Navigating Your Design Career MENTORSHIP

Kids + Architecture

Geared towards elementary and middle school students, the Kids + Architecture Committee is an outreach effort by American Institute of Architects (AIA) Houston that focuses on teaching concepts about the built environment through sketching classes, model making workshops, site tours, and presentations. There are similar events for grades K-12 offered by other AIA chapters across the country.

With Kids + Architecture as his first experience working alongside groups of younger students, Eric Ventura discusses his aim in volunteering with the committee:

“I joined the committee to help young children become more familiar with the world of design. It is a great program for us designers to network with each other, as well as a way to give back to the community and educate how important design really is. Architecture is a discipline of many hats, and this is a way to educate the younger society about the many impacts of design and to empower them to be a part of it.”

The early stages of one’s design career can be marked with several challenges and unknowns. Since the pandemic, it has been even more difficult for emerging professionals to navigate the professional world and find the right path for them. Aiming to clarify some of those uncertainties, this article explores a few of the avenues that are available for networking, volunteering, and professional growth.

Opportunities for mentorship, education, and leadership can arise at any stage of your career. All of these organizations and activities presented are arranged by common interests and goals. Depending on your values, experience level, and resources, you may find some of these pursuits to be relevant to you at different milestones of your professional journey. Read what resonated with others to partake in these activities.

Project Pipeline

With a long-term goal of increasing licensure among underrepresented groups, Project Pipeline was created as an National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) initiative to expose architecture and planning to minority students. There are summer camps held independently in several cities across the United States that engage middle and high school students with hands-on activities. The curriculum of these camps cover topics such as diagramming, physical model making, and presentation skills.

After experiencing in university how NOMA broke down barriers of entering the professional environment for her, Ariana Flick was inspired to be a champion of design thinking through Project Pipeline:

Summer Programs

Many design schools offer preparatory summer classes for high school students. Curriculum often covers first-year concepts, and it can give a glimpse into academics at the post-secondary level. College students and professionals may be eligible to be teaching assistants for these programs.

“A lot of kids I have worked with have never envisioned pursuing architecture as an option for themselves. I believe architecture and design education to be a universal subject; after all, we all create and shape the environments around us from the first moment we redecorate our rooms as kids. Project Pipeline is a great ice breaker for the next generation of designers to find their place in the architecture world, and a way for me to be that same kind of window into the real world as countless other mentors have been for me.”

Youth programs can benefit both the student and the volunteer. They are a vehicle to engage students with the design profession at an early age and a means for volunteers to learn how to teach and simplify architectural concepts. When working with those outside of the field, you may also encounter ideas and questions you might not have considered otherwise. This cross-pollination of viewpoints is mutually beneficial in understanding how to make design accessible for all.

Although it is important to support the younger generation, mentorship can be integral to anyone’s career. If not through a structured program, seek out informal opportunities to connect with those who have already achieved a goal that you may be working towards. You may have several mentors - one for each area of interest, with some of these interests falling outside the professional realm. Reach out to your peers and community leaders for a coffee chat. These informal interactions can build trust in and out of the workplace.