Following up on last week’s post on the newly elected AIA president, Emily Grandstaff-Rice, it appears that female leadership may be on the rise for AIA. In an article titled “Women in Architecture” published by AIA back in 2020, goals were set for increasing viability and visibility of women in the profession, and this year, and for the first time in AIA’s history, an all-female leadership team is in place.
The three leadership positions are held by Lakisha Ann Woods, CAE, AIA (AIA Executive Vice President/CEO since January 2022), Emily Grandstaff-Rice, FAIA (AIA President), and Kimberly Dowdell, AIA (2023 First VP/2024 President-elect).
In the same “Women in Architecture” article mentioned above, it states that registered women architects made up a measly 1% of all architects back in 1958. In 2020, when the article was published, that number had grown to 17%. This number still might not be quite where we’d like it to be but, the student populations at architectural programs continue to be pretty even across the board with women making up about half of the population. This was certainly true at my university. With 2023’s leadership team in place, I don’t have any doubt that women will continue to grow in this profession and meet the goals set by the Women in Architecture.
Check out the Q&A article below, published earlier this week, to read on how our three female leaders were inspired to lead and plan to inspire diversity across the profession.
Q&A with AIA’s CEO, President, and President-elect – AIA
Cover Image Credit: AIA
Sources: Women in Architecture – AIA
Kendra Hage, Associate AIA, is an Architectural Associate with CO-OP, Sioux Falls. She received her B.Arch from Iowa State University in 2017 with a focus on sustainability and environmental design. An Iowa native, Kendra commutes to Sioux Falls while living in the country outside of Inwood, Iowa with her husband, two boys, and their scottish highland – Celia. Outside of architecture, Kendra enjoys gardening, reading, and anything in the outdoors.