Last month, Kamala Harris became the first Howard University graduate to be sworn in as vice president of the United States. Her inauguration is the fulfillment of a career in public service and signifies a series of firsts beyond Howard for the nation. Her inauguration is also the symbol of possibility for millions of young women who have similar aspirations for achievement in public service, on their own behalf and on behalf of the people they might serve in law, governance, science, administration, or design. Vice President Harris shattered a ceiling that few believed could be shattered even a generation ago. Admittedly, being a living symbol of possibility for women of color is the heaviest crown of all, but she has accepted this challenge.
Last year, AIA participated in the NAACP 2020 Diversity & Opportunity Report Card to examine our operations and identify opportunities for progress. This process included reviewing AIA Honors and Awards procedures, as well as our Fellowship program, to inform actions to ensure greater diversity in those we recognize for professional achievements. We’ve developed a new initiative called Future Forward to help support our progress. The Future Forward page at aia.org provides educational resources to enhance understanding and engagement.
As slow as progress toward equity has seemed, AIA’s resolve has never been stronger. That resolve centers, in part, on resources like our Guides for Equitable Practice. Developed over the past two years in partnership with Renée Cheng, FAIA, dean of the University of Washington’s College of Built Environments, the guides include case studies and tactical advice to, as Cheng says, “convert intentions into actions.” They are a valuable tool as we work to identify and dismantle our implicit and explicit biases. At this moment, this is one of the finest road maps we have for ensuring that our practices are relevant and adhering to best practices. Not convenient and minimum standards, but standards that are dignified and an exemplar for all professions.
Barriers to diversity in our profession start early—not just in college, but even at the elementary school level. Education and scholarship initiatives are critical. As the future of the profession, your voices, insights, and contributions are especially valuable. Pathways to the profession are everything. Yes, architecture will always have a critical and relatively stable mass of professionals as long as we do what we’ve always done in advocacy, continuing education, licensure, and long-term support. But, if we want architecture’s pathways to embody the vitality of diverse perspectives and experiences, then we must address the entire journey.
We need your commitment to this future. We need a lot of help. Carina Mills, AIA, of AIA Long Beach/South Bay, Calif., told me about high school teacher Jeffrey Jackson who has created a conduit between Wilson High School and Cal Poly and Sci-ARC, giving kids in at-risk neighborhoods access to our profession’s benchmark institutions. By heightening familiarity in schools about what an architect does, Jackson and AIA Long Beach/South Bay are contributing to a more equitable and diverse profession, which is critical to innovative thinking and problem solving.
AIA has a number of innovative K-12 resources to cultivate that same familiarity with our profession in young students. One of them is the Build the Block tablet game (available via every AIA component), which pairs architects and teenagers to plan for all the things a community needs to thrive.
AIA’s broader K-12 initiative features lesson guides for educators that address state-level standards and relate to the Framework for Design Excellence, which was published last year. Partnering with organizations like the National Education Association or the National Science Foundation might also be a gateway to facilitate this initiative and its multiyear work to demonstrate engagement, awareness, and collaboration. This is the time to redouble our focus on these resources and on scholarship initiatives to support college education, not to mention grants to support early professional development.
The NEA awarded Kamala Harris an “A” grade for her focus, as a first-term senator, on supporting educators and bolstering schools. As a vice presidential candidate, she ran on an education platform with President Biden that centered on K-12 funding, racial justice and equity, and accessibility to college. In short, she ran on bolstering pathways to the profession. Nothing could be more important as we celebrate Black History Month than forging new opportunities for people of color at every age in every economic quintile across the nation.
