Angelica Trevino Baccon is a principal of SHoP. She has a particular specialty in leading complex mixed-use and workplace design projects, often at the intersection of enterprise and technology. These include the new Uber headquarters in San Francisco and several confidential projects for global leaders in Silicon Valley. She holds a Bachelor in Architecture degree from ITESM in Monterrey, Mexico, and a Master of Architecture from Harvard University, where she has also served as a professor. Her work on New York City’s South Street Seaport established her deep expertise in fast-paced, high-profile design and delivery challenges with multilayered stakeholder groups, successfully leveraging programs to promote vitality, equity and community in the private sector and public realm.
A partner at SOM, Julia Murphy is integral to the firm’s engagement with the built environment of New York City. In her decade of experience at SOM, she has worked on some of the most complex projects in Manhattan, emerging as an expert project manager. She has a diverse range of project responsibilities, from day-to-day interaction with the client and coordination with the consultant team to maintaining staffing, schedule, and budget. Much of her work involves mitigating risk for clients who must build their projects within the exigencies of New York’s physical and regulatory environments. She was featured in Architect Magazine’s feature piece, “Workers in Progress.” Murphy is a member of the WX Women Executives in Real Estate and is the Immediate Past Chair of Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation.
Joan Blumenfeld, Contract Magazine’s 2018 Legend, is a design principal at Perkins+Will, a global architecture and interiors firm. Over the past 10 years she has been committed to achieving gender equity across all aspects of the design and construction business. As the first president of the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation (BWAF) she facilitated broadening its mission to include changing culture throughout the industry. She remained President for five years, helping to grow the organization to have national recognition, and since 2011 served on the Executive Committee, stepping down in 2020. Previous and parallel to her work with BWAF she has been an active advocate for building better and more healthy interiors, buildings and communities. As 2007 President of AIA NYC, she worked with city agencies and the Mayor’s Office, resulting in the first revamping of citywide workplace standards since 1971.
Kirsten Sibilia is a vocal advocate for the value of design. She is the managing partner of Dattner Architects, a NYC-based firm and a Women-Owned Business. Her design training and entrepreneurial spirit have allowed her to approach the business side of the practice as a design project; with each initiative, she reflects the firm’s commitment to improving public life, through the creation of resilient and sustainable urban density. Kirsten joined BWAF in 2017, is on the board of Habitat for Humanity of New York City & Westchester, and the New York Building Foundation. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the New School’s Parson School of Design as well as a Bachelor of Arts from The New School’s Lang College.
Michele O’Connor is a Principal at Langan and a director of the firm’s civil engineering practice in New York City. Langan is an integrated planning, site engineering, and environmental consulting service firm for private developers, property owners, and public sector clients. Michele’s practice includes site engineering design and planning for a wide variety of commercial, institutional, recreation, retail, and residential development projects. Besides her passion for civil engineering, Michele is also extremely passionate about supporting, mentoring, and empowering women in STEM and the engineering community. This dedication inspired her to co-found Women@Langan in September 2015.
Patti Harris, Founder and CEO of LicenseSure LLC and Special Counsel to Zetlin & De Chiara LLP, provides legal and business counsel to architects and engineers throughout the United States. A serial entrepreneur as well as an attorney, Patti started her career as a corporate attorney with two New York City law firms. From 2000 to 2013, Patti served as the Managing Partner of Zetlin & De Chiara. Harris is the Founder and CEO of LicenseSure, which provides business and licensing compliance services to design professionals. Ms. Harris’ legal practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, business organization and management issues, succession, strategy and licensing issues.
Ann is a partner at FXCollaborative. She directs their Architects’ Cultural and Educational practice, and has been instrumental in its development from its inception. She is inquisitive and optimistic by nature, and with a keen blend of analytical and organizational skills, Ann uncovers possibilities, unlocks potentials, and maximizes outcomes. Ann is a Fellow of the AIA, a registered architect in New York, and a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, where she earned both Bachelor of Arts and Master of Architecture degrees. A frequent speaker and active member of the design community, she has served on the advisory boards of several organizations and is active in the AIA New York Committee on Architecture for Education, Non-Traditional Employment for Women (NEW), and Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation (BWAF).
