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#EQxD2020 SERIES: Session 2 - J.E.D.I. Agenda + Health

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:

Recommended Additional Resources


About the Speaker

Jessica Florence

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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

Earlier Event: October 23
#EQxD2020 SERIES: Session 1 - J.E.D.I. and Social/Economic Mobility
Later Event: December 11
#EQxD2020 SERIES: Session 3 - J.E.D.I. and Environment