us.

Our collective exploration will have a deep focus on how Just and Equitable policies and frameworks drive Diversity and Inclusive opportunities and practices (J.E.D.I.). At the core, we will prioritize Justice, creating a common thread to expand our intersectional mindset. All sessions via Zoom and recorded for later viewing.

• Opening Session - J.E.D.I. Agenda - An Intersectional Approach for a Resilient Future

  • Wednesday - Sept. 30, 2020, 1:30-3:00pm PST 

• Session 1 - J.E.D.I. Agenda and Society/Economics/Social Mobility

  • Friday - Oct. 23, 2020, 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm PDT

• Session 2 - J.E.D.I. Agenda and Health

  • Friday - November 20, 2020, 11am-12:30pm PST

• Session 3 - J.E.D.I. Agenda and Environment

  • Friday - December 11, 2020, 11am-12:30pm PST 

• Session 4 - J.E.D.I. Agenda and Practice

  • Friday - January 22, 2021, 11am-12:30pm PST  

• Closing Session - Practice, Process and Paradigms for the J.E.D.I. Agenda

  • Friday - February 26, 2021, 11am-12:30pm PST

Our collective exploration will have a deep-dive focus on ways Just and Equitable policies, practices, and frameworks drive Diversity and Inclusion opportunities which result in J.E.D.I. outcomes for a resilient future.

This opening session will be a introduction to the #EQxD2020 SERIES – Practice, Process and Paradigms for the J.E.D.I. Agenda, including the value proposition of a “teach-in” format to explore new concepts focused on the intersection of the topics centered around Justice and its relationship to Health, Societal/Economic Mobility, Environment, and Practice.

During this session, we will emphasize the importance of self-study and commitment to action as engaged participants of the Series.

REGISTER HERE

Pricing + Registration

Registration is available for individual sessions, for a package of three sessions (available for the first three and second three consecutive sessions), and for the full series suite of six sessions. To register for a package of three sessions or the full series of six sessions, please view the ticket options for the first session in that ticket bundle.

The Full Series+ option includes digital access to recordings of all sessions.

AIA Member

1. 1 Session  $20

   1. Package of 3 Sessions  $50

   2. Full Series+  $95

General Admission

1. 1 Session  $30

   1. Package of 3 Sessions  $80

   2. Full Series+  $155

AIASF Student Member

1. 1 Session $10

   1. Package of 3 Sessions  $20

   2. Full Series+  $35

REGISTER HERE

Need-Based Complimentary Tickets

The #EQxD2020 Series is welcoming and supportive of those interested in attending that are currently experiencing economic uncertainty. We will ensure that there are no barriers to access for this program.

In recognition of the compounded challenges of 2020, AIASF Equity by Design will be providing need-based complimentary series tickets for those challenged with financial hardship. If you are a student, emerging professional, or practitioner who is currently unemployed or under-employed, please complete this form to apply for complimentary registration for the series.

About the Series: Practice, Process and Paradigms for the J.E.D.I. Agenda

Our society is at a critical inflection point and choices and actions we make today will determine our collective future. This is contextualized by a historic confluence of catastrophic events – a global pandemic, severe economic disruption, racial violence causing civil unrest, and environmental peril caused by climate change. This perfect storm exposes the intersectional impacts of a legacy of systems of societal injustice that have perpetuated inequities for BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and others with at-risk identities. This is deeply rooted in systems of injustice that have existed within our society since the founding of our country.

The resulting shifts and disruptions mean that we live in a time risking peril or potential to overcome the adversity surrounding us. Real and necessary progress towards Justice in our world will only be achieved when we are willing to do the work to expose and dismantle the intricate web of racist and unjust policies and practices that have resulted in multigenerational and harmful outcomes for many. Given the challenging and complex conditions in which we find ourselves today, Equity by Design has committed to adapting from our originally planned symposium program towards a broader agenda.

AIASF Equity by Design will be hosting a series of workshops and teach-ins that will focus on collecting and evaluating an intentional intersection of research, writings and multi-media in support of developing a critical discourse to fuel strategic actions that result in sustained improvements in the civic realm. The outcome of these workshops will be a roadmap of new practices and policy amendments in activism and advocacy that dismantle systems of oppression and advance progress towards an Anti-racist paradigm in the built environment.

Join us. Our collective exploration will have a deep focus on how Just and Equitable policies and frameworks drive Diversity and Inclusive opportunities and practices (J.E.D.I.). At the core, we will prioritize Justice, creating a common thread to expand our intersectional mindset.

#EQxD2020 – Architect Registration Examination (ARE) Challenge Scholarship Program

The ARE Challenge Scholarship Program recognizes that the effort and expense of the architectural licensing process as a barrier to achieving this professional milestone and disproportionately affects candidates of historically underrepresented identities in the profession. In light of the extremely challenging and economically unstable conditions that we are collectively facing, AIASF Equity by Design has established financial assistance scholarships for licensure candidates who are eligible to take the ARE exams. Selected Recipients of the #EQxD2020 ARE Challenge Scholarship will be reimbursed for three (3) ARE Exams (Value $705 per recipient), regardless of pass or fail status.

We are also seeking AEC co-sponsorship of this program to fund additional ARE Challenge Scholarship recipients; contact Sponsorship@aiasf.org to learn more.

Eligibility:

• Applicants must be currently eligible to take the ARE Exams for Architectural Licensure.

• Candidates must be currently authorized to work in the United States.

• Applicants are strongly encouraged to participate in the #EQxD2020 series.

Thank you to our #EQxD2020 Series Sponsors!

• Silver Sponsors -

  • HOK

  • SHERWIN WILLIAMS COIL COATINGS

  • OBR Architecture

• Titanium Sponsors

  • SMARTci

  • AWV

  • PARKLEX USA

  • MORIN

• Bronze Sponsors

  • PYATOK

  • CAMERON MACALLISTER

  • SOM

  • SMITHGROUP

Session 1 Description (For full description of the EQxD2020 SERIES - CLICK HERE)

The uprisings that followed the murder of George Floyd have created a new sense of hope and a new desire in many to fight systemic racism in our country. As architects, we must first educate ourselves on the history and legacy of systemic racism as it relates to cities and buildings: How are the places and spaces that we design shaped by systemic racist policies, practices, ideologies, actions? How do these spaces uphold and reinforce systems of oppression? What does it mean to design spaces that are truly equitable, inclusive and safe for everyone? What can we as architects do to become true allies of BIPOC colleagues and their respective communities? In this session we will explore these questions the concepts and actions of anti-racism and design justice. We will consider ways in which we can apply these ideas as both advocates in our communities and as design professionals.

Learning Objectives:

• Using key readings on social justice and architecture, participants will be able to describe ways in which systemic racist policies, practices and ideas have perpetuated generational inequity in the built context of cities throughout the country, adversely impacting the health, safety, educational resources and economic opportunities of communities of color. 

• Participants will learn about the work of design justice activists who are developing new architectural practices, processes, and paradigms in order to build a just future that prioritizes historically marginalized communities.  

• Participants will investigate an intersectional concept of justice, articulating ways in which social justice is strongly connected with issues of justice in public health, environmental resiliency and equity in the workplace. 

• Participants will learn tactical strategies to take action in advocacy and advancement of social justice in their professional practices, in their projects, and in their communities. 

