Excited to Share | I Keynoted the 2019 AIA Grassroots

Updated: Apr 22, 2019

I hope you had a great time with your loved ones and had an amazing weekend.

With overwhelming excitement I'm excited to share that I keynoted the 2019 AIA Grassroots in Washington DC. I moderated a panel with people i consider advocacy legends!

Rick Archer, FAIA, LEEP, AP - Overland Partners, Haven for Hope Ryan Gravel, Founder at Sixpitch

Hildegard Vasquez, Co-Founder & Head Architect, Hache Uve, S.A. San Felipe, Panama

In this People with Purpose panel we discussed advocacy through the built environment and profession. We discussed our passions and intended outcomes of all their efforts; we identified injustices that are perpetuated through architecture and who i directly / disproportionately place at a disadvantage; the differences between activism and advocacy and the role of each in their work; We also discussed how the community voices are integrated into the design process; lastly using LEED as an example, we heard about a metrics on how we can measure diversity and inclusion in the built environment.

Afterwards I moderated the Social Justice: Designing Communities for Equity Panel with a few our our Design Justice Advocates:

Beau Frail, AIA, RID, NCARB - AIA Austin

Siboney Diaz Sanchez, AIA - AIA San Antonio

Phoebe Crisman, AIA - AIA Central Virginia

This powerful discussion talked about the role advocacy plays in design and the profession; We learned about the communities that they are championing and empowering through architecture; and spoke about how architecture can offend and the best way to engage the community throughout the planning and design process.

We were able to tell our story, journey and share our passions to 700 AIA Grassroots attendees.

AIA Grassroots was an amazing experience. I was able to participate in Capitol Hill Day.

Alongside AIA NY Board and Leadership Members. @benprosky Adam Roberts, Kim Yao, @sladearchitecture this article titled: Advocating For A Better (Designed) World, speaks to our experience when 600 AIA members participated in over 400 meetings during Capital Hill Day! It was amazing to speak with my representatives and voice our concerns, offer our expertise and for them to be receptive and supportive.