The AIA|DC Equity Committee by WIELD is pleased to be hosting our first Pride month event. We are honored to celebrate the diverse stories of our speakers and their journeys to success through an afternoon of virtual storytelling and conversation.

Like our annual WIELD event, this inclusive storytelling event engages diverse industry leaders sharing their stories of empowerment and resilience through the lens of Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging. The stories will highlight how each individual overcame pinch points and career dynamics that hinder career progression while sharing the opportunities that encouraged their growth and success.

#WIELDyourStory

Moderator:

Tyler Brewer, Account Executive (Rep), Tarkett 

(he, him, his) 

Tyler Brewer is a Tarkett Rep in the DC/Baltimore area. Not one to sit still, after graduating from SCAD in 2015, he has worked in residential design, corporate design, lighting sales, and now flooring sales. On the more personal side of things, he grew up in Baltimore and went to an all boys school, becoming the first person to ever come out of the closet and advocate for the LGBTQ+ community there. Since then, he moved away to Savannah and has come back to live in DC with his partner.

Panelists:

Meghan Hottel-Cox, Associate, Goulston & Storrs 

(she/her/hers) 

Meghan Hottel-Cox is a real estate attorney. She focuses her practice on land use, working with real estate developers and educational institutions on a range of zoning matters. Meghan regularly appears before the D.C. Board of Zoning Adjustment and the D.C. Zoning Commission on behalf of her clients. Meghan is the co-founder of Q City, an LGBTQ commercial real estate organization in Washington, D.C. Q City’s mission is to foster community among, cultivate connections between, and promote professional opportunities for the LGBTQ members of the Washington metropolitan area commercial real estate industry.

Helen Bronston, AIA, Associate, Architecture Discipline Lead 

(she/her/hers) 

Helen Bronston has practiced architecture for over 30 years. She is an associate with SmithGroup in San Francisco, and a PhD candidate in History of Architecture at UC Berkeley. Helen and her spouse are parents to two grown children, one an artist, the other a teacher. Helen is transgender and, though she’s been out as trans for almost a decade, has trouble writing that sentence in her biography because (especially these days) she worries how you will react. Her work has included award-winning projects for science, healthcare, senior living, K-12 education, and communities.

Lora Teagarden, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, L² Design, LLC, Owner 

(she/her/hers)

Lora is an Architect at RATIO, headquartered in Indianapolis, and the founder of L² Design, LLC. A published author and creator of #AREsketches, her passion for the profession drives her to mentor young professionals and volunteer in her community. She is a 2017 Young Architect Award winner, the 2019 Chair of the Young Architects Forum, 2020 AIA Indianapolis President, and was recently elected as an At-Large Representative on the AIA National Strategic Council. Her website and blog offer unique insights into professional practice, together with inspiration and tips for young architects.

A.L. Hu, AIA, NOMA, EcoDistricts AP 

(they/them) 

A.L.Hu, is a queer, trans, nonbinary Taiwanese-American architect, organizer, and facilitator who lives and works in New York City. They are a 2019-2021 Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellow and is currently Design Initiatives Manager at Ascendant Neighborhood Development in East Harlem. A.L. writes the not-so-regular Queer Agenda newsletter, and provides brainpower and energy for Queeries, an ongoing survey and community-building project for and by LGBTQIA+ architects and designers, including students 

and practitioners. They are an alumnus of the 2017 AIANY Civic Leadership Program, a recipient of the 2018 AIANY Emerging New York Architects ARE Scholarship and spoke at A'19 on a panel titled "The Silent Minority: LGBTQ+ Voices in Architecture." Their practice synthesizes organizing for racial, class, and gender justice with design; rethinks the architect’s role in facilitating accessible spaces; and manifests in design, visual media, and collaborative cultural work. They received a Master of Architecture from Columbia University GSAPP.

Gustavo Rodriguez, AIA, CODIA, LEED AP 

Gustavo Rodriguez is Partner and Design Director at FXCollaborative. Passionate about working collaboratively to craft innovative buildings, Gustavo was born and raised in the Dominican Republic, and grew up surrounded by tropical modernism and playing with Legos. Gustavo received a Bachelor of Architecture at Universidad Nacional Pedro Henriquez Ureña, earned his Master of Science in Design Technology from MIT, and is a registered architect in New York and the Dominican Republic. He is also a founding member and supporter of FXMosaic and FXOne, two of FXCollaborative’s Employee Resource Groups that support and raise awareness for ethnic diversity and LGBTQ+ issues in the firm and industry. He is a vocal advocate for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion initiatives, and has spoken about design and diversity at venues including AIA Virginia’s Architecture Exchange East conference and THE PLAN Perspective conference.

Learning Objectives: 

• Identify barriers and pinch points within career paths of LGBTQIIA+ architects.
• Discuss the process of developing your personal career roadmap.
• Discuss tactics for increasing visibility in firms and in communities.
• Discuss the importance of creating just spaces for all.