Emerging Leaders

Launched in 2017, the BWAF Emerging Leaders program is a selective professional development opportunity for early- and mid-career women. Within a small group format, participants engage with significant senior women in architecture, design, engineering, construction, real estate, law, and financial services to advance their own career goals and connect with a cohort of ambitious colleagues across at similar professional levels. Participants share common experiences and trade personal strategies for advancing their field. Over 200 women have participated in past cohorts, building a timeless network of allies and support for each other.

Tenacity, Tumbles, and Triumphs

Tenacity, Tumbles, and Triumphs will be held September 12, September 26, October 10, and October 24, 2024. Participants will hear from Katie Swenson, Senior Principal at MASS Design Group; Isabel Castilla, ASLA, Associate Partner at Field Operations; and Julia Murphy, AIA, LEED AP, Partner at SOM.

Application deadline is Friday, August 16 and notifications will be made at the beginning of September. Total program cost is $1000. Two full, need-based scholarships will be made available to qualifying individuals as selected by BWAF.

Apply Here →
Dates for the program (Sept. 12, Sept. 26, Oct. 10, Oct. 24, 2024) and a schedule of sessions.

TENACITY

Speaker
Katie Swenson
Senior Principal, MASS Design Group

A nationally recognized design leader, researcher, writer, and educator, Katie Swenson is a Senior Principal at MASS Design Group, where she leads the Advocacy team. Katie is a talented global public speaker and thought leader whose work explores how critical design practice can, and should, promote economic and social equity, environmental sustainability, and healthy communities.

Time and location

Thursday, September 12, 7:30-9:30pm
The Bev, 424 W 33rd Street, Suite 280, New York, NY 10001

TUMBLES

Speaker
Julia Murphy, AIA, LEED AP
Partner, Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill

A partner at SOM, Julia Murphy has built a career around two main goals: to solve large-scale architectural problems, and to help move the design and real estate industries toward equality for women and minorities. She is an expert in solving the physical, financial, and administrative challenges of building in New York City, and has founded multiple career development programs for women.

Time and location

Thursday, September 26, 2024, 6:00-8:00PM
Marvel, 7 Lispenard Street, New York, NY 10013

TRIUMPHS

Speaker
Isabel Castilla, ASLA
Associate Partner, Field Operations

As an Associate Partner at Field Operations, Isabel Castilla brings exceptional attention to design creativity, detailing, and construction implementation. Fully bilingual in Spanish and English, Isabel is a strong communicator with deep experience leading extensive public engagement efforts and complex multi-agency approvals for large public realm projects. She is also the landscape architect member of the New York City Public Design Commission.


Time and location

Thursday, October 10, 6:00-8:00pm
TYLin/Silman, 32 Old Slip, New York, NY 10005

MIXER


Time and location

Thursday, October 24, 6:00-9:30pm

Apply Here →
View previous sessions from recent years:
2023: Energy, Environment, Engagement→
2022: Agility, Ambition, Authenticity→
2021: Imagination, Integrity, Influence→
2021: Perseverance, Politics, Power→
2020: Priorities, Personhood, Profit→
2020: Determination, Design, Disruption→
2019: Confidence, Compensation, Competition→
2018: Finance, Fulfillment, Family→
2018: Networking, Negotiation, Nice→
2017: Risk, Rain-Making, Resilience→

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Please make your check payable to:
Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation

Please mail your check to:
Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation
424 W 33rd St., unit 280
New York, NY 10001

All contributions will be gratefully acknowledged and are 100% tax deductible.