September 2023 Chapter President’s letter

Sep 21

A personal letter from Angela Mazzi, FAIA, FACHA, EDAC about women in architecture

Are you a woman in the architecture profession? Perhaps you know one... This letter is for you. There are so many false choices that women have had to reckon with:

Being a good/wife/mother/daughter/sister etc. OR having a full throttle career

Asserting yourself and making bold career moves OR being nurturing and likable

Women’s career trajectories are often weighed down by the expectation to over-serve and people please. It’s an unconscious societal bias that causes low expectations from others and pressures us to hold ourselves back. When success seems to cost too much, or comes with too much guilt, it’s hard to want it. This is why it’s so important to shine a spotlight on women in our profession. They are firm partners, industry leaders, and changemakers. Women are redefining what success means: a meaningful career AND quality of life.

This month, I spoke at the AIA Aspire conference about how design impacts quality of life and equity. Yara Bond from AIA Atlanta who I mentor through the COF/YAF Align program, is an experienced architect, but has never attended a conference before. When she saw I was speaking, it emboldened her to say to her boss, “You need to send me to this conference, my mentor is speaking.” He did and we had an amazing opportunity to spend quality time together IRL, plus she got to network with her colleagues in the South Atlantic Region. This is the power of us showing up in the world.

Takeaways from the AIA Women’s Leadership Summit

Sarah Kleiner, Co-Chair of our AIA Cincinnati Women in Architecture Committee attended the sold-out AIA Women’s Leadership Summit. I was at their 3-hour workshop back in June at A’23, which was super powerful, but the Summit is a 10x experience. Sarah shared that “Women architects are really hungry to connect with other women in the field. I think a lot of women feel really isolated, whether they're working from home or in a large firm surrounded by men. It's important to be able to connect with people who understand your perspective and point of view, people that are going through the same things you are or have gone through the same things you have.” She went on to say, “It's the reason for unconscious bias, right? People automatically associate with people who look like them. It's human nature. But it's more than that. I always think of the little girl who wouldn't stop staring at Michelle Obama's portrait. Role models are important. You have to be able to see something in order to become it.”

Some stats (because this is a movement not a conference):

900 attendees, almost all women with 200+ on the waiting list
First time three women in a row will be AIA president
First time two people of color in a row will be AIA president

Sarah added, “Women are making huge strides in the world (including the Moon and Mars!).” The conference didn’t just focus on women’s issues. It also showcased women as changemakers. Many women I know who are redefining how we practice presented. A couple who stood out to Sarah were:

Melodie Yashar, VP of Building Design & Performance at ICON, is developing architecture to put humans on Mars, and using that technology (3D printing) to create affordable housing here on Earth
Aurora James founder of Brother Vellies spoke about using her influence to launch the Fifteen Percent Pledge, to get retailers to promise to dedicate 15% of their shelf space to Black-owned brands (15% is the population of Black Americans), which translates to $14 billion dollars a year going to Black-owned businesses.

Networking is often as valuable as the sessions. Sarah shared some of the encounters she had. “At one lunch I sat next to a woman who is a partner at a DC firm that is looking to partner with WBEs. She's already sent me an email and I'll be connecting with her today. I met an architect from Grand Rapids, MI. I was up on the beach in Muskegon a few weeks ago and it turns out she got the project to renovate the beach house there. We bonded over that building. I met another woman from central Michigan that has spent a great deal of her career doing residential work while she raised her family. There are few architects in her area. She doesn't have a CRAN or WiA group in her area. She was thrilled to meet other women architects. We talked about the need to have a meetup for women our age who may have had a nontraditional work life but could also let young women know that there are alternative ways to be an architect. These kinds of meetings happened between every session, talking with other women about what programs are offered near them, what kind of support they have, what they need, how to handle motherhood, how to bring men into the conversation, etc. Some women are part of female architect CEO groups, some women still don't have any support, and everything in between. It's a great forum to learn from one another.”

The Year of the Woman Architect

Here at AIA Cincinnati, we are celebrating 2023 as the year of the Woman Architect. Check out our women in architecture member profiles. If you are interested in networking and mentoring opportunities, email Julie Carpenter to connect with a WiA Dining Circle. Then make sure to sign up for the CAC tour and social celebrating the 20th anniversary of the first US project designed by the ultimate badass woman architect - Zaha Hadid - on October 19.

Of course, women aren’t limited to a single channel. We have a variety of programs that let you plug into resources for your career stage and interests. Show up and take a stand for your AND!

Angela Mazzi, FAIA, FACHA, EDAC
2023 AIA Cincinnati President