Pre-Readings for Discussion:

• Whitney Young’s 1968 AIA Convention Speech 

• "America's Cities Were Designed to Oppress" by Bryan C. Lee Jr.

• The Case for Reparations, Story by Ta-Nehisi Coates 

Recommended Additional Resources

• "Architects, Designers and Planners: #BlackLivesMatter and You Must Speak Up!" by Michael Ford

• Why Justice in Design is Critical to Repairing America by Meaghan O’Neill

• How to be an Anti-Racist - Ibram X. Kendi (TedTalk)

• Systemic Inequality: Displacement, Exclusion, and Segregation By Danyelle Solomon, Connor Maxwell, and Abril Castro

• Design Justice towards an intersectional feminist framework for design theory and practice by Sasha Costanza-Chock

• The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein: 

• The Color of Money  by Mehrsa Baradaran

• Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi

• The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

About the Speaker

Bryan C. Lee Jr.
Founder + Design Principal, Colloqate Design

Bryan is an Architect, educator, writer, and Design Justice Advocate. He is the founder/Design Principal of Colloqate Design a nonprofit multidisciplinary design practice, in New Orleans, Louisiana, dedicated to expanding community access to design and creating spaces of racial, social, and cultural equity. He has led two award-winning youth design programs nationwide and is the founding co-organizer of the DAP (Design As Protest) Collective. He was most recently noted as one of the 2018 Fast Company Most Creative People in Business, a USC Annenberg MacArthur Civic Media Fellow, and the youngest design firm to win the Architectural League’s Emerging Voices award in 2019.

Moderator - Annelise Pitts, AIA

Annelise Pitts, AIA, is a passionate designer, researcher and advocate for justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in architectural practice and in the built environment. As Research Chair for Equity by Design, she leads the Equity in Architecture research project and has guided the development and analysis of three national surveys exploring differential career experiences and aspirations of architecture school graduates on the basis of personal identity. This work has been widely published, most recently in Women [Re]Build: Stories, Polemics, Futures and The Plan Journal.

In her architectural practice, she works collaboratively across project scales and building typologies to develop living, learning, and gathering spaces that are both inviting and uplifting. She is a registered architect in New York State. Having recently relocated to the East Coast after years of practicing in the Bay Area with Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, she now lives and works in Brooklyn, NY, where she and her husband are raising their one-year-old daughter.

Facilitators

Lilian Asperin, AIA
Partner | WRNS Studio

As one of WRNS Studio’s Partners, Lilian helps lead the design process and build teams that deliver aspirational outcomes. A leader within the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP), she is the 2018-2021 Pacific Regional Chair. Committed to advancing the practice of architecture, Lilian also has served as a Board Director of AIA San Francisco and is the Co-Chair of the Equity by Design Committee, a call to action for equitable practice and to communicate the value of design to society.

Ántonia Bowman, AIA
Architect | ELS

Ántonia is an architect at ELS and a registered architect in Texas and California. She earned her Master of Architecture degree from The University of Texas at Austin and holds a BA in Studio Art from Smith College. Ántonia is interested in the public experience of architecture and concentrates on cultural, civic, and higher education projects. She is committed to advocating for greater visibility and equitable opportunities for women, queer, and ethnically diverse architects in the profession. She is currently serving on the AIA CA Board of Directors as a representative of the East Bay Chapter. Outside of work, Ántonia is passionate about road cycling, spending time outdoors, and travelling.

Julia Mandell, AIA
Associate Design Director | Wilson Associates

Julia Mandell, AIA, is a designer, architect, and advocate for equity in the field of architecture. As Co-Chair of Equity by Design, she has co-authored three Equity in Architecture Surveys and developed and produced many educational sessions, including three acclaimed Equity by Design Symposia. She has shared her expertise and passion for equitable practice with conference audiences, student groups, and in publications such as The Plan Journal and Metropolis.

Currently Associate Design Director with Wilson Associates, a design/build/development firm in Oakland, California, she is committed to the design and development of thoughtful, well-crafted spaces that are comfortable, useful, and beautiful. Her work as a designer and builder focuses on adaptive reuse, reimagining neighborhoods through small-scale interventions that accumulate over time to create welcoming, inclusive, adaptable places. She is a licensed architect in the state of California.

Rosa T. Sheng, FAIA
Principal and Director of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion | SmithGroup

Rosa T. Sheng, FAIA is Principal and Director of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion at SmithGroup. She is also the founder of Equity by Design [EQxD] and 2018 Past President of AIA San Francisco. Throughout the years, Rosa has led a variety of award-winning and internationally acclaimed projects, while launching a national movement for equitable practice, just and inclusive design outcomes in the built environment with a focus on higher education learning and space resources for student success. Rosa has delivered continuing educational programs and thought leadership outreach featured in Architect Magazine, Metropolis, Wall Street Journal, TEDxPhiladelphia, SxSW, KQED/NPR, and Cannes Lions. In 2019 she was recognized as a Metropolis Game Changer.

Join us.

Our collective exploration will have a deep focus on how Just and Equitable policies and frameworks drive Diversity and Inclusive opportunities and practices (J.E.D.I.). At the core, we will prioritize Justice, creating a common thread to expand our intersectional mindset. All sessions via Zoom and recorded for later viewing.

• Opening Session - J.E.D.I. Agenda - An Intersectional Approach for a Resilient Future

  • Wednesday - Sept. 30, 2020, 1:30-3:00pm PST 

• Session 1 - J.E.D.I. Agenda and Society/Economics/Social Mobility

  • Friday - Oct. 23, 2020, 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm PDT

• Session 2 - J.E.D.I. Agenda and Health

  • Friday - November 20, 2020, 11am-12:30pm PST

• Session 3 - J.E.D.I. Agenda and Environment

  • Friday - December 11, 2020, 11am-12:30pm PST 

• Session 4 - J.E.D.I. Agenda and Practice

  • Friday - January 22, 2021, 11am-12:30pm PST  

• Closing Session - Practice, Process and Paradigms for the J.E.D.I. Agenda

  • Friday - February 26, 2021, 11am-12:30pm PST

Pricing + Registration

Registration is available for individual sessions, for a package of three sessions (available for the first three and second three consecutive sessions), and for the full series suite of six sessions. To register for a package of three sessions or the full series of six sessions, please view the ticket options for the first session in that ticket bundle.

The Full Series+ option includes digital access to recordings of all sessions.

AIA Member

1. 1 Session  $20

   1. Package of 3 Sessions  $50

   2. Full Series+  $95

General Admission

1. 1 Session  $30

   1. Package of 3 Sessions  $80

   2. Full Series+  $155

AIASF Student Member

1. 1 Session $10

   1. Package of 3 Sessions  $20

   2. Full Series+  $35

REGISTER HERE

Need-Based Complimentary Tickets

The #EQxD2020 Series is welcoming and supportive of those interested in attending that are currently experiencing economic uncertainty. We will ensure that there are no barriers to access for this program.

In recognition of the compounded challenges of 2020, AIASF Equity by Design will be providing need-based complimentary series tickets for those challenged with financial hardship. If you are a student, emerging professional, or practitioner who is currently unemployed or under-employed, please complete this form to apply for complimentary registration for the series.

