KATHERINE WILLIAMS
Black Women in Architecture Network
SAY IT LOUD - NOMA 50th Exhibition
SAY IT LOUD - WASHINGTON DC Exhibitor
Washington DC Based Designer
Who or what inspires you professionally?
It inspires me especially to hear the stories from Black women architects of how they were able to succeed in the profession. This include architects in older generations but also learning all the new ideas coming from younger professionals.
KATHERINE WILLIAMS
Bio:
The great architect, Katherine Williams, AIA, NOMA, LEED AP is a licensed architect in Northern Virginia and currently a Senior Project Manager for construction at a DC university. Katherine has written and presented extensively about the architecture profession, diversity in the industry, and community development. She restarted the Black Women in Architecture brunch in DC, co-founded the Desiree Cooper ARE Scholarship. She writes at katherinerw.com and is publisher/editor for archstories.com and bwa-network.com.
How did you first learn about architecture and when did you decide that built environment profession was an area of interest for you?
At elementary age, I met an architect at a Girl Scout Career Fair. After attending architecture and design after-school and summer programs, I pursued it in college. Design interested me and piecing together the puzzle of buildings and communities.
What do you do?
In my daytime work, I manage construction projects for a university. For BWA, I co-founded and chair the brunch and the scholarship committees. I participate in the team organizing the Riding the Vortex presentations.
What excites you in the work you do?
Women realizing there are others, who are also the only black woman architect on a project, in a firm, or at a job site, and them making connections and supporting each other beyond a single event but in their everyday lives and careers.
Who or what inspires you professionally?
It inspires me especially to hear the stories from Black women architects of how they were able to succeed in the profession. This include architects in older generations but also learning all the new ideas coming from younger professionals.
What is your proudest professional accomplishment or achievement?
I am proudest of the work to help the hundreds of black women in architecture connect in the DC area and around the US and that we can support future generations of architects through the Desiree Cooper Scholarship.
Featured Project Name:
Black Women in Architecture Brunch
Featured Project Location:
Virginia
Featured Project Completion Date:
ongoing
Role in Featured Project:
Organizer
Featured Project Description:
Black Women in Architecture Network is a forum for initiatives supporting Black women in the architecture profession. BWA holds an annual brunch event which raises funds for the Desiree Cooper ARE Scholarship. The event allows Black women to meet, network, support each other in their career paths. The brunch revives an event first held in the 1980s in the DC area. The current iteration began in 2015 and has connected hundreds of professionals and been supported by numerous organizations and firms.
