#EQxD2020 SERIES - Practice, Process and Paradigms for the J.E.D.I.
Session 1: J.E.D.I. + Society/Economics/Social Mobility

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.

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Learning Objectives

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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 by Ta-Nehisi Coates

About the Presenter

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.

About the 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.

About the 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.

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 Session  $20
• Package of 3 Sessions  $50
• Full Series+  $95

General Admission

• 1 Session  $30
• Package of 3 Sessions  $80
• Full Series+  $155

AIASF Student Member

• 1 Session $10
• Package of 3 Sessions  $20
• 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.

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 by Ibram X. Kendi
• 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 Series: Practice, Process and Paradigms for the J.E.D.I. Agenda

EQxD 2020: Reflect, Restructure, Recalibrate

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.

Series Schedule

• Kick-Off Session
  • Wednesday, September 30, 2020, 1:30-3:00pm PST
    • use registration at this session to access the "Full Series+" and "Bundle of First 3" Sessions tickets
• Session 1: J.E.D.I. and Society/Economics/Social Mobility
  • Friday, October 23, 2020, 2:00-3:30pm PST
• Session 2: J.E.D.I. and Health
  • Friday, November 20, 2020, 11am-12:30pm PST
• Session 3: J.E.D.I. and Environment
  • Friday, December 11, 2020, 11am-12:30pm PST
    • use registration at this session to access the "Bundle of Final 3 Sessions" tickets
• Session 4: J.E.D.I. and Practice
  • Friday, January 22, 2021, 11am-12:30pm PST
• Closing Session: Capstone and Call to Action
  • Friday, February 26, 2021, 11am-12:30pm PST

#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. 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 the #EQxD2020 series.

APPLY HERE

Scholarship Partners
AIASF Architecture Licensing Committee | AIASF Mentorship Committee | AIASF Equity by Design Committee