(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

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