About the Series: Practice, Process and Paradigms for the J.E.D.I. Agenda

Our society is at a critical inflection point and choices and actions we make today will determine our collective future. This is contextualized by a historic confluence of catastrophic events – a global pandemic, severe economic disruption, racial violence causing civil unrest, and environmental peril caused by climate change. This perfect storm exposes the intersectional impacts of a legacy of systems of societal injustice that have perpetuated inequities for BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and others with at-risk identities. This is deeply rooted in systems of injustice that have existed within our society since the founding of our country.

The resulting shifts and disruptions mean that we live in a time risking peril or potential to overcome the adversity surrounding us. Real and necessary progress towards Justice in our world will only be achieved when we are willing to do the work to expose and dismantle the intricate web of racist and unjust policies and practices that have resulted in multigenerational and harmful outcomes for many. Given the challenging and complex conditions in which we find ourselves today, Equity by Design has committed to adapting from our originally planned symposium program towards a broader agenda.

AIASF Equity by Design will be hosting a series of workshops and teach-ins that will focus on collecting and evaluating an intentional intersection of research, writings and multi-media in support of developing a critical discourse to fuel strategic actions that result in sustained improvements in the civic realm. The outcome of these workshops will be a roadmap of new practices and policy amendments in activism and advocacy that dismantle systems of oppression and advance progress towards an Anti-racist paradigm in the built environment.

Join us. Our collective exploration will have a deep focus on how Just and Equitable policies and frameworks drive Diversity and Inclusive opportunities and practices (J.E.D.I.). At the core, we will prioritize Justice, creating a common thread to expand our intersectional mindset.

#EQxD2020 – (ARE) Licensure Challenge Scholarship Program

The ARE Challenge Scholarship Program recognizes that the effort and expense of the architectural licensing process as a barrier to achieving this professional milestone and disproportionately affects candidates of historically underrepresented identities in the profession. In light of the extremely challenging and economically unstable conditions that we are collectively facing, AIASF Equity by Design has established financial assistance scholarships for licensure candidates who are eligible to take the ARE licensure exams. Selected Recipients of the #EQxD2020 ARE Challenge Scholarship will be reimbursed for three (3) ARE Exams (Value $705 per recipient), regardless of pass or fail status.

We are also seeking AEC co-sponsorship of this program to fund additional ARE Challenge Scholarship recipients; contact Sponsorship@aiasf.org to learn more.

Eligibility:

• Applicants must be currently eligible to take the ARE Exams for Architectural Licensure.

• Candidates must be currently authorized to work in the United States.

• Applicants are strongly encouraged to participate in the #EQxD2020 series.

#EQxD2020 SERIES - Practice, Process and Paradigms for the J.E.D.I. Agenda

Thanks to our #EQxD2020 SERIES Champions!

• Silver Sponsors -

  • HOK

  • SHERWIN WILLIAMS COIL COATINGS

  • OBR Architecture

• Titanium Sponsors

  • SMARTci

  • AWV

  • PARKLEX USA

  • MORIN

• Bronze Sponsors -

  • PYATOK

  • CAMERON MACALLISTER

  • SOM

  • SMITHGROUP

Opening Session - J.E.D.I. Agenda - An Intersectional Approach for a Resilient Future

Our collective exploration will have a deep-dive focus on ways Just and Equitable policies, practices, and frameworks drive Diversity and Inclusion opportunities which result in J.E.D.I. outcomes for a resilient future. This opening session will be a introduction to the #EQxD2020 SERIES - Practice, Process and Paradigms for the J.E.D.I. Agenda, including the value proposition of a “teach-in” format to explore new concepts focused on the intersection of the topics centered around Justice and its relationship to Health, Societal/Economic Mobility, Environment, and Practice. During this session, we will emphasize the importance of self-study and commitment to action as engaged participants of the Series. 

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will reflect on the events of 2020 to make connections across intersectional lenses (Societal/Economic Mobility, Health, Environment, and Practice) related to injustice and inequity in the built environment. 

• Participants will explore and identify behaviors, policies and practices that perpetuate injustice and inequity in the disciplines of urban/campus planning, architecture/interiors, landscape and engineering.  

• Participants will become acquainted with the framework for exploration of each teach-in workshop in the series, specifically  self-study guides for required readings that provide context, provocations and selected research to inform  the discussions to be moderated during the Series.  

• Participants will engage in interactive exercises to reflect upon and provide a benchmark for personal attitudes and ideas on each of the intersectional lenses identified.. This self-assessment will be revisited at the closing workshop to serve as a bracket to measure growth and action by each participant. 

AIA CEU CREDIT AVAILABLE

About the Speakers

Lilian Asperin, AIA
Partner | WRNS Studio

As one of WRNS Studio’s Partners, Lilian helps lead the design process and build teams that deliver aspirational outcomes. A leader within the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP), she is the 2018-2021 Pacific Regional Chair. Committed to advancing the practice of architecture, Lilian also has served as a Board Director of AIA San Francisco and is the Co-Chair of the Equity by Design Committee, a call to action for equitable practice and to communicate the value of design to society.

Ántonia Bowman, AIA
Architect | ELS

Ántonia is an architect at ELS and a registered architect in Texas and California. She earned her Master of Architecture degree from The University of Texas at Austin and holds a BA in Studio Art from Smith College. Ántonia is interested in the public experience of architecture and concentrates on cultural, civic, and higher education projects. She is committed to advocating for greater visibility and equitable opportunities for women, queer, and ethnically diverse architects in the profession. She is currently serving on the AIA CA Board of Directors as a representative of the East Bay Chapter. Outside of work, Ántonia is passionate about road cycling, spending time outdoors, and travelling.

Julia Mandell, AIA
Associate Design Director | Wilson Associates

Julia Mandell, AIA, is a designer, architect, and advocate for equity in the field of architecture. As Co-Chair of Equity by Design, she has co-authored three Equity in Architecture Surveys and developed and produced many educational sessions, including three acclaimed Equity by Design Symposia. She has shared her expertise and passion for equitable practice with conference audiences, student groups, and in publications such as The Plan Journal and Metropolis.

Currently Associate Design Director with Wilson Associates, a design/build/development firm in Oakland, California, she is committed to the design and development of thoughtful, well-crafted spaces that are comfortable, useful, and beautiful. Her work as a designer and builder focuses on adaptive reuse, reimagining neighborhoods through small-scale interventions that accumulate over time to create welcoming, inclusive, adaptable places. She is a licensed architect in the state of California.

Annelise Pitts, AIA

Annelise Pitts, AIA, is a passionate designer, researcher and advocate for justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in architectural practice and in the built environment. As Research Chair for Equity by Design, she leads the Equity in Architecture research project and has guided the development and analysis of three national surveys exploring differential career experiences and aspirations of architecture school graduates on the basis of personal identity. This work has been widely published, most recently in Women [Re]Build: Stories, Polemics, Futures and The Plan Journal.

In her architectural practice, she works collaboratively across project scales and building typologies to develop living, learning, and gathering spaces that are both inviting and uplifting. She is a registered architect in New York State. Having recently relocated to the East Coast after years of practicing in the Bay Area with Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, she now lives and works in Brooklyn, NY, where she and her husband are raising their one-year-old daughter.

Rosa T. Sheng, FAIA
Principal and Director of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion | SmithGroup

Rosa T. Sheng, FAIA is Principal and Director of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion at SmithGroup. She is also the founder of Equity by Design [EQxD] and 2018 Past President of AIA San Francisco. Throughout the years, Rosa has led a variety of award-winning and internationally acclaimed projects, while launching a national movement for equitable practice, just and inclusive design outcomes in the built environment with a focus on higher education learning and space resources for student success. Rosa has delivered continuing educational programs and thought leadership outreach featured in Architect Magazine, Metropolis, Wall Street Journal, TEDxPhiladelphia, SxSW, KQED/NPR, and Cannes Lions. In 2019 she was recognized as a Metropolis Game Changer.

