Presented in person at UMKC's Pierson Auditorium in partnership with UMKC School of Science & Engineering.
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"I Was Asked to Stand" educates and empowers the participants to understand the cause and possible solutions to the disparity in the lack of representation, documentation, and acknowledgment of the great works of women and minority architects. How do we, as designers, help create a culture of awareness and inclusion?
The engaging program will bring light to inclusion and diversity, helping you to understand and appreciate the great works built by women and diverse designers. You'll discover how they took on an array of challenges, fashioned them into opportunities, and finally, triumphed. You'll also come to see the history of challenges faced, such as the general public's lack of knowledge; how to proactively change the profession; and lastly, how to meet future challenges.
You'll leave with these valuable, long-lasting takeaways: (1) a list of collaborative organizations and groups that can help you make a difference; (2) a new-found ability to identify and name women and minority architects and their contributions to the built environment; and (3) a better sense of how architects reach out to the community, as they get diverse children both interested in and on the pipeline to the field.Â
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Pascale Sablan is a visionary architect and CEO of Adjaye Associates' New York studio. As the 315th living African-American woman registered architect in the U.S., Pascale embodies excellence, innovation, and sustainability. She founded Beyond the Built Environment to empower women and BIPOC designers and has been deeply involved in the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA). Starting as the Recording and Corresponding Secretary of NYCOBA | NOMA, she then ascended to President of that chapter. She was honored as the NOMA Member of the Year in 2015 and served as Historian on the national level, followed by her role as Northeast Regional Vice President. While serving as NOMA’s 5th woman President, Pascale expanded the organization's reach internationally.
Pascale’s advocacy has earned her the Architectural League 2021 Emerging Voices Award and the 2021 AIA Whitney M. Young Jr. Award. She is the youngest African American inducted into the AIA College of Fellows. A prominent speaker, Pascale has lectured at RIBA, the United Nations, and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Her work and advocacy have been featured in The New York Times, NPR, Forbes, and she was recognized by Oprah's Future Rising platform. Holding degrees from Pratt Institute and Columbia University, Pascale Sablan is shaping the future of architecture.Â
