EA202: Walking the Talk of Equity by Design with Rosa Sheng [Podcast]

Walking the Talk of Equity by Design Sometime in the next few weeks, the AIA San Francisco Equity by Design comittee will launch it’s third Equity in Architecture Survey and distribute the findings from their previous survey. Check it out and take it, because it will affect everyone in the profession of architecture. Equity means that all people, regardless of their socioeconomic, racial, or ethnic grouping, have fair and just access to the recourses and opportunities needed to thrive. This week on EntreArchitect Podcast, Rosa Sheng is Walking the Talk of Equity by Design. Background Rosa is a respected designer, architect, thought leader and innovator with over 23 years of experience. She’s led a variety of award winning and internationally acclaimed projects. As founding chair of Equity by Design and AIA San Francisco Chapter president, Rosa has led two Equity in Architecture surveys and authored AIA National Resolution 15-1 in 2015 and served on the Equity in Architecture Commission from 2016-2017. She’s presented on why equity matters for everyone nationally and abroad, and since she was last on the podcast, Equity by Design has been featured in Architect magazine, Architectural Record, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and on the TEDx stage in Philadelphia. After 20 years at the San Francisco office of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, she recently joined SmithGroupJJR. Now, more than ever, a foundation of equitable practice and what that truly means is ever so more important not just in architecture, but in society as a whole. Equity minimizes barriers to maximize success. It’s not just what’s fair and equal, it’s a mindset of “we first” instead of “me first”. The 2016 Equity in Architecture Survey will be out soon, and the key findings started out with career pinch points and added career dynamics. While career pinch points happen once during your career, career dynamics happen throughout your career, like work/live balance, having a break from architecture, and pay equity. Equity by Design has also had a lot of great reports written by Annelise Pitts. For example, pay equity relates to how we’re comparing tings on the concept of temporal flexibility: you’re only as valuable as the hours you’re perceived to be working in the office verses your influence and impact beyond the physical hours you’re in the office. In this paradigm of how we should work, what is our value as architects? Were there any big surprises with the last survey that’s about to release? Burnout engagement was a new topic to the 2016 survey. Someone’s access to a senior leader in a firm, having friendships at work, seeing a clear pathway to advancement, and doing work that is meaningful to longterm career goals shows a huge impact on whether someone thrives. Does the survey address the community of small firm architects? The survey did look at sole practitioners and small firm architects, but they could use help to expand the pool. Of the 8,000, about 600 were sole practitioners. Hopefully more small firms and sole practitioners participate in the survey in the future! How have you applied some of these things to your new firm? The irony is that the last thing Rosa was...

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