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There has been much discussion raised about "Why are women leaving Architecture? and more broadly, Why is the profession losing key talent?"  Both women and men practitioners are disillusioned by the myth of work/life balance: Women are grappling with "have it all" expectations of juggling family time with the demands of full-time work.  Men are struggling to support their families solely on an architect's salary and fall back on asking spouses to maintain their jobs. The lack of affordable childcare and high cost of living only magnifies the challenges.  How did we end up in this modern family dilemma? What can we do to improve the situation?

#EQxDNYC: Recap of Friday 2/27 Presentation at Center for Architecture NY

By Rosa Sheng, AIA, LEED AP BD+C

It was 19 degrees and 7:30am (4:30am West Coast Time!) when I arrived at the Center for Architecture in New York City on Friday before the presentation. By 8:15, we had a packed room of approximately 80+ Architects and Designers interested in the Equity in Architecture Survey Findings and Equity by Design Movement with Initiatives for establishing equitable practice in 2015.

Following the presentation, there was a great discussion and what we hope will be the beginning of a collaborative effort to create an Alliance of like minded organizations for Equity; Women in Architecture Groups, Diversity Groups, Equitable and Fair Practice Groups. We have composed a Storify of live Tweets from the day for a recap of topics covered.

THANKS! A special heartfelt thanks to our hosts at Center for Architecture New York, AIA Diversity NYC, WIA NYC and all our live tweeters including above mentioned hosts, attendees, Architexx and especially Heather McKinstry! We are grateful for all who came out so early in the morning (including men!). 

SO WHAT'S NEXT? HOW CAN YOU HELP? Many wanted to jump in and asked what they could do to forward the EQxD Movement.  Like the Shel Silverstein "Melinda Mae" Whale Story, we can eat the Equity Whale faster if we have many forks and hungry contributors. You can read our blog post of 15 ways to Jumpstart Equity in Practice. Please send us a message in the "Contact" portion of our website with your suggestions and ideas for ACTION! Forward relevant articles to us. Get a Twitter Account. Write a guest blog post about an Equity topic. Bite for Bite, we will eat this Whale! See our list of events for 2015 and encourage people to attend! 

 MAKE IT HAPPEN! The best program yet to come is our 1/2 day workshop WE310 Equity By Design on Wednesday 5/13 1-5pm followed by and Happy Hour for networking and Alliance building in Atlanta. As your firm or AIA chapter to sponsor your registration to bring back the learning!