Improve access & exposure to the building design professions:

How can we encourage students to seek a career in design without being honest in the struggles in addition to the standard steps? The most significant component of the Building Momentum program is sharing our individual stories as professionals and uncovering our path for students to connect. We each have a unique experience with various hurdles along the way. So we’ve taken those stories and developed our first step presentation catered to exposing Middle and High School students to building design and diversity in the building industry.

Our team currently focuses on engaging schools with high minority and poverty percentages, located in rural communities, and schools that do not have courses within the Career Technical Education (CTE) curriculum. Through Building Momentum, we create opportunities for students to explore outside of their communities and experience well-designed architectural and interior spaces firsthand.

Professional degrees & financial aid assistance resources:

This website will serve as a go-to for information and resources after we leave the classroom. It is a capsule for both professionals to sign up to join the effort and students to find help on finding colleges, information on the typical procedure and requirements to acquire registration, scholarship opportunities, job shadow/ internships, etc. Presentation tools will be available for professionals to download and present to schools and communities of their choice. A WER created, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Design Survey will also be available to facilitate a round table discussion for offices.

Professional degrees in architecture and design are among the most expensive and often create financial burdens for low-income students. We understand that WER cannot alleviate that burden ourselves, but as a firm, we are committing scholarships for students to attend summer design camps and hosting paid summer interns. We invite other firms to make their unique commitment as well.

Build a support network through design mentorships:

Sometimes it just takes one person’s encouragement to influence the path a student will pursue after high school. Other times it takes a whole network to invest in their journey. We found the majority of design professionals fit into one of two scenarios. In the first is you had someone that became an influential figure in your life because they introduced you to your career. The second, you did not know anyone practicing and flew blind into the profession, not knowing what to expect.

Our role is to facilitate relationships creating an environment where students can comfortably reach out along their path to the profession. Our hope is that network of mentors and colleagues grow into genuine long-term relationships. We hope that students engaged by our firms are later pursuing internships and full-time positions. Moreover, we hope they find the value in using us as a resource to ask questions and receive insight throughout their decision-making process.

Develop skills with first-hand design experience:

The first-hand experience may be our favorite component of our program! We believe that we all improve from personal experience. For example traveling to new locations, working on different types of projects, and meeting new people. If we know this, why is it so difficult for young people to experience the workplace until they have almost completed their college education?

We will be working towards creating an environment within our office that encourages our teammates to seek out students interested in our field and invite those students for a day of job shadowing. Our goal is to see at least one new student in our office once a week for the duration of the summer. Students will learn valuable professional skills such as project management, construction management, collaborative design, and client relationships before stepping foot on a college campus.