Annya Ramírez-Jiménez, AIA, is a Partner at Marvel. She oversees the architecture staff of the firm. Annya tackles complex projects with ease and is focused on achieving consensus from stakeholders while maintaining a clear design voice for each project. As a passionate advocate for equity, her career focuses in building a more equitable city that balances its resources to serve all residents. She is currently leading multiple projects at various scales, from the design and development of Rockaway Village; a new neighborhood in Queens which will revitalize downtown Far Rockaway to various city sponsored civic projects in the Bronx including the Bronx Arts Museum Renovation. Annya was raised in Puerto Rico, and attended the University of Puerto Rico School of Architecture, then settled in New York City after obtaining a Master of Architecture degree from Columbia University GSAPP in 2003. She currently serves as a board member for The Clemente Center, a Puerto Rican and Latinx cultural space in the Lower East Side and is a member of the AIANY Honors Committee.
Barbara Wilks, FAIA, FASLA, is a leader in the design of urban, public, and institutional projects. With more than 40 years of combined experience practicing both architecture and landscape architecture, she is a passionate advocate for reconnecting our urban spaces to nature and provides a distinctive perspective and ability to unify spaces and connect communities. “Seen as a whole, we can no longer distinguish ‘Nature’ as a place apart or separate from human endeavor and habitation. We are immersed in and shaped by it. Embracing this is essential to how we live and design.”
Bolanle Williams-Olley is the Chief Financial Officer and Co-owner of Mancini Duffy, a technology-first design firm, where she oversees the firm’s financial and operational performance. With a strong background in financial analysis and strategic initiatives, Bola thrives on building relationships between finance and management teams to ensure the overall financial success of projects and her firm.
She is also the author of the bestselling book, Build Boldly, chart your unique career path, and lead with courage. It’s a practical playbook written to ignite individuals and leaders to take bold, courageous action and craft their own unique playbooks for success.
She holds a Master’s in Education & Social Policy from NYU, Master’s in Applied Mathematics and Bachelor’ in Mathematics from City University of New York, Hunter College. She is passionate about service and is the founder of four impact organizations: SheBuildsWaves, SheBuildsLives, SheBuildsMoney and REACH Nigeria.
Diana Zakem, Senior Director – Construction, has been on the Brookfield Development team since 2017. While at Brookfield she has worked on the Manhattan West Development, including the new office tower 2 Manhattan West, an existing building renovation at the Loft building, reconstruction of 31St St Viaduct for NYC Dept of Transportation, and the joint venture High Line Moynihan Connector pedestrian walkway extension in partnership with Friends of the High Line and New York State / Empire State Development. More recently she started leading construction for Brookfield’s Bermuda headquarters, a new 70,000SF office building in Hamilton, Bermuda. In addition to managing the General Contractor, she focuses on managing budgets, schedules, community interactions, and turnovers. Prior to working at Brookfield she worked for Tishman Construction as a structural project manager in the building repositioning group. She began her career as a structural engineer at LERA, a consulting firm in New York, where she worked on 4WTC and Columbia Medical Building. Diana holds an undergraduate Bachelor in Science Engineering degree from Princeton University and a Master’s degree in structural engineering from University of California – Berkeley.
Ebbie Wisecarver is Chief Design Officer at WeWork. Since joining the company in 2015, she has held multiple positions, including architect and development project manager for Australia, design director of Asia, Australia and India, and head of project delivery for WeWork Japan. Previously, Wisecarver held positions at prestigious design firms Diller, Scofidio + Renfro New York and Steven Holl Architects. She holds a Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania and has participated in numerous traveling exhibitions and fellowships, including a competitive summer internship at Takenaka Corporation in Osaka, Japan. A strong advocate for gender equality, Wisecarver currently serves as the executive sponsor of the company’s employee resource group, Women of WeWork.
