Book Circle 8 Summary

The OWA Book Circle met on November 7th at the office of Susan Aitken, Hamilton + Aitken Architects. In the past we met at Wendy Bertrand’s home but wanted try out a new platform for the November reading of Lean In: Women Work and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg.

We felt this book would be applicable to women and men in all stages in their careers and decided to extend the invitation outside of the immediate circle membership. We posted the event on the AIA SF and AIA East Bay websites, send invitations through word of mouth and social media and had 40 people sign up. We had a great turn out of 25 to the actual event.

Christina Townsend, OWA Member and Associate at Hamilton + Aitken, facilitated the discussion by summarizing a few topics selected from various chapters she felt would speak to a wide audience. The women who came expressed their opinions on the book, shared stories from their lives, and gave words of encouragement for those who were struggling with issues they had faced in their careers. Overall, the book circle members were impressed with the sincere open conversation since it was the first time we opened the discussion to non-members. The event also provided a platform for networking and support and highlighted the OWADP for attendees who were unaware that OWA existed.

The next book we are reading is called Women in Green, Voices of Sustainable Design
About the next book:
Is there a greener gender? Studies show that women are more likely than men to support environmental causes through voting, activism, and consumer choices. What are the implications for the design industry? Does sustainable design have special appeal for women, and do they in turn offer something unique to the field? In Women in Green: Voices of Sustainable Design, Kira Gould and Lance Hosey explore these questions through informal conversations with architects, designers, consultants, policymakers, educators, and students. What they find is that women may be changing how we all see our world and our work.

We are planning to meet again in late January or early February of 2014. Because of the success of this event and publicity for OWA, we will open up the next reading to all members and non-OWA members and discuss the book in a similar fashion. Please email Christina Townsend if you would like to be included in the Women in Green discussion email list and we’ll keep you updated on the date and time selected.

All of the OWA Book Circle selections are here