A group of Seattle Women in Design participants met up in Atlanta for the AIA National Convention last weekend. I was going to write up highlights and then saw that Rosa Sheng had already done so on the Missing 32% Project Blog:
http://themissing32percent.com/blog/2015/5/17/equity-by-design-aia-convention-atlanta-recap
Here are a few highlights from her blog post:
Yet another first, 2 galleries that recognized equity challenges and women in architecture. They were located near each other and facilitated the Equity discussion at convention. The Equity in Architecture early findings infographics were on display outside of B308 with healthy traffic and positive reception. The AIA Houston WIA Exhibit had a traveling gallery version that also had many visitors and discussion.
The newly elected AIA National officers show promise not only for representing a diverse Board, but also carrying through with the change that the institute needs to remain relevant and impactful in the future. The officers are Thomas Vonier, President-elect for 2017, Stuart Coppedge, Treasurer. Jennifer Workman, L. Jane Frederick, and Anthony Schirripa will serve as Delegates at Large. Additionally, Don King, Thierry Paret, and Deepika Padaam will join them as elected Board members from the AIA Strategic Council. Robert Ivy mentioned Equity by Design as an inspiration for the AIA 2015 Diversity Survey. The early results of the survey will be presented at the AIA Women's leadership summit in Seattle on September 18: Celebrating Women Leaders, Promoting Cultural Change.
Perhaps the most exciting outcome of the convention was the success of advocacy for Resolution 15-1 Equity in Architecture that was co-authored with Julia Donoho, Frank Pitts and Rosa Sheng; co-sponsored by AIASF, AIACC; and supported by the AIA National Board of Directors, Strategic Council, AIA Diversity Council and Big Sibs. The list of supporters goes beyond this base, to all the 4117 AIA delegates who voted in support of the resolution. We are deeply grateful of the solidarity for equitable practice and excited for the work ahead.
One more thing to add to her summary: We all attended the Women in Architecture annual dinner on Thursday night at the Wimbish House. http://www.thewimbishhouse.com/ There was a great presentation from two principals (AIA fellows and sisters!) from McAfee3 Architects Inc. http://mcafee3.com/ Also updates from the Missing 32% Project and Christine and I promoted the AIA Women's Leadership Summit. http://www.aiawls.org/
All these actions show that our movement of creating equity in architecture is really gaining momentum!