#EQxD2020 SERIES - Practice, Process and Paradigms for the J.E.D.I. Agenda

Join us.

Our collective exploration will have a deep focus on how Just and Equitable policies and frameworks drive Diversity and Inclusive opportunities and practices (J.E.D.I.). At the core, we will prioritize Justice, creating a common thread to expand our intersectional mindset. All sessions via Zoom and recorded for later viewing.

• Opening Session - J.E.D.I. Agenda - An Intersectional Approach for a Resilient Future

  • Wednesday - Sept. 30, 2020, 1:30-3:00pm PST 

• Session 1 - J.E.D.I. Agenda and Society/Economics/Social Mobility

  • Friday - Oct. 23, 2020, 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm PDT

• Session 2 - J.E.D.I. Agenda and Health

  • Friday - November 20, 2020, 11am-12:30pm PST

• Session 3 - J.E.D.I. Agenda and Environment

  • Friday - December 11, 2020, 11am-12:30pm PST 

• Session 4 - J.E.D.I. Agenda and Practice

  • Friday - January 22, 2021, 11am-12:30pm PST  

• Closing Session - Practice, Process and Paradigms for the J.E.D.I. Agenda

  • Friday - February 26, 2021, 11am-12:30pm PST

Our collective exploration will have a deep-dive focus on ways Just and Equitable policies, practices, and frameworks drive Diversity and Inclusion opportunities which result in J.E.D.I. outcomes for a resilient future.

This opening session will be a introduction to the #EQxD2020 SERIES – Practice, Process and Paradigms for the J.E.D.I. Agenda, including the value proposition of a “teach-in” format to explore new concepts focused on the intersection of the topics centered around Justice and its relationship to Health, Societal/Economic Mobility, Environment, and Practice.

During this session, we will emphasize the importance of self-study and commitment to action as engaged participants of the Series.

REGISTER HERE

Pricing + Registration

Registration is available for individual sessions, for a package of three sessions (available for the first three and second three consecutive sessions), and for the full series suite of six sessions. To register for a package of three sessions or the full series of six sessions, please view the ticket options for the first session in that ticket bundle.

The Full Series+ option includes digital access to recordings of all sessions.

AIA Member

1. 1 Session  $20

   1. Package of 3 Sessions  $50

   2. Full Series+  $95

General Admission

1. 1 Session  $30

   1. Package of 3 Sessions  $80

   2. Full Series+  $155

AIASF Student Member

1. 1 Session $10

   1. Package of 3 Sessions  $20

   2. Full Series+  $35

REGISTER HERE

Need-Based Complimentary Tickets

The #EQxD2020 Series is welcoming and supportive of those interested in attending that are currently experiencing economic uncertainty. We will ensure that there are no barriers to access for this program.

In recognition of the compounded challenges of 2020, AIASF Equity by Design will be providing need-based complimentary series tickets for those challenged with financial hardship. If you are a student, emerging professional, or practitioner who is currently unemployed or under-employed, please complete this form to apply for complimentary registration for the series.

About the Series: Practice, Process and Paradigms for the J.E.D.I. Agenda

Our society is at a critical inflection point and choices and actions we make today will determine our collective future. This is contextualized by a historic confluence of catastrophic events – a global pandemic, severe economic disruption, racial violence causing civil unrest, and environmental peril caused by climate change. This perfect storm exposes the intersectional impacts of a legacy of systems of societal injustice that have perpetuated inequities for BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and others with at-risk identities. This is deeply rooted in systems of injustice that have existed within our society since the founding of our country.

The resulting shifts and disruptions mean that we live in a time risking peril or potential to overcome the adversity surrounding us. Real and necessary progress towards Justice in our world will only be achieved when we are willing to do the work to expose and dismantle the intricate web of racist and unjust policies and practices that have resulted in multigenerational and harmful outcomes for many. Given the challenging and complex conditions in which we find ourselves today, Equity by Design has committed to adapting from our originally planned symposium program towards a broader agenda.

AIASF Equity by Design will be hosting a series of workshops and teach-ins that will focus on collecting and evaluating an intentional intersection of research, writings and multi-media in support of developing a critical discourse to fuel strategic actions that result in sustained improvements in the civic realm. The outcome of these workshops will be a roadmap of new practices and policy amendments in activism and advocacy that dismantle systems of oppression and advance progress towards an Anti-racist paradigm in the built environment.

Join us. Our collective exploration will have a deep focus on how Just and Equitable policies and frameworks drive Diversity and Inclusive opportunities and practices (J.E.D.I.). At the core, we will prioritize Justice, creating a common thread to expand our intersectional mindset.

#EQxD2020 – (ARE) Licensure Challenge Scholarship Program

The ARE Challenge Scholarship Program recognizes that the effort and expense of the architectural licensing process as a barrier to achieving this professional milestone and disproportionately affects candidates of historically underrepresented identities in the profession. In light of the extremely challenging and economically unstable conditions that we are collectively facing, AIASF Equity by Design has established financial assistance scholarships for licensure candidates who are eligible to take the ARE licensure exams. Selected Recipients of the #EQxD2020 ARE Challenge Scholarship will be reimbursed for three (3) ARE Exams (Value $705 per recipient), regardless of pass or fail status.

We are also seeking AEC co-sponsorship of this program to fund additional ARE Challenge Scholarship recipients; contact Sponsorship@aiasf.org to learn more.

Eligibility:

• Applicants must be currently eligible to take the ARE Exams for Architectural Licensure.

• Candidates must be currently authorized to work in the United States.

• Applicants are strongly encouraged to participate in the #EQxD2020 series.

  
  

Thanks to our #EQxD2020 SERIES Champions!

• Silver Sponsors -

  • HOK

  • SHERWIN WILLIAMS COIL COATINGS

  • OBR Architecture

• Titanium Sponsors

  • SMARTci

  • AWV

  • PARKLEX USA

  • MORIN

• Bronze Sponsors -

  • PYATOK

  • CAMERON MACALLISTER

  • SOM

  • SMITHGROUP

Unfortunately, A20 has been cancelled due to COVID-19. We hop that you will join us for #EQxD2020 on November 7, 2020

Please be sure to attend these sessions that will feature EQxD Content and Data! These events are included w/ Full or Single Day Registration

• Applying Data to Advance Equity & Performance
  SA317 - 5/16/2020 11:30-1pm

• EQxD: Incorporating Intersectional Approaches for Inclusive Design Outcomes
  SA412 - 5/16/2020 1:30pm - 3pm

Other Curated Sessions for advancing the #JEDIagenda

• Is Equity the Same As Equilibrium? Education, Fairness & New Leadership Within Architecture's Academy (Pro Series)
  TH201 - 5/14/2020 9:30-11am

• Changing the Narrative: The Black Architect- Removing Obstacles, Creating Opportunities
  TH204 - 5/14/2020 9:30-11am

• How Women Lead: A Fireside Chat on Navigating the Path to Leadership

  FR102 - 5/15/2020

• Equity in Architecture: A Coast to Coast Exchange

  SA202 - 5/16/2020 - 9:30am - 11am

• Citizen Architect CPR: Critical Participation in Redesigning Our Communities

  SA215 - 5/16/2020 - 9:30am - 11am

Join us for two virtual #EQxD2020 Symposium Planning Workshops to chart our path for 2020!