Experienced in managing complex institutional planning and design projects, as Partner at Robert A.M. Stern Architects LLP, Jennifer Stone brings a love of contextually appropriate, sustainable architecture to her work with clients, communities, and building industry partners. Jennifer is an active participant, mentor, and volunteer in her professional community. As a council member of the Society for College and University Planning, she shares her extensive knowledge and stays current with global best practices. Her presentations at numerous professional conferences and her leadership roles with the New York Building Congress Foundation, ACE Mentorship Programs, and the Urban Land Institute, as well as the firm’s own Women Leadership Initiative and Sustainability Committee, testify to her commitment to developing and opening the field of architecture.
Karen McNeill, Ph.D., is an expert on Julia Morgan and currently working on a multiple publications about the architect. Dr. McNeill’s scholarship focuses on women and gender in the architectural profession as well as how Progressive Era women used the built environment to expand their roles society as consumers, reformers, educators, and professionals. Her work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Autry National Center, the Bancroft Library, and the University of California Humanities Research Institute. Karen has also taught history and architectural history at colleges and universities in the San Francisco Bay Area and has been involved in historic preservation, authoring several context statements for major surveys and successfully nominating a range of buildings to the National Register of Historic Places. She is currently Managing Director, SVP, Sr. Leadership & Legacy Consultant at Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank
Melissa Burton is a Principal with Arup and currently serves as the Consulting Practice Leader for Canada. She oversees a variety of work for Arup in the consulting practice from early stage advisory through specialty technical consulting work to complex design studies. In her role she brings together teams of engineers and consultants with a breadth and depth of skills and experience to enable them to collaborate with clients and develop creative, robust solutions to realize her client’s visions. Melissa started her career looking at how the wind climate affects the buildings we design, and how the consequential reaction of the buildings affects the people that occupy them. Her technical expertise extends to beyond code approaches using advanced analytical tools to quantify and reduce design risk from wind loading.
As Executive Vice President of Design for Related California, Ms. Yee is responsible for the management of architecture and design for all market rate and mixed-income residential developments in California. Ms. Yee works closely with the architectural team, sales and marketing, and development executives throughout the entire development process to ensure seamless design and execution. A recipient of the Asian Women in Business Corporate Leadership Award, Ms. Yee holds a Master in Architecture from the University of California, Los Angeles and a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University. She is a current member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and has been a speaker at AIA conferences and Urban Land Institute events.
Rich McFadden joined JB&B in 2003, and has acted as Project Manager and Partner-in-Charge in the Electrical Department on a wide variety of projects and building types. With a strong background in facilities operations, Rich has lent his expertise to the live upgrade of large mission-critical systems supporting projects such as Citigroup’s New York headquarters at 388-390 Greenwich Street. He has also played an instrumental role in the development of Brookfield’s multi-building complex at Manhattan West for which he serves as the Partner-in-Charge. Rich currently serves as National Director on the ACEC New York Executive Committee. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Bucknell University, and is a licensed Professional Engineer and LEED Accredited Professional.
As a Principal and Technical Director, Sandra masterfully balances management, design, and technical delivery while leading teams on complex interior projects across industries. Through her experience serving a diverse range of clients, including financial institutions, entertainment and media companies, and technology companies, Sandra deftly navigates project complexities and is a masterful problem solver. Her professionalism and thoroughness earn her respect and admiration from her team, clients, and consultants alike. Based in the New York office, Sandra actively spearheads regional learning efforts that buttress Gensler’s technical design excellence, and she plays an active role in her studio to mentor next generation talent.
