AIANY Women in Architecture Committee Meeting and ‘The Just City’ Conversation

This meeting is offered at the Center for Architecture and on Zoom. Please email skaba@aiany.org for details on how to join virtually.

Please join the AIANY Women in Architecture Committee as we welcome everyone back from the summer and kick off our first fall meeting! After committee and member announcements, we are excited to host an engaging, participatory discussion exploring “The Just City and the Role of Women in Designing Equitable Spaces.”

Based on The Just City framework developed by urban planner Toni L. Griffin and facilitated by Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick, Principal & Founder of Co-Creating Inclusion, this conversation will center on Griffin’s essay “Defining the Just City Beyond Black and White” and examine how our personal and professional identities influence the design of equitable spaces. Through guided questions and open dialogue, we will reflect on themes of identity, design, power, and accountability—considering what a just design process looks like, how women in architecture can challenge unjust systems, and what concrete steps we can take to advance equity in the built environment.

This session will be interactive, with opportunities for small-group conversation and collective takeaways, and is open to architects, designers, planners, and anyone interested in shaping a more inclusive profession. We look forward to seeing you soon!

WIA Co-chairs
Wells Megalli and Rosalind Tsang

Facilitator’s Bio

Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick, AIA, Principal and Founder, Co-Creating Inclusion (CCI)

Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick, AIA, is the Principal and Founder of CCI, a consulting firm that advances culture change through inclusive leadership development, equity-driven strategy, and trauma-informed facilitation. An architect turned executive coach and DEI strategist, she guides leaders and organizations through systemic pressure, invisible labor, and complexity, especially when values feel hardest to hold.

Before launching CCI, Alethea spent almost two decades in architecture and design, leading workplace strategy and global headquarters projects for major brands. She now steers racial-equity and behavior-change initiatives across sectors such as design and architecture, arts and culture, clean energy, finance, health, and technology. Under her leadership, CCI has grown into an eight-person team.

Alethea holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Pratt Institute, a Diversity and Inclusion Certificate from Cornell University, and is an Advanced Certified Leadership Coach. Born and raised in the United Kingdom, she has called Brooklyn home for more than half her life, where she resides with her husband and their two teenage sons.

The committees of AIA New York are the foundations from which the Chapter positions itself in the field of architecture—whether through discussion, advocacy, policy making and development, event and exhibition planning, or other endeavors.

Committees meet monthly, usually at the Center for Architecture. AIA members, AIA associate members, and the general public are all welcome to participate.

If you have questions or are considering attending a meeting for the first time, contact each committee’s co-chairs for more information at aiany.org/committees.