Hello Reader,
Happy International Women's Day.
I've been thinking about what this day means to me personally. Growing up as the daughter of two Chinese immigrants, the formula was clear: keep your head down, work hard, and you will be rewarded. For years, I brought that same formula into my career. I believed if I stayed quiet enough and let my work speak for itself, I'd be valued.
What I didn't understand then is that staying invisible isn't humility. It's a habit. And habits can change.
Finding my voice hasn't been a single breakthrough moment. It's a constant practice, one I still have to choose every day. What I know now is that the perspective you bring as an outsider isn't a liability. It's exactly what's needed.
This week I was in North Carolina for the Shepley Bulfinch Board of Directors meeting. What makes their board model worth noting is that it includes three outside directors, people who bring perspective from beyond the firm's own walls. I think more architecture firms should consider this structure. Outside voices at the governance level create accountability, introduce new thinking, and make firms more resilient. It's something I care about and am actively considering as I decide where to contribute my time and energy in the year ahead.
Earlier this week, I also had the privilege of giving a virtual keynote at the AIA SF AI Design Symposium. My talk was about why AI adoption is fundamentally a cultural problem, not a technological one. The tools are available to everyone. What separates firms is whether their people feel safe enough to experiment, fail, and share what they learned.
Which brings me to this week's episode.
🎧 Leah Alissa Bayer and Gabriella Vaz de Freitas on small firm commitment to diverse talent​
Leah is the founding principal of Architects Fora, a fully remote, women-owned firm focused on affordable and restorative housing. Rather than talk about the pipeline problem, she built something: the FORAship, a structured, year-long scholarship and paid internship designed specifically for underrepresented students. Gabriella was one of the first recipients. She moved from São Paulo to California and, through the program, became the firm's Technology Lead, spearheading AI-enabled design workflows.
What struck me most was Leah's framing: "Our profession is only as strong as those that are coming into it after us. And it's our job to make the space and support system for that to happen."
That's not a vision statement. That's a decision.
On International Women's Day, I keep returning to that. The women in this episode didn't wait for the profession to make space for them. They built it themselves. And Gabriella didn't wait to be handed a technology role. She created it from within the opportunity she was given.
What space are you making for someone coming up behind you?
Keep learning and growing,
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Evelyn M Lee, FAIA | NOMA
Founder, Practice of Architecture
Host, Practice Disrupted & Fractional COO
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/// PoA Podcast - Practice Disrupted ///
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Small Firm, Big Commitment: Rethinking How Architecture Invests in Diverse Talent
What does it look like when a firm stops just talking about diversity and starts building a tangible pathway for the next generation of architects?
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