As the Vice President and General Manager of Turner New York’s Interiors Division, Sara is responsible for developing and managing strategic plans that affirm Turner’s position as a trusted construction service provider. In this capacity, she oversees a portfolio of interior projects across New York City in many market segments. She provides executive oversight on matters related to Turner’s operational, financial, and sales initiatives. Turner Interiors performs approximately $750 million in revenue annually with 200 employees. Upon completing her civil engineering degree at Cornell University, Sara joined Turner as a field engineer, beginning her career at the Times Square Tower project. In 2003, Sara continued to take on roles of more responsibility, including New York’s first SourceBlue Manager and Project Engineer on the Visionaire, NYC’s first LEED Platinum-certified residential building. She was named Senior Project Manager in 2015 and Project Executive in 2016 at Rockefeller University’s Stavros Niarchos Foundation–David Rockefeller River Campus project. In 2017, she transferred to New York’s main office as Manager of Business Development and was promoted to Vice President. In addition to her day-to-day responsibilities, Sara is the executive sponsor of Turner’s SkyWell employee resource group. Turner’s employee resource groups seek to foster an environment where all people experience inclusiveness and empowerment through genuine conversations and intentional actions required in a multicultural workplace. SkyWell, in particular, aims to create a supportive environment for Turner employees of Asian descent to develop the necessary skills to better serve Turner and our clients.
A co-leader of our Structural Engineering practice, Scott Lomax specializes in the design, analysis and project management of complex and creative structures. During his 20-plus-year-career, he has been responsible for a range of projects, including large-scale sports and entertainment venues, cultural and mixed-use buildings, bridges, pedestrian walkways and unique specialty structures. Scott, who also serves as global leader of business development, has a broad engineering background, which gives him a keen understanding of the importance of collaboration, creativity and flexibility for the successful delivery of signature, architecturally exposed structures. His portfolio includes The Shed moveable arts space and Vessel interactive sculpture in New York City’s Hudson Yards, the 1,200-foot Margaret Hunt Hill vehicular bridge in Dallas, Texas, and the Museu Do Amanha in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Scott joined Thornton Tomasetti in 2012, after nine years with Santiago Calatrava’s New York and Valencia, Spain offices. He has strong global project management skills acquired through assignments in North and South America, Asia and Europe.
For over 20 years, Tami Hausman has been an expert advisor to top firms who seek out her experience and insights. Her international roster of clients includes architects, engineers, construction firms, expeditors, interiors firms, real estate developers, project management firms, construction cost consultants, artists, and non-profit organizations. Using her wide network of contacts in the media, Tami positions her clients’ knowledge and expertise to best advantage and opens doors to targeted audiences that strengthen their position in the marketplace. In addition to her experience in marketing and public relations, Tami is an architectural historian who frequently writes and lectures about trends and topics in architecture and urban planning. Tami has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brown University in Semiotics-French and a Master of Arts and PhD in Art History from New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts. A Pittsburgh native (go Steelers!), she was born to live in New York City, but also enjoys traveling to the world’s great cities and beaches.
Victoria is an accomplished structural engineer who believes collaboration is key to solving a client’s challenges with integrated and creative solutions. Victoria has a strong commitment to public work. She enjoys working with teams on complex new and existing building projects, including design-build and complicated renovation and addition projects in historically significant structures. On each one, she tackles design challenges with a thoughtful, creative approach to deliver innovative, well-designed, and artistic structures. A natural educator, Victoria has been a lecturer in the Graduate Program at Yale University School of Architecture since 2015.
Kate Wittels is Partner at HR&A Advisors, an industry-leading economic development, real estate advisory, and public policy consulting firm. Based in New York, Kate works at the intersection of tech and city building helping clients build places, train people, and deliver infrastructure to make today’s cities ready for tomorrow’s opportunities. She provides real estate advisory, conducts impact assessments and develops programs and policies to support governments, developers and businesses on growing tech and innovation ecosystems in cities around the world. Working at the company, district, and city scales, Kate helps her clients leverage technology for economic development and to encourage more equitable urban environments. Prior to joining HR&A, Kate served as a Director of Corporate Real Estate for Sony where she managed real estate acquisitions, dispositions, and lease activity for a 20 million square foot portfolio. Kate earned a Master of Science in Real Estate Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. Kate is also on the board of the Regional Plan Association and the Center for an Urban Future.
