Emerging Leaders

Speaker

Ya-Ting Liu
Chief Public Realm Officer, City of New York

As the first Chief Public Realm Officer for the City of New York, Ya-Ting Liu is responsible for coordinating across city government, community organizations, and the private sector to create extraordinary public spaces across the entire city and continue to drive the city’s economic recovery.

Since her appointment in February 2023, she has advanced major public space policy and project initiatives for the Adams Administration including overseeing the implementation of the country’s largest outdoor dining program and transforming commercial districts throughout the city, including the redesign of Fifth Avenue from Bryant Park to Central Park. Ya-Ting is also focused on reforms that make it easier for New Yorkers to activate, maintain, and program in public spaces.

Liu brings over 15 years of policy, community organizing, coalition building, and government affairs experience to the Adams administration. Before entering city government, Liu worked as the director of government affairs and policy for the rideshare company Via, as sustainability program director for the New York League of Conservation Voters, as director of transit advocacy for Transportation Alternatives, and in federal advocacy for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign.

Liu earned a bachelor’s in conservation studies from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master's in city planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Time and location

Thursday, October 2, 6:00-8:00PM
TYLin, 32 Old Slip, New York, NY 10005

Speaker

Julia Gamolina
Associate Principal, Ennead Architects & Founder, Madame Architect

Julia Gamolina is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Madame Architect, a digital magazine focused on the extraordinary women transforming our world. Since starting Madame Architect in 2018, she has overseen all editorial content, events, partnerships and strategic direction, growing it into a globally recognized award-winning publication with readers in more than one hundred countries.

In professional practice, Gamolina focused on the strategic development of architecture practices for the past eight years, Currently as an Associate Principal at Ennead Architects, she spearheads business development, communications, and strategic initiatives. Previously, she worked on all phases of design for mixed-use, retail, residential, and commercial office projects in New York City and Los Angeles, and on retail, higher education, and museum projects in Korea, Brazil, and Austria.

Gamolina frequently speaks about how she developed Madame Architect — and topics like architecture, career development, entrepreneurship, and brand building — across college campuses, international conferences, and at local events. Her writing has been featured in A Women's Thing, Fast Company, Metropolis Magazine, and the Architect's Newspaper, and she writes a Substack, “Both, And.” Additionally, she's taught graduate-level professional practice and media seminars at Pratt Institute, and is a frequent juror for design competitions and various fellowships.

In 2024 and 2023, Gamolina was included in Wallpaper*'s Creative America, a list of the people defining the creative landscape in the US. She earned her Bachelor of Architecture at Cornell University, graduating with the Charles Goodwin Sands Medal for exceptional thesis. She was born in Novosibirsk, later immigrated to Toronto and then to Colorado Springs, and is based in New York City, having also lived and worked in Austria, Italy, France and Brazil.

Time and location

Thursday, October 9, 6:00-8:00PM
Ennead Architects, 1 World Trade Center 40th floor, New York, NY 10007

Speaker

Brett Gaillard
Head of Capital Projects, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Time and location

Thursday, October 16, 6:00-8:00PM
TBA

Speaker

Christopher Bishop
Chief Reinvention Officer, Improvising Careers

Time and location

Thursday, October 30, 6:00-8:00PM
BWAF, 424 W 33rd Street, Suite 280, New York, NY 10001