Architects Foundation Honors WLS Grant Founders at Boston Summit
September 26, 2023
At this year’s AIA Women’s Leadership Summit (WLS), AIA and the Architects Foundation were honored to join Payette for a celebratory happy hour at their Boston office to honor the donors and recipients of the Sho-Ping Chin WLS Grant. Established in 2017, the grant is named in memory of Sho-Ping Chin, FAIA, a principal at Payette and one of the founders of the Women’s Leadership Summit. The grant covers the travel and registration costs to attend the summit, enabling a greater number of women architects to experience the community, knowledge-sharing, and leadership training that the Summit offers.
This year’s grant recipients, Laura Sherman of Decatur, GA; Libertad Lauren McLellan Harris of Beverly, NJ; Seher Hashmi of Orlando, FL; Mika Naraynsingh of Washington, DC; and Tooba Jalal of New York, NY; were joined at the reception by many past recipients. Also joining the happy hour were several Summit attendees who received funding from their local AIA chapters to attend the Summit, a testament to the impactful vision and generosity of Sho-Ping Chin, the WLS founders, and the donors who initiated the inaugural WLS grant in 2017.
A spectacular exhibition produced by Payette shared the life and legacy of Sho-Ping Chin and celebrated the success of the Women’s Leadership Summit and the community of women architect leaders it has inspired and cultivated.
The Architects Foundation was honored to recognize some of those visionary donors at the happy hour, with Executive Director Marci Reed and board president Bill Roschen, FAIA, presenting the Architects Foundation’s inaugural Inspiration Award to Carol Burns, FAIA; Heather Taylor, AIA; Janet Ross, AIA; Katy Flammia, AIA; Jeanne Lukenda, FASLA; and Carole Wedge, FAIA.
Looking ahead to next year’s Summit, the Architects Foundation is seeking donations to enable another cohort of future women architect leaders to attend. Support women in architecture by donating today.