Winner of the 2024 RAIC Advocate for Architecture Award
Current and recent BEAT executive and advisory committee members include Dimitra Papantonis, Kiana Mozayyan, Camille Mitchell, Brigitte Shim, Jennifer Esposito, Shirley Blumberg, Angela Gou, Safoura Zahedi, Andrea Bancod, Ramona Adlakha, Heather Dubbeldam, Persis Lam, Elsa Lam, Stephanie Hosein, Kyra Clarkson, Nina Boccia, Carol Phillips, Maya Mahgoub-Desai, Mahsa Malek, Melanie Rank, Betsy Williamson, Sonia Ramundi, Vineetha Sivathasan, and Valerie Gow.
Building Equality in Architecture Toronto (BEAT) was founded in 2015 as a grassroots initiative to promote equity for women and historically marginalized people in the architecture profession. BEAT?s mandate is to create lasting systemic and transformational change with purpose-driven action, openness, compassion, and respect. Since its founding, BEAT has helped chart a path for other Canadian organizations focused on holding difficult conversations pertaining to race and societal stereotypes in the design community, including the Black Architects + Interior Designers Association (BAIDA) and the Society of South Asian Architects (SOSA). As these organizations have become established, BEAT?s current mandate has shifted towards carrying an emphasis on women in the profession, though the topics and themes of its programming remain universal, and its events welcome diverse audiences. Guided by the belief that empowering women improves and enriches the practice of architec...