How to Sustain J.E.D.I Initiatives at Your Firm

How to Sustain J.E.D.I Initiatives at Your Firm: Checking In, One Year Later

This is a virtual event. Zoom log-in information will be emailed to registrants 24 hours in advance from events@aialosangeles.org. If you do not receive a confirmation 24 hours prior to the event, please email events@aialosangeles.org.

Organizers:
AIA|LA J.E.D.I Committee
AIA|LA Practice Committee
SoCal NOMA

CES Learning Units: 1 LU

This joint venture event (AIA|LA J.E.D.I & Practice Committees) re-visits last year’s discussion with several architectural firms who will discuss how each practice has container J.E.D.I. (Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusivity) initiatives in their firms in the past year. Starting with an overview by SoCal NOMA of the findings of the DEI Challenge for 2021, each speaker will then speak about the programs each firm has activated in the past year. After the presentations, attendees can ask questions and converse with the panelists.

Moderator:

Lance Collins AIA, NOMA – Director, Partner Energy
Mr. Collins is a licensed architect and a LEED Accredited Professional, and is currently a Director at Partner Energy, in charge of the Sustainability team providing design consulting, and project management for projects pursuing green certification such as LEED, GreenPoint Rated and others; Zero Net Energy, energy modeling, commissioning, and HERS verifications. He has over twenty years of experience in architecture, urban design, and sustainable design consulting, his experience includes design, construction administration, building energy / water benchmarking and analysis, resource conservation measures, and green certification project management. Mr. Collins is also a Certified Sustainable Building Advisor, a Green Globes Professional, a Green Globes Assessor, and an ARC Performance professional. He has provided design and consulting solution for various types of buildings including institutional, office, mixed-use, retail, schools, and multifamily residential properties. Mr. Collins has led the completion of more than 50 Green certified projects including LEED Platinum and Net-Zero projects for new buildings and existing construction for Partner Energy clients. In addition to his professional experience, Mr. Collins is the President of the Southern California Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (SoCal NOMA), on the Homefree Champions Advisory Board for the Healthy Buildings Network, a member of the AIA-LA committee on Affordable Housing, and was the founding Co-Chair of the US Green Building Council Long Beach Branch. He also lecturers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, and is a design juror at the USC School of Architecture, Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), and at Cal Baptist University. He has also been an adjunct professor at Long Beach City College and has been a guest speaker at many local colleges, for professional organizations, and at national conferences teaching green building principles and sustainable design strategies. His work and writings have been featured in multiple publications including, Metropolis Magazine, Sustainable Industries, and Commercial Observer.

Presenters:

Craig Atkinson, AIA,NOMA, LEED AP + Director | California Practice Lead + IBI Group
Craig Atkinson is a Director | Senior Principal Architect with more than three decades of experience in the design and construction of public projects. In his current role at IBI Group, he oversees the public-architecture practice in California. Further, he is a member of IBI’s newly formed Inclusion Council as well as the Executive Sponsor of the JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) Employee Resource Group, which aims to develop recommendations for improving the firm’s culture in these areas. Among the tasks he performs as a member of this committee are to ensure IBI follows through on its response to the tragic and unjustifiable deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Regis Korchinski-Paquet, “Working Together to Respond to Systemic and Institutional Anti-Black Racism” (https://www.ibigroup.com/2020/06/05/working-together-to-respond-to-systemic-and-institutional-anti-black-racism/). Additionally, Craig serves as President of the Southern California Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (SoCal NOMA). Also, over the course of his career, he has served on several boards, commissions, and community groups, including the SoCal NOMA chapter.

Antoinette Bunkley, Associate AIA, LEED AP BD+C – CO Architects
Antoinette Bunkley has over 27 years of experience and is a senior project manager with CO Architects in Los Angeles. Her knowledge is informed by a diverse range of projects for public and private institutions, private biosciences and biotechnology companies, with a particular emphasis on higher-education campus environments. At CO Architects, she is responsible for budget, scope, and schedule, as well as internal project teams, consultants, and client communication. She provides project management for highly complex building types that include laboratories, vivaria, nanotechnology, bio-safety Level 3, and diagnostic facilities, and is knowledgeable in the coordination of architecture with complex engineering systems. Antoinette received her Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Southern California. Acknowledging CO’s commitment to creating and maintaining a diverse and continually improving workplace, she led CO Architect’s Diversity and Inclusion Initiative until the events of mid-2020. She now leads CO Architects’ Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (JEDI) Initiatives and was quoted in the Wall Street Journal as an expert on diversity training. Additionally, Antoinette has served as an AIA panelist, presenting insights on equity diversity and career opportunities in healthcare design.

Amanda Lee – Senior Designer, John Kaliski Architects
Originally from New York City, Amanda Lee moved to Los Angeles to diversify her cultural knowledge of a different city and to increase her understanding of practicing architecture. Amanda joined John Kaliski Architects (JKA) in October 2019 as an Architectural Designer. Now a Senior Designer, Amanda has worked on a variety of multi-family residential housing, transitional housing, commercial, retail, and urban design projects during her tenure at JKA, and has led and assisted on project phases ranging from schematic design to construction documents. Prior to joining JKA, she worked in interior retail design at Calvin Klein and Barneys New York. She was an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer from 2014–2015 and worked with the non-profit Habitat for Humanity NYC where she participated in several Habitat design-build projects across the country. Her interest in architecture started with defining the idea of “home.” As an enthusiastic urbanist, Amanda admires Jane Jacobs and seeks to humanize our engagement with the built environment.

Learning Objectives:
+ Participants will learn how different sized firms continue to implement JEDI initiatives.
+ Participants will learn about the findings of the first year of the SoCal NOMA DEI Challenge.
+ Participants will learn how to continue to bring issues of justice, equity, diversity, inclusion to firm leadership. Or, alternatively, hear how to successfully support JEDI initiatives as a firm leader.
+ Participants will learn how to incorporate both successful and unsuccessful results into future approaches to J.E.D.I. initiatives