LAUNCH

The EQxD Core Team began this year excited to explore the evolving connection between just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive architectural practices and processes and an emergent paradigm in our industry that mandates we promote (or prioritize) the well-being of the communities we currently serve, those that have been often overlooked, and the longevity of life on our planet. In short, we hoped to expand our exploration of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion at all levels of architectural practice, which allow us to create better architecture and actively shape new systems for a better society and shared future in which we can all thrive . By coming together, we hoped to reconnect and learn from one another to find salient intersections between the ways in which we work and relate to one another and our abilities to make a lasting difference in the world. We looked forward to understanding your challenges while also being inspired by your stories, your work, and your commitment to making positive changes, large and small, in your communities. We still do. 

RECALIBRATE

With our daily routines on pause, and perhaps irrevocably altered, each of us have experienced the imperative to reflect on what’s most important, to let go of the things that aren’t, and to foster (virtual!) communities that will enable us to be more effective leaders in an evolving context. We also acknowledge that, while our values are unchanged, the current climate has likely caused shifts in what deserves our attention at this particular moment. With this in mind, we would like to come together somewhat sooner than expected to explore our shared agenda and key themes for the #EQxD2020 Symposium (scheduled for November 6-7, 2020). The goal is to work together to build an event that rejuvenates and inspires each of us to continue to have meaning and influence in our practice.

FOCUS

What makes us feel authentic? What makes us whole? What drives each of us personally and professionally in this extraordinary moment? What are our responsibilities to our families, our colleagues, and our communities? How will this renewed sense of purpose and urgency shape our collective agenda moving forward? What can we learn from one another and colleagues in allied industries now to ensure that we’re better prepared to champion justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion?How might our time together at the symposium be leveraged to promote lasting, positive changes in ourselves, our families, our communities, our workplace, and our industry?What topics are most critical and/or essential to this dialogue?

DIALOGUE

Please join us to collectively Chart Our Path for 2020. We will be holding two workshops that will explore what guides us as individuals and as a community, as well as to identify the most important issues to address and focus on when we come together later this year . Please use the form linked below to indicate your interest and availability. CHART OUR PATH: EQXD 2020These are extraordinary times. We welcome your participation in planning the next phase of Equity by Design’s work to promote the J.E.D.I. agenda! We look forward to collaborating with you.EQxD Core Team

LEARN MORE ABOUT

#EQxD2020 Symposium: Practice, Proccess, Paradigm Nov 6 + 7

Thanks to our #EQxD2020 Early Bird Sponsors!

Join us for two virtual #EQxD2020 Symposium Planning Workshops to chart our path for 2020!

LAUNCH

The EQxD Core Team began this year excited to explore the evolving connection between just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive architectural practices and processes and an emergent paradigm in our industry that mandates we promote (or prioritize) the well-being of the communities we currently serve, those that have been often overlooked, and the longevity of life on our planet. In short, we hoped to expand our exploration of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion at all levels of architectural practice, which allow us to create better architecture and actively shape new systems for a better society and shared future in which we can all thrive . By coming together, we hoped to reconnect and learn from one another to find salient intersections between the ways in which we work and relate to one another and our abilities to make a lasting difference in the world. We looked forward to understanding your challenges while also being inspired by your stories, your work, and your commitment to making positive changes, large and small, in your communities. We still do. 

RECALIBRATE

With our daily routines on pause, and perhaps irrevocably altered, each of us have experienced the imperative to reflect on what’s most important, to let go of the things that aren’t, and to foster (virtual!) communities that will enable us to be more effective leaders in an evolving context. We also acknowledge that, while our values are unchanged, the current climate has likely caused shifts in what deserves our attention at this particular moment. With this in mind, we would like to come together somewhat sooner than expected to explore our shared agenda and key themes for the #EQxD2020 Symposium (scheduled for November 6-7, 2020). The goal is to work together to build an event that rejuvenates and inspires each of us to continue to have meaning and influence in our practice.

FOCUS

What makes us feel authentic? What makes us whole? What drives each of us personally and professionally in this extraordinary moment? What are our responsibilities to our families, our colleagues, and our communities? How will this renewed sense of purpose and urgency shape our collective agenda moving forward? What can we learn from one another and colleagues in allied industries now to ensure that we’re better prepared to champion justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion?How might our time together at the symposium be leveraged to promote lasting, positive changes in ourselves, our families, our communities, our workplace, and our industry?What topics are most critical and/or essential to this dialogue?

DIALOGUE

Please join us to collectively Chart Our Path for 2020. We will be holding two workshops that will explore what guides us as individuals and as a community, as well as to identify the most important issues to address and focus on when we come together later this year . Please use the form linked below to indicate your interest and availability. CHART OUR PATH: EQXD 2020. These are extraordinary times. We welcome your participation in planning the next phase of Equity by Design’s work to promote the J.E.D.I. agenda! We look forward to collaborating with you.EQxD Core Team

LEARN MORE ABOUT

#EQxD2020 Symposium: Practice, Proccess, Paradigm Nov 6 + 7

Thanks to our #EQxD2020 Early Bird Sponsors

https://www.aialosangeles.org/aiala-events/powerful/

Women in Architecture, WiA AIA|LA’s, Powerful conference (now entering its 6th iteration) has grown into an international caliber event.

Whether you are an early career designer looking for tools that lead to a successful career, a firm partner interested in raising your office’s profile, or an established mid-career architect ready to move forward, Powerful, is for you.

Don’t miss out on this inspirational event that draws sell-out crowds. Attend, learn, meet, and leave with actionable information as well as new relationships. But, we encourage you to register quickly: this AIA|LA event always sells out.

Keynote speakers for Powerful 2019 include:

Alda Ly – Alda Ly Architecture & Design
Alda Ly Architecture was founded in 2017, when groundbreaking co-working platform, The Wing, tapped Alda Ly as the architect of its East Coast and California locations. ALA has since grown to serve innumerable entrepreneurs and startups; the New York–based studio’s long list of disruptor clients also includes functional medicine provider Parsley Health, the retail platform Bulletin, and social-action technology firm Blue State Digital. The practice was named one of top 50 interior architecture firms in the US by The Architect’s Newspaper Interior magazine.

Rosa Sheng, FAIA – Principal, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Director | Higher Education Studio Leader, SmithGroup
An accomplished architect, Rosa has led internationally acclaimed projects from the aesthetically minimal iconic Apple flagship stores, Pixar Animation Studios – Steve Jobs Building and several innovative projects at institutions of higher learning. Her most notable work champions design for just, equitable, and inclusive environments across disciplines. In 2019, Rosa was celebrated as a Metropolis Game Changer for her leadership as founder of Equity by Design (EQxD). The group’s advocacy is dedicated to minimizing barriers and providing just access to the resources that design professionals need to thrive – regardless of gender, socioeconomic, racial, or ethnic identity. Rosa and the advocacy work of EQxD has received critical acclaim in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, ARCHITECT Magazine. She has presented at TEDxPhiladelphia, SxSW and the Cannes Lions Festival on Creativity.

To connect with WiA AIA|LA, click here.

