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.

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.

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

Brett Gaillard is the Head of Capital Projects at the Metropolitan Museum of Art where she oversees the planning, design and construction of all capital and infrastructure projects for the Met's 2.2 million square foot main building complex, as well as the Met Cloisters.

Prior to her role at the Met, Brett was a Senior Associate at Beyer Blinder Belle Architects and Planners where she contributed to projects for the Met, and various cultural, educational, commercial, and large-scale restoration projects. Brett received her B.A. in the History of Art and Architecture from Middlebury College, and dual Master of Architecture and Master of Science in Historic Preservation degrees from Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.

Time and location

Thursday, October 16, 5:30-7:30PM
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10028

Speaker

Christopher Bishop
Career Futurist & Author of "Improvising Careers"

Christopher Bishop is a TEDx speaker, ex-IBMer, former touring rock musician, future workplace consultant, deep tech emcee, quantum podcast host, and university guest lecturer on the future of work. A nonlinear multimodal careerist, he has had eight so far. Based on his own atypical career path, Chris developed a lecture and workshop titled “How to succeed at jobs that don’t exist yet” designed to enable today’s learners to successfully navigate the twenty-first century’s global borderless workplace. He regularly delivers Future Career lectures and workshops at prestigious universities including NYU Stern School of Business, Georgetown, Columbia, and the London School of Economics as well as in corporate settings, providing insight on the business and career implications of bleeding-edge technologies.

Time and location

Thursday, October 30, 6:00-8:00PM
HR&A Advisors, 99 Hudson St, New York, NY 10013