After more than six years at the Boston-based firm Arrowstreet, Emily Grandstaff-Rice, FAIA, the incoming 99th president of The American Institute of Architects, has joined the global firm Perkins&Will. Grandstaff-Rice will be based with the firm's Boston studio, serving as a senior project manager and senior associate.
“Perkins&Will’s focus on climate action, social equity, and research is unparalleled in the industry, and I feel strongly that by joining the firm, I’ll be able to translate my passions into meaningful action on a national and even international scale,” said Grandstaff-Rice in a press release from the firm. She also cited the firm's work with justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion ( JEDI) policies and the Boston studio's recent work as factors in her decision to join the team.
“Emily’s passion, voice, and rigor have found the perfect home at Perkins&Will, where we are committed to diversifying the design profession and making progress on our goals every day,” said Gabrielle Bullock, FAIA, Perkins&Will’s director of global diversity and the 2020 winner of AIA's Whitney Young Jr. Award, in the same release.
Grandstaff-Rice will begin her term as 2023 AIA president on Dec. 8, once she is officially inaugurated. Her campaign for the position, which took place in 2021, highlighted her desire to "move forward with critical issues, such as urgent climate action and advancing racial, ethnic, and gender equity," Grandstaff-Rice told ARCHITECT during the campaign. "The 2021-2025 AIA Strategic Plan goals of climate action for human and ecological health and advancing equity will be multiyear initiatives. I support focusing and aligning resources to address these issues in a way that is sustainable with impact. I am also passionate about our growing advocacy strength among policy makers; the opportunity to impact future generations at the K-12 and higher-education levels with both formal and informal learning experiences; and using our voice in communicating the importance of what we do and how we shape the built environment."