The EQXD 2019 Workshop #1 - Intersectionality and Intercultural Intelligence Panel has been selected to present at Closing Plenary at the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture’s Fall Conference hosted at Stanford University.

About ACSA Conference 2019:

By bringing educators, administrators, practitioners, and students into a series of honest discussions, workshops, panels, presentations and experiences, LESS TALK/MORE ACTION will actively investigate the need for a broader, purpose-driven inquiry into architectural education – one focused on the import of an evolving pedagogy and curriculum that is responsive to the real-time needs of students, the profession, and society. We see the ACSA Fall Conference as the ideal platform for communal discussion and operational collaboration around what really matters in architectural education, what emerging practices are currently being implemented to great success, and how this can consciously shape the future of architecture.

Closing Plenary and Panel

WHY EQUITY MATTERS: AN INTERSECTIONAL APPROACH TO STUDENT SUCCESS

Designers, planners and architects hold an invaluable key to creating just, equitable, diverse and inclusive (JEDI) outcomes in the built environment at all scales. Designing safe, dignified, equitable and beautiful spaces for all are not mutually exclusive and requires an intersectional approach to advance the #JEDIagenda in Architecture School curriculum. What does it take to cultivate the next generation of design professionals with skills for empathy, awareness and intercultural intelligence? This workshop session will engage participants to understand and practice concepts of intersectionality and intercultural intelligence in advancing equitable practice. We will explore the theory of intersectionality as it relates to identity and increased barriers for people in multiple at-risk categories. We will also learn about the theory of intercultural intelligence, which creates a framework for developing empathy and understanding of culture beyond the context of race/ethnicity. The AIASF 2018 Equity in Architecture Survey will highlight the current challenges for students who are historically underrepresented. - Rosa Sheng, Mani Farhadi, Helen Bronston, and Prescott Reavis will share personal stories that celebrate intersectional identities while navigating systems of barriers and bias. Additionally, the panel will lead a group exercise to explore intersectionality as it relates to student success and relevant design outcomes.

Panel Bios:

Rosa Sheng, FAIA, LEED AP BD+C

Principal, Director of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion

An accomplished architect, Rosa Sheng has led internationally acclaimed projects including the aesthetically minimal iconic Apple flagship stores, Pixar Animation Studios – Steve Jobs Building and several innovative projects at institutions of higher learning. Her most notable work champions design of just, equitable, and inclusive environments across disciplines. In 2019, Rosa was celebrated as a Metropolis GameChanger for her leadership as founder of Equity by Design (EQxD). The group’s advocacy is dedicated to minimizing barriers and providing just access to the resources that design professionals need to thrive – regardless of gender, socioeconomic, race/ethnic identity or physical ability. Rosa and the advocacy work of EQxD has received critical acclaim in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, ARCHITECT Magazine. She has presented at Harvard GSD, TEDxPhiladelphia, SxSW and the Cannes Lions Festival on Creativity

Helen Bronston, AIA

Associate, SmithGroup

Helen Bronston serves as the Architecture Discipline Lead for the San Francisco office of SmithGroup, where she is an associate. Raised in Wisconsin, she holds a BA in Anthropology from Yale, and an MArch from Harvard, where she was awarded the AIA Adams Medal. Over her 26-year career she has worked exclusively for non-profit educational, healthcare, and governmental organizations, for that is where she has felt she can do the most good for the greatest number of people. She is currently serving on the board of directors for Joan’s House, a newly-forming shelter for transgender women who have been incarcerated. Her experience transitioning gender as an architect was profiled in the San Francisco Business Times on 12 June 2015. Unable to leave school behind, Helen is also very slowly writing a PhD dissertation in History of Architecture at UC Berkeley

Mani Ardalain Farhadi, Associate AIA, LEED AP

Senior Facilities Planner, Stanford University

A global thinker and creative thought leader, Mani Ardalan Farhadi brings three decades of experience in architectural planning. In her current role as Senior Facilities Planner at Stanford University, in the Office of Facilities Planning and Management (OFPM) within the School of Medicine, Mani is combining her passion for education, with her extensive planning skills. Her prior experience includes Taylor Design in San Francisco, Steinberg Hart in San Jose, and Sasaki Associates in Boston. Using analytical skills, she is integral to campus projects, collaborating on design and planning strategies with public and private educational clients throughout the US. Described as ‘the client in the room”, Mani’s keen ability to listen builds consensus within user group settings. Leveraging her expertise, Mani enjoys leading workshops, stakeholder presentations, and conferences nationwide (SCUP, AIA, EQXD, CCFC, CCLC, A4LE, SPUR)

Prescott Reavis, NOMA, LEED AP, SEED

Founding Director of Anomili Design + Planning

Prescott Reavis is an Oakland based Spatial Activist, designer, planner and award-winning educator who has merged over 20 years of experiences in architecture, planning, and education to develop and construct inclusive communities internationally with a focus on equitable design and planning justice. Prescott leads, Anomili Design + Planning, providing community engagement, planning, design and youth design education for non-profits, small business, and community-based organizations, projects include Planning, Community Engagement and Design for The Oakland Black Cultural Zone, and Community Planning/education in collaboration with The Center for Cities + Schools at UC Berkeley, Y-PLAN program throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

Mr. Reavis previously served as the Director of Community Planning and Project Manager for national renowned Public Interest Design Organization AND Architecture + Community Planning, an Associate at Anshen + Allen Architects. Prescott is accredited in Sustainable Design, certified in Social Economic Environmental Design, he earned his Bachelor of Architecture with a minor in education from Howard University and is currently completing his Masters in Urban Planning from San Jose State University with a focus on integrating youth in the planning and design processes.

Please join us for a summer Equity by Design Social Mixer at Cornerstone in Berkeley
Come say hello, catch up, and meet other like-minded folks. Build you

Find us in the Courtyard beyond the bar.

RSVP requested, but is not required to attend.

Back by popular demand, we will reconvene our discussion on Intersectionality and Intercultural Intelligence as essential skills towards advancing equitable practice and more successful design outcomes in the built environment.

Stay tuned for full Workshop Agenda in the coming weeks. We will also bring out the Intersectionality Role Plays scenarios to hone our skills for greater understanding.

Intersectionality—a theory by renowned civil rights expert and law professor Kimberlé Crenshaw that social categorizations such as race, class, and gender interconnect and create overlapping and interdependent systems of disadvantage—is a fundamental framework for rethinking and redesigning power structures after #MeToo.

Intercultural Intelligence -, or ICI, is a term that is used for the capability to function effectively in culturally diverse settings and consists of different dimensions (metacognitive, cognitive, motivational and behavioral) which are correlated to effectiveness in global environment (cultural judgement and decision making, cultural adaptation and task performance in culturally diverse settings).[1]

Program:

This 1.5 hour session will be learning about the evolving mindset of intersectionality and intercultural intelligence in advancing equitable practice. We will explore the theory of intersectionality and understand its importance in disrupting bias and the erasure of complex identities - (ie., mixed race, transgender/gender queer, etc). We will also learn about the theory of intercultural intelligence, which creates a framework for developing understanding, empathy and importance of understanding the complexity of culture in a context beyond race/ethnicity. We will shape the session around relevant storytelling of intersectional identities and then have a workshop Role/Play to directly explore how intersectionality and intercultural intelligence can inform equity activism, encourage dialogue, and promote inclusivity.

