Events and discussions organized by KPF+ were held throughout March, in tandem with International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, to honor the contributions of women in the firm and the industry at large.
For International Women’s Day on March 8th, Lori Brown, Co-Founder and President of Architexx, presented “WOMEN: Architecture, Advocacy, and Activism.” Lori provided insight into her work philosophy, where she aims to improve the built environment for the greater public. In her practice, Lori thinks critically about who benefits from the design choices that make up our surroundings, “operating at the intersection of theory and practice.”
KPF’s New York office took part in a round table discussion led by KPF+, a community within the firm dedicated to advancing gender equity. The discussion covered workplace-relevant topics salient to enabling women to achieve their full potential in their careers – including work/life balance, communication and transparency, office dynamics, and professional development.
Maya Sharfi, founder of Build Yourself, hosted a virtual workshop called “Take Back your Time.” Maya founded her platform to help women in creative fields navigate obstacles in their careers, fostering workplaces that are better suited to women’s talents. In the workshop, participants discussed how and why different responsibilities tend to be associated with different genders, and they learned strategies for how to prioritize tasks in their schedules.
Looking inward, KPF+ hosted a Town Hall in the New York office, featuring a Q&A session with women in leadership positions. Claudia Cusumano moderated the panel while Jill Lerner, Hana Kassem, Marianne Kwok, and Lauren Schmidt shared insights about their career paths and experiences as firm leaders.
Events continue into April with a book discussion led by Jill Lerner and Jerri Smith that will focus on Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez. The book unpacks skewed data that fail to take gender into account, treating men as the default.
Read more about the firm’s previous celebrations here.