Katherine Williams of Riding the Vortex on creating welcoming spaces for Black women in architecture

{"version":"0.3.0","atoms":[],"cards":[["images-card",{"images":[{"url":"http:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/dpcbzfiye\/image\/upload\/v1657647688\/gpixai4b6ff0d4cemgni.jpg","id":"6524727"}],"caption":"Katherine Williams, AIA, second from right, with Riding the Vortex fouding members Kathryn Tyler Prigmore, FAIA (far left), Melissa Daniel, Assoc. AIA (second from left), and Kathy Denise Dixon, FAIA (far right)."}]],"markups":[["em"],["a",["href","https:\/\/www.aia.org\/press-releases\/6461380-riding-the-vortex-honored-with-2022-whitne","target","_new"]],["b"],["a",["href","https:\/\/www.aia.org\/showcases\/6450460-riding-the-vortex"]],["a",["href","http:\/\/archstories.com\/"]]],"sections":[[1,"p",[]],[10,0],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"By Christina Sturdivant Sani"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],0,"Katherine Williams, AIA, NOMA, is a senior project\nmanager at Georgetown University. She\u2019s also the owner of real estate\ninvestment firm Fifth Generation Holdings. A graduate of Howard University, the\nUniversity of Southern California, and American University, Williams started\nher career working at commercial architecture firms before shifting to\naffordable housing projects and academic institutions. She is also a member of Riding the Vortex, winners of "],[0,[1],1,"AIA\u0027s 2022 Whitney M. Young Jr. Award."],[0,[],1," "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"Williams spoke to us about how she\u2019s building community and camaraderie\nin the industry by merging her personal experiences and professional training. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[2],1,"Can you take us back to when you first\nbecame interested in architecture?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"As a kid,\nI attended a career fair through the Girl Scouts and met an architect there.\nAnd after that, my mother put me into various camps and programs related to\narchitecture, design, and engineering. So, I started to get exposed to that as\na profession through meeting other architects and doing various activities\nrelated to architecture."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Working\nwith clients or stakeholders and crafting the space that they need for their\nwork. Typically, what I\u0027m doing a lot of now is managing the construction that\nbecomes the built space for people to use."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[2],1,"You identify as an architect, but also a writer,\neducator, curator, and organizer. What are you most passionate about?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"I don\u0027t\nknow that there\u0027s particularly one because I rotate around and do different\nones at different seasons or times of the year. I think they all help [me to\nbe] a well-rounded person."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[2],1,"In 2007 you were invited to be on a panel\nof Black women in architecture called "],[0,[3,2],2,"Riding the Vortex"],[0,[2],1,". How did\nit feel to be among other Black women architects, since there are so few in the\nindustry? And why have you found it important to continue these discussions\nover the years?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"As a\nyoung professional, it was pretty exciting to get that opportunity. I think it\nwas the second time that I was on a panel at a national level. It was exciting\nto tell my story and how I got there and uplift the voices of Black women\narchitects in the field. That\u0027s sort of why I continue with it. It should be a\nplace where Black women architects can have a voice and get support from each\nother. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[2],1,"What is the most significant type of\nsupport that you rely on from other Black women architects?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"At this point\nin my career, it\u0027s more about friendship and just being a safe place where we\ncan talk about our careers, what we\u0027re doing \u2014 and also get away, too. It\u0027s not\nalways that we have to talk about work. Sometimes it\u0027s just about being\ntogether and enjoying each other\u0027s company because in our workspaces, or at\nleast specifically my workspace, I\u0027m the only Black woman architect in my\noffice. So [it\u2019s about] having other people that are in a similar position be\nable to talk about what we\u0027re doing, issues we\u0027re dealing with, or even just\ngiving advice on a career level or personally. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[2],1,"Why did you want to tell the stories of\npeople\u0027s licensure experiences with "],[0,[4,2],2,"archstories.com"],[0,[2],1,"? "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"I started\nthat when a group of us were getting licensed as a way to share stories of\npeople who were already licensed as sort of inspiration and then also to show\npeople that getting licensed is a variety of experiences. We\u0027re all seeking\nthis goal but the experiences that you\u0027re going through help you grow, and I\nwanted to provide a way for people to see they\u0027re not alone in it. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[2],1,"What did your path to licensure look\nlike?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"I was\nworking for a traditional firm when I started. I left and went on a\nnon-traditional path working for an affordable housing developer. I was being a\nparent. I was in a new location. So that sort of interrupted my exam testing\nbecause I was trying to get that under my feet as far as being in a new job,\njuggling work, and trying to study."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[2],1,"How many years after you graduated did\nyou get your license?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Nine\nyears."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[2],1,"What have been some of your biggest\nchallenges in your career? "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Probably\ntime management because I do a lot of things. Having a schedule that I\u0027m\nmanaging well is probably one of the biggest challenges right now. And\nrealizing as I get older, I need more sleep. I can\u0027t work all through the night\nas I did when I was younger. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[2],1,"What have been some of your favorite\nprojects? "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"That\u0027s a\nhard one; I have a variety. When I was in a traditional firm, I worked on an\nadaptive reuse of a building where the office of my firm was going to be. It\nwas cool to see the transformation of that building into the office. When I was\nin California, I worked on an affordable housing homeownership project that had\na really interesting commercial space. That was cool because it was sort of a\ncatalyst project in a location that was at the time just starting to get new\ndevelopment. And it really helped bring some vitality and vibrancy to a corner\nin the neighborhood. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[2],1,"What advice do you have for young Black\narchitecture students?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Find\nmentors who can help you figure out where you want to be in your career and be\na sounding board when you\u0027re ready to make changes or grow in your career. Make\nsure that wherever you are working, you\u0027re growing there. Recognize your style\nof work and what you want to work on, then seek that out so you\u2019re not stuck in\na job or a position where you\u0027re not comfortable or where you\u0027re not feeling\nlike this is what you really want to do. "]]]]}