Registration:

We will be offering 1.5 CEU’s for this Session and Light Evening Refreshments

$15 for AIASF Members

$20 for General Registration

Panelists Bios

Helen Bronston, AIA

Associate and Architecture Discipline Lead at SmithGroup

Helen serves as Director of Architecture for the San Francisco office of SmithGroupJJR, where she is an associate.  Raised in Wisconsin, she holds a BA in Anthropology from Yale, and an MArch from Harvard, where she was awarded the AIA Adams Medal. Over her 26-year career she has worked exclusively for non-profit educational, healthcare, and governmental organizations, for that is where she has felt she can do the most good for the greatest number of people. She is currently serving on the board of directors for Joan’s House, a newly-forming shelter for transgender women who have been incarcerated. Her experience transitioning gender as an architect was profiled in the San Francisco Business Times on 12 June 2015. Unable to leave school behind, Helen is also very slowly writing a PhD dissertation in History of Architecture at UC Berkeley.

Mani A. Farhadi, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP

Senior Facilities Planner, Stanford University

A global thinker and creative thought leader, Mani Ardalan Farhadi brings three decades of experience in architectural planning. In her current role as Senior Facilities Planner at Stanford University, in the Office of Facilities Planning and Management (OFPM) within the School of Medicine, Mani is combining her passion for education, with her extensive planning skills. Her prior experience includes Taylor Design in San Francisco, Steinberg Hart in San Jose, and Sasaki Associates in Boston. Using analytical skills, she is integral to campus projects, collaborating on design and planning strategies with public and private educational clients throughout the US. Described as ‘the client in the room”, Mani’s keen ability to listen builds consensus within user group settings. Leveraging her expertise, Mani enjoys leading workshops, stakeholder presentations, and conferences nationwide (SCUP, AIA, EQXD, CCFC, CCLC, A4LE, SPUR).

Prescott Reavis, NOMA, LEEP AP, SEED

Founding Director of Anomili Design + Planning

Prescott Reavis is an Oakland based Spatial Activist, designer, planner and award-winning educator who has merged over 20 years of experiences in architecture, planning, and education to develop and construct inclusive communities internationally with a focus on equitable design and planning justice. Prescott leads, Anomili Design + Planning, providing community engagement, planning, design and youth design education for non-profits, small business, and community-based organizations, projects include Planning, Community Engagement and Design for The Oakland Black Cultural Zone, and Community Planning/education in collaboration with The Center for Cities + Schools at UC Berkeley, Y-PLAN program throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

Mr. Reavis previously served as the Director of Community Planning and Project Manager for national renowned Public Interest Design Organization AND Architecture + Community Planning, an Associate at Anshen + Allen Architects. Prescott is accredited in Sustainable Design, certified in Social Economic Environmental Design, he earned his Bachelor of Architecture with a minor in education from Howard University and is currently completing his Masters in Urban Planning from San Jose State University with a focus on integrating youth in the planning and design processes.

Rosa T. Sheng, FAIA, LEED AP BD+C

Principal, Director of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion SmithGroup / AIASF Immediate Past-President 2018

Rosa T. Sheng, FAIA is a Principal at SmithGroup and Director of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion. She is also AIASF President and Founding Chair of Equity by Design. As a licensed architect with 23 years of experience in architecture and design, Rosa has led a variety of award-winning and internationally acclaimed projects from the aesthetically minimal, highly technical development of the glass structures for Apple’s original high-profile retail stores, to the innovative and sustainable LEED NC Gold–certified Lorry I. Lokey Graduate School of Business at Mills College in Oakland, California.

Most notably Rosa has led a national movement for equitable practice in Architecture - catalyzed by ground-breaking research, engaging platforms and public speaking outreach nationally and abroad. National press coverage of Rosa’s work with Equity by Design include Architect Magazine, Architectural Record, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, TEDxPhiladelphia and KQED/NPR.

As a special #EQxDV Pre-Symposium Workshop - We are offering an additional session prior to the Symposium. Please note that registration is separate from the 11/3 Saturday Symposium programming. So, you don’t have to be signed up for #EQxDV to register for this event. Those who are attending on Saturday and arriving early are encouraged to register for this additional event.

AIA Guides to Equitable Practice

Are you interested in building a more equitable workplace, but unsure of how to start? Do you have expertise on an equity issue that could benefit others? Join us to learn how to leverage the AIA’s new Guides for Equitable Practice to transform your career and your firm!

Participants will gain hands-on experience exploring key concepts addressed in the first release of the Guides, including assessment techniques and actionable strategies for improving workplace culture, promoting cultural competence, mitigating implicit bias, and achieving pay equity.  Together, we will collaborate to devise implementation strategies at multiple scales, and to imagine the possibilities for their use by current and future leaders at all levels of practice.

Presenters:

Emily Grandstaff-Rice, FAIA - AIA National Board - Director at Large and Chair AIA Equity and Future of Architecture Committee

Annelise Pitts, AIA - AIA Equity and Future of Architecture Committee

Karen E. Williams, AIA - AIA Equity and Future of Architecture Committee

About the Guides to Equitable Practice -

Based on the recommendations from the AIA Equity in Architecture Commission Report, the guides will 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. They will address such issues as career progression, work culture, leadership development, pay equity, talent recruitment and more. Topics under work culture include attention to specific areas such as professional ethics and sexual harassment.

More Info about the Guides

Pricing + Registration:

AIASF Member $35

General Admission $40

Lunch will be provided prior to the workshop.

CEUs - 3.75 AIA Learning Credits will be provided

Learning Objectives -

• From this session, participants will be actively engage peers in a number of participatory design exercises intended to facilitate reviewing both completed guides and templates for future publication,

• From this session, participants will evaluate content clarity and practicability and surfacing critical issues that have yet to be addressed.

• From this session, participants will gain knowledge on how to apply the guides to equitable practice their own respective practices, beginning with assessment and following with actionable ways to implement frameworks to address key topics covered in each chapter

• From this session, participants will understand the overall structure of the guides as a resource to advance equitable frameworks to apply to professional practice.

First-time registrants for AIA Programming :

Everyone is welcome to attend our programs. You do not need to be an AIA member to register, but you will need to create an account on the aiasf.org website here (you will need this to sign up for all AIA events); AIASF members will automatically have a profile on the AIASF website. You do not need to be an AIA member to register with the website or to attend events - everyone is welcome. While logged into your account, complete your registration by clicking the "register" button at the top right of this page.

If you have any difficulties creating a profile on the AIASF website, logging in, or registering for an event, please contact the AIASF reception at info@aiasf.org.

SOLD OUT! (as of June 1st, 2018)

Thank you for your interest. Please check out our programming for the rest of the year!

Equity by Design is please to announce its 4th Hackathon will be held at Syracuse University's Fisher Center in New York City.

Equity by Design Hackathon 4: ArchitectuREvolution

A’18 Theme
The New Urban Agenda serves as a multi-faceted platform for Architects to apply our best skills towards imagining and committing to a world that is truly inclusive, where equity is for everyone. The EQxD Hackathon embodies the defining characters of the Agenda - to reinvigorate, to ensure effectiveness, and to create resiliency. Urban development,
while different in scale as Practice development, engenders similar goals of wellness for present generations, openness to embrace diversity and evolving demographics, and a pledge towards sustainability for the future by taking bold steps, together, and today.

What the Hack?

