This is a reflection post written a month or so after attending the 2017 AIA Women’s Leadership Summit (WLS) in Washington D.C. The goal of the WLS is to, “Raise the profile of women principals and leaders in the profession, share, and promote the design work of women, explode new paths to leadership, and to learn from each other” (https://www.aiawls.org/resources) This summit is held every other year with the first WLS being in Chicago 2009. See the AIA WLS website to see previous summits and programs.
The Washington D.C. summit was the closest WLS to Pittsburgh since Chicago 2009, therefore a group of registered female architects from my office took this opportunity to participate. IKM was able to send a total of 9 registered female architects to the WLS. Our goal was to not only bound and grow as female architects, but also to divide up to see as much as we could at the Summit.
Below was my personal itinerary at the summit. Due to the number of us attending from one firm we limited our itinerary to the lectures/programs that were included in the price of the summit. There were additional sessions that could have been attended for a price outside the cost of the summit including: city tours, morning workouts, lectures and programs. I heard from multiple people that the city tours were fantastic.
THURSDAY – PRE-SUMMIT PROGRAMS
Welcome Reception at the AIA Headquarters
FRIDAY – DAY 1
Welcome
National Update of Creating Tailwinds
Capital Clients
100 Series: A Women Under Fire with Angela O’Byrne
Lunch with Table Topics
My table’s topic was: Workplace Culture: How do you create a tailwind that will propel you if you are not in a leadership role?
200 Series: Divergent Voices of the Profession
201: Career Journeys Beyond Design
300 Series: In-Studio
HOK Office with Susan Klumpp Williams
WIDEA Lecture: Dina Griffin
SATURDAY – DAY 2
Welcome
Leadership Keynote
Leadership, Career Success for Women with Susan Colantuono
400 Series: Tools for Moving Towards Equity
403: Leading the Academy
Lunch with Workshop
The lectures and events I was able to attend was a great experience. I met and heard stories from some incredible women along the way from around the country. I will have additional posts about the particular lectures I attended and/or lessons I learned along the way.
Are you thinking on attending an AIA Women’s Leadership Summit? You don’t have to be a Principal of a firm or a Dean of a University to attend. I met women at many different points of the their careers. It is never too early to join the discussion. There were 400 in attendance at the 2017 Summit, and over 300 on the waitlist. So register early! This is not only to be able to attend but there are multiple lectures during one session time period to choose from. By the time I registered there were already multiple lectures that were already full. Below are some good resources in the meantime.
Videos to Watch:
Equity in Architecture: http://eqxdesign.com
Susan Colantuono TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/susan_colantuono_the_career_advice_you_probably_didn_t_get
Leading Women
http://www.leadingwomen.biz/
Books that were recommended to read:
“The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance – What Women Should Know” – By Katty Kay
“Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In” – By Roger Fisher
“Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead” – Sheryl Sandberg
Written by Katelyn Rossier
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