Mary McLeod is a Professor of Architecture at Columbia GSAPP, where she teaches architecture history and theory, and occasionally studio. She has also taught at Harvard University, University of Kentucky, University of Miami and the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies. Her research and publications have focused on the history of the modern movement and on contemporary architecture theory, examining issues concerning the connections between architecture and ideology.
McLeod is co-editor of Architecture, Criticism, Ideology and Architecture Reproduction, and is the editor of and contributor to the book Charlotte Perriand: An Art of Living (Abrams, 2003). She also initiated and helped curate the exhibition Charlotte Perriand: Interior Equipment, held at the Urban Center in New York. Her articles have appeared in Assemblage, Oppositions, Art Journal, AA Files, JSAH, Casabella, Art Journal, Harvard Design Magazine and Lotus as well as other journals and anthologies, such as The Sex of Architecture, Architecture in Fashion, Architecture of the Everyday, Architecture and Feminism, The Pragmatist Imagination, The State of Architecture, Fragments: Architecture and the Unfinished, Architecture Theory since 1968, Oppositions Reader, Le Parole dell’Architettura, and Modern Women: Women Artists at The Museum of Modern Art. She has received numerous fellowships and awards, including a Fulbright Fellowship, NEH award, and grants from New York Council of the Arts and the Graham Foundation.
Victoria Rosner is Dean of NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study. She joins NYU from Columbia University’s School of General Studies, where she has been serving as the dean of Academic Affairs. She joined Columbia’s School of General Studies in 2010 and has served as the dean of Academic Affairs since 2016. She joined the faculty of Texas A&M University as an assistant professor in 1998 and was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2004.
Rosner is the recipient of numerous awards and honors; her work has been supported by the Graham Foundation, the Modernist Studies Association, and the National Endowment for the Arts. She is the author of Machines for Living: Modernism and Domestic Life (Oxford UP, 1) and Modernism and the Architecture of Private Life (Columbia UP, 2005), as well as editor of The Cambridge Companion to the Bloomsbury Group (Cambridge UP, 2014) and The Global and the Intimate: Feminist Theory in Our Time (Columbia UP, 2012). Her public-facing scholarship includes the award-winning web archive Pioneering Women of American Architecture as well as the oral history project Frontline Nurses. She is co-editor of Gender and Culture at Columbia University Press, the preeminent book series on gender and the humanities.
She received her BA, MA, and PhD in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
Tizziana Baldenebro is the executive director at the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation. An arts administrator, curator, writer, and critic, her practice focuses on emerging artists and designers, and she is an activist in the effort to produce equitable cultural centers. She is the Commissioner and Curator for the U.S. pavilion at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale. Previously, she served as the executive director at SPACES in Cleveland and has held positions at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit and at the Art Institute of Chicago within the Architecture & Design department. She sat on the board of FRONT International and is an editor-at-large at The Avery Review. She was a 2021 fellow in the National Association for Latino Arts and Culture Advocacy Leadership Institute and was a 2021 curator-in-residence at Red Bull Arts Detroit. Baldenebro received a Masters of Architecture from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology from the University of Chicago.
Cynthia is an architect and currently serves as the Executive Producer for the New Angle: Voice podcast. She joined the Foundation following ten years as the Managing Director of the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter, Center for Architecture. Both an architect and a creative institutional administrator, Cynthia was responsible for the creation of Archtober, the New York City month-long festival of architecture and design. As one of the early pioneers of co-education in the 1970’s, Cynthia graduated from Princeton University receiving both a magna cum laude, and Masters of Architecture. She worked for Philip Johnson in the 80’s and taught at the University of Virginia, New Jersey Institute of Technology and her alma mater.