As one of the most anticipated workshops in the past four years, the EQxD Hackathon is a unique experience that is essential to building our skills as designers. Based on the Silicon Valley phenomena and emergence of Design Thinking the workshop is hands on, action-oriented, inclusive and teaches the process framework. Groups of thought leaders, licensed architects, and emerging professionals will assemble in an incubator-like setting to learn and apply radical thinking towards transformational concepts for improving Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Architectural Practice and the Communities we serve. Teams will present their Hacks to industry experts and the winning concepts will be presented at the Happy Hour immediately following.

Read More on Last Year's Hackathon Experience in Orlando

Why the Hack?

Hackathons provide an energizing and alternative method to discover, unleash, and create through proximity, design thinking, and teamwork. It’s what happens when you incubate
passion with talent and suspend fear. It’s an experimental environment with a broad and diversely experienced group that's ripe for risk taking and leads to transformational results. Time is a fascinating influence in Hackathons. Perhaps an irony we are nostalgic about is that more time equates to better results. Discard that – we are not looking for perfection. We are looking for bold innovation in the here and now.

When the Hack? 

Wednesday, June 20, 2018 1:00-5:00pm for Hackathon Workshop and 5:30-7:30pm for Happy Hour Reception and Winners Announcement. 

Where the Hack?

Syracuse University School of Architecture has graciously provide in-kind sponsorship for the Hackathon and Happy Hour reception space at the Fisher Center. The entrance to the Fisher Center is located at 19 East 31st Street, between Fifth and Madison Avenues

How the Hack?

Thanks for your interest, unfortunately the event is sold out and we can't accept any additional people due to space limitations. Please check out the other programs for EQxD at A'18 and in the Fall.

Who the Hack?

Meet the #EQxDHack18 Panelists + Jurors

Each one of our Panelists has a story to tell about an experience that took them to that place just outside of his or her comfort zone.  That’s why they are perfect to collaborate as Jurors for the Hackathon. They share a passion for working on “firsts” and not being afraid to find the path (or the support network) to move from idea to realization.  Our panelists will also serve as jurors who are diverse by design, thereby representing a collective and multivalent discussion informed by gender, cultural background, role in AEC industry, and years of experience.

Katherine Darnstadt, AIA - Architect, Entrepreneur, Activist and Founder of Latent Design

Katherine Darnstadt is the founder of Latent Design, a progressive architecture, urbanism, and interiors firm leveraging civic innovation and social impact to design more equitable spaces and systems. Since founding her practice in 2010, Katherine and her firm have been published, exhibited and featured widely, most notably at the International Venice Architecture Biennale, Core 77 Design Awards, Architizer A+ Awards, Chicago Ideas Week, NPR, American Institute of Architects Young Architects Honor Award winner, and Crain’s Chicago 40 Under 40. She currently teaches at Northwestern University.

Danny Guillory - Head of Global Diversity & Inclusion Autodesk

As Head of Global Diversity & Inclusion at Autodesk, Daniel is working to integrate all dimensions of diversity and includsion into many parts of the organization, inclusing customer acquisition, recruitment, hiring, people development, advancement, investment, and acquisition. He also is interested in the application of people analytics and passionate about the integration of diversity into the development of Artificial Intelligence. Daniel studied at Stanford University, Universite de Paris, and Chemnitz University of Technology in Germany.

Emmanuel Oni - Active Design Fellow Design Trust for Public Space

Emmanuel Oni is an architectural designer interested in using design as a catalyst for social change, and has experience in the arts as a painter and arts facilitator. He participated in international urbanism workshops in Venice, Hong Kong, and Lagos, and Parson’s Design Workshops. He received a Master’s in Architecture from Parsons School of Design and a dual Bachelor’s in Biology & Psychology from the University of Houston.

Frances Choun - Equity Champion and Mentor, Former Leader in Construction

Frances is an established and trusted leader formerly as Vice- President of McCarthy’s Northern Pacific Division. Her visionary leadership has propelled the company forward as one of the largest commercial contracting firms in California. Frances launched her career in Architecture, where she developed an interest in the construction side of the business. As an industry expert, Frances is regularly called upon by local, trade and national media to address new and projected trends, and is considered a pioneer in advancing women in the construction field. Frances was in the pioneering class of the Equity by Design's Hackathon at the AIA Convention in Atlanta. This year, her fervor for hacking continues and she will help us select a winner.

Lilian Asperin AIA, LEED AP BD+C; Session Organizer; Partner, WRNS Studio

As Partner at WRNS Studio, Lilian helps to lead the design process and build teams that deliver aspirational outcomes. In her role as Pacific Council Chair for SCUP, she organizes immersive experiences where the most pressing topics within Higher Education are brought to bear. As a Director of the AIA SF Board and Co-Chair of the Equity by Design Committee, she is engaged in a national conversation focused on equitable practices within the Architecture profession.

Rosa Sheng FAIA, LEED AP BD+C - Event Organizer - Principal, SmithGroup JJR

Rosa is an architect with over 23 years experience, who has been involved in a variety of award-winning and internationally acclaimed projects, from the aesthetically minimal, highly technical development of the glass structures for Apple’s original high-profile retail stores, to the innovative and sustainable LEED NC Gold–certified Lorry I. Lokey Graduate School of Business at Mills College in Oakland, California. As founding chair of Equity by Design and President 2018 of AIA San Francisco, Sheng authored AIA National Resolution 15-1 in 2015, and served on the Equity in Architecture Commission in 2016. She has presented nationally and abroad including Boston, New York, Lisbon, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Seattle. Equity by Design has been featured in Architect Magazine, Architectural Record, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, TEDxPhiladelphia and KQED/NPR.

Special Thanks to our #EQxDHack18 Sponsors

In Kind Sponsor for EQxD Hack Space :

Equity by Design is pleased to announce that Rosa Sheng, AIA, LEED AP BD+C will be the 2018 Convocation Speaker for the Syracuse University School of Architecture.

Rosa Sheng, AIA LEED AP BD+C, a Principal at SmithGroupJJR and AIASF President for 2018 will be closing speaker for Portugal's Women in Architecture Lecture Series 2017 - 2018  "Arquitectas: Modo(s) de (R) Existir - Women: Architecture: REvolution in Lisbon, Portugal Teatro Sao Luiz on March 28, 2018. 

In the context of the national conversation of women's advancement,  Rosa will discuss the action and initiatives of Equity by Design in 2018. She will also share  "Why Equity Matters for Everyone: A new value proposition for Design", with key anecdotes and survey findings from the 2016 Equity in Architecture Survey that will frame the discussion on how Architecture and professional practice can remain relevant, provide meaningful engagement and better design outcomes for the communities we serve.

Aloha AIA Honolulu! 

Rosa Sheng, AIASF President and Founder of Equity by Design and Frances Choun, past AIASF Board Officer, former VP of McCarthy Building Companies and Equity by Design Champion will be speaking about the results from the 2016 Equity in Architecture Survey, as well as information about the 2018 survey.

This will frame the discussion on how Architecture and professional practice can remain relevant, provide meaningful engagement and better design outcomes for the communities we serve.

Frances Choun will be the moderator for the discussion/Q&A

All work and no play makes for dull professionals they say!

Based on advice from other Equity by Design members, our next "meet up" will be a social networking event Happy Hour - Red Dog Restaurant and Bar

Drinks and Snacks are Dutch

Please spread the word and Join us!