Design Excellence in Affordable and Supportive Housing

*This event is occurring as a live webinar. Registrants will be emailed a link to access the program; please continue to register.*

Please join the AIANY Women in Architecture Committee in an important and timely discussion focused on design excellence in affordable and supportive housing in New York City. Leaders representing the architect, client, and public agencies will demonstrate how close collaboration is essential in providing access to housing—a fundamental right—to our most vulnerable communities. As the industry works to respond to a health and economic crisis, we will explore strategies to provide safe, equitable, and sustainable housing.

Join us for an inspiring presentation and discussion of how shared values lead the way to realizing healthy and affordable housing that will have a lasting impact.

Speakers:
Akiko Kyei-Aboagye, AIA, LEED AP, Principal, Urban Architectural Initiatives
Rachel Simpson, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, Senior Associate, Magnusson Architecture and Planning
Laura Mascuch, Executive Director, The Supportive Housing Network of New York
Takisia L. Whites, Director of New Initiatives and Underwriting, Robert Sanborn Development; Principal and Founder, Urban Impact Capital Partners
Emily Lehman, Assistant Commissioner, Division of Special Needs Housing, NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development

Moderator:
Jen Stencel, AIA, LEED AP, Associate Principal, Magnusson Architecture and Planning

About the speakers: 

Akiko Kyei-Aboagye is a Principal at Urban Architectural Initiatives, an architecture firm specializing in supportive and affordable multi-family housing. Drawing on her past experience working internationally and in the design of transportation facilities, she approaches her work with a strong awareness of the challenges faced by the building industry as central contributors to a sustainable and equitable future.

Rachel Simpson has more than ten years of experience managing and designing projects of various scales and typologies. As a Senior Associate at Magnusson Architecture and Planning (MAP), she served as project manager for St. Augustine Terrace, an affordable/supportive housing development which won a 2020 AIANY Design Award. She is currently overseeing Linden Terrace 2, a NYSERDA Buildings of Excellence Award winner, along with four other projects

Since her appointment as Executive Director of the Supportive Housing Network of New York in late 2014, Laura Mascuch has led the network and the supportive housing community to winning unprecedented commitments from the Mayor and Governor of New York, creating 35,000 units of supportive housing over the next fifteen years. Mascuch brings nearly 30 years of experience in the supportive housing field, having managed some of the first supportive housing residences in the country.

Takisia Whites is currently the Director of New Initiatives and Underwriting at Robert Sanborn Development and Principal and Founder of Urban Impact Capital Partners. Whites brings over 25 years of real estate experience working with public and private stakeholders to provide affordable housing and economic development solutions. She has managed tax credit portfolios and successfully negotiated the largest lease of the country’s largest public housing provider. Her previous roles include Executive Vice President for Real Estate at New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), President of Carver Community Development Corporation at Carver Federal Savings Bank, Development Officer at New York City Housing Partnership and Enterprise Community Partners.

Jen Stencel is an Associate Principal at Magnusson Architecture and Planning (MAP). In her time with the firm, has served as a project manager for more than 900 units of affordable multi-family, senior, and supportive housing in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and Hudson Valley. Stencel has 15 years of experience in both new construction and renovation work, and she is also a former co-chair of the AIANY Women in Architecture Committee.

Emily Lehman is the Assistant Commissioner for the Division of Special Needs Housing at the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development. In this role, she oversees the Supportive Housing Loan Program (SHLP), the Senior Affordable Rental Apartments (SARA) program, and collaborates closely with the Department of Homeless Services on various initiatives related to the development of housing for the formerly homeless. Lehman first joined HPD in 2012 and has held several positions at the agency. Prior to joining HPD, Lehman worked as an architect and urban planner.