Women Who Design

Yolanda Lettieri, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, is Principal and CEO of YSL Architecture, but also a member of the Women Who Design steering committee. Women Who Design is a group that exists to examine through storytelling the lived experience and contributions of women in architecture. Yolanda and I are acquaintances through our connections with the AIA Northwest & Pacific Region back in 2008-2010 when I served on the AIA Oregon Board as one of the directors representing the Southwestern Oregon Chapter, and Yolanda was the Regional Associate Director. She recently brought Women Who Design to my attention, and I’m happy to share the organization’s story and mission here on my blog. 

A glass ceiling preventing women from achieving elevated professional success in the architectural profession persists despite real progress in recent decades. Even today, the social constructs of gender roles and biases continue to occupationally segregate women, often preventing them from achieving their full potential as architects. Women remain underrepresented at the top levels in our field, and they continue to command lower pay than their male peers. The problem is more than the architectural profession alone can fix—it is a complex societal dilemma for which solutions remain elusive. Certainly, one key is for all of us to hear from the lived experiences of those who have dealt very personally with the career challenges they have faced. 

Providing a platform to ask what it means to be a woman pursuing a career in architecture is precisely the objective of Women Who Design. By inviting female architects and designers to tell their stories and lived experiences, Women Who Design believes these collective voices can contribute toward a broader exploration of the subject. The medium for this exploration will be a juried (virtual) exhibit of the most compelling and thought-provoking stories, entitled The Life Cycles of Women in Architecture. Additionally, Women Who Design produced a series of live workshops, discussion panels, and artist talks earlier this spring, with hopes for more to come. 

Fundamentally, Women Who Design seeks to: 

• Amplify the voices of women to bring a fresh perspective to the status quo
• Situate the input of contributors within the larger contemporary discourse about women in society
• Inspire ongoing reflection and change through honesty, specificity, and diversity of content
• Empower current and future generations 

The intended audience for The Life Cycles of Women in Architecture exhibit is all of us, but particularly young and future generations of women who may have an interest in pursuing a career in the design professions. While there are other groups who advocate on behalf of women architects and share knowledge, advice, and support development of emerging professionals(1), Women Who Design is unique in its focus upon encouraging women in architecture to openly share their individual, personal experiences. By reading their stories, we may all learn, empathize, and come to recognize the common threads between them. These will undoubtedly prompt further discussions, all of which will be essential to furthering our progress toward equity on all fronts within the architectural profession. 

Check out Women Who Design’s website for more information about the organization’s unique approach to lifting the voices of women in architecture and design. If the goals and mission of Women Who Design resonate with you, download the sponsorship package from the link below and consider supporting their efforts with your donation. 

https://app.box.com/s/dwai1nc18dnoijykno2c9zzq7mgii3am 

(1)    These include the Organization of Women Architects & Design Professionals, Equityby Design, and the American Institute of Architects’ National Diversity Council and Women in Architecture (WIA) Committee.