Principal/Chief Talent Officer, Perkins+Will

Meg is a recognized talent leader in the design community with expertise in recruitment, employee communications, performance management, acquisitions, cultural integration, and best practices including the Perkins+Will Leadership Institute and Diversity + Inclusion Council. Notably, Meg implemented a highly successful paid parental leave policy, one of the first in the U.S. design profession. She has an unwavering commitment to the human side of our practice, fostering talent development, equity and design thinking.

She has contributed to articles in Architectural Record, Architect Magazine, and DesignIntelligence including “How top architecture firms measure up in the #MeToo era” in Curbed.com

2019 AIA First Vice President/2020 AIA President

Extraordinary residences and renovations with an eye towards history and the environment are hallmarks of Jane Frederick’s work.

She is principal at Frederick + Frederick Architect, the 2017 AIA South Carolina Firm Award recipient, and her honors include Best Renovation of the Year, the Robert Mill Honor Award, and the Robert Mills Merit Award. She serves on numerous community and historic review and planning boards.

Jane has led the AIA Small Firm Round Table Executive Committee, served as an AIA At-Large Director, and was President of AIA South Carolina. Jane was elected as AIA National President-Elect for 2020 at the AIA National Conference on Architecture in June, 2018. She is part of the visiting team for the National Architectural Accrediting Board and is a Fellow of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

Principal, Runcible Studios

Marilyn is the founding principal of Runcible Studios, an architecture practice in Boston, MA, where she is also a Member of the Faculty at the Boston Architectural College, and an Adjunct Professor at Wentworth Institute of Technology. Previously, Marilyn worked at Utile, Inc in Boston, as a building contractor in Charlottesville, VA, and was the 2010 SOM Prize winner; she has lectured nationally and internationally on her work and research. She also serves as the Chair of Northeastern Law School’s NuLawLab advisory board and is a Facilitator at the Entrepreneur Architect Academy. Marilyn holds a BS Arch, a BA History, and an M.Arch from the University of Virginia, and is a licensed Architect in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.

Twitter: @mwmoedinger

Website: www.runciblestudios.com

IG: runciblestudios

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 teaching, learning, and curriculum within the context of architecture. At the ACSA, he makes efforts to engender research surrounding issues of:

1) diversity within the discipline of architecture,

2) architectural relevancy and economy,

3) K12 education and the opportunities for architectural impact, and

4) design scholarship and measurable student outcomes.

Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

Annelise Pitts is an architect with Bohlin Cywinski Jackson in New York, NY. In her design work, she has collaborated with clients and interdisciplinary design teams on complex design and planning projects. Recent projects include the UC Davis Large Lecture Hall, and campus planning for Dominican University of California. As a member of the Equity by Design core team, and the research chair for the last 2 surveys, she is responsible for the development and oversight of the Equity in Architecture Research Project. She looks forward to sharing the results of the 2018 survey at this year’s symposium.

Principal, SmithGroup and AIASF 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.

Senior Associate, Ogletree Deakins

Michael Thomas is a Senior Associate with Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Steward P.C in Los Angeles - a global management side labor and employment law firm.  Michael represents employers in both class action lawsuits and single-plaintiff litigation including discrimination and harassment claims. He is also a member of Ogletree’s Pay Equity group where he regularly conducts pay equity audits and provides advice, counseling and workplace trainings on issues involving diversity and inclusion, and unconscious bias.  Michael has a Bachelor of Arts from Bucknell University and a Juris Doctorate from Boston College Law School. Michael has also studied yoga, meditation and mindfulness.  Michael is a recipient of the 2018 American Arbitration Association Higginbotham Fellowship and was recently selected by the National Bar Association as one of the Top 100 African-American Attorneys.