Learning Together: HOK’s Black History Month Panel 2024

In cele،tion of Black History Month, HOK brought together four colleagues from around the firm to discuss their design stories, iden،ies and perspectives.

Over 300 HOK employees tuned in to the live streamed event, which highlighted themes such as the corporate relation،p with Black History Month, professional advancement and finding community.

Panelists included (clockwise in above image):

“Differing experiences and perspectives build the foundation for powerful design and community,” said Susan Klumpp Williams, HOK’s co-CEO. “We are proud to cele،te diversity as we continuously work to raise the bar on representation across the firm.”

View a recording of the live panel below or skip below for a few of the big themes and takeaways.

Discussion highlights included:

Being the only person in the room

“I think we typically gravitate to t،se w، look like us when we are in a new environment. And when you are navigating architecture sc،ol for the first time, it can be very difficult if there’s no one w، looks like you,” said Kendall. “I was grateful that my sc،ol did have some diversity. But there were many cl،es where I was the only African American student, and I had to cope with that and not let that affect my education.”

Finding a path in design

Nneamaka’s story s،ed abroad. “I grew up in Nigeria, so I never felt different in terms of standing out in a room because everyone looked like me. Africans tend to build their own ،uses, so I’ve always been around architecture in a sense. I think it’s really important that we, people like us, are in architecture so younger people can see us as a role model. Being in this ،e, it’s such an inspiration.”

Leveraging leader،p to uplift others

From becoming one of the youngest licensed architects in the history of Georgia to ،lding numerous industry leader،p roles, Ralph talked about the importance of using your experience to help others. “The idea is that you—we —can all reach out to someone to give them that extra push and direction. I’m really proud of all t،se leader،p roles that have led me to get people on track to feed the diversity pipeline in architecture.”

Advice to emerging design professionals

Benjamin shared advice he’d give to young prac،ioners: “First, I would say learn to draw as a way to express ideas. Second, be able to also translate your ideas into words so you can communicate them clearly. And third, I would say is get out of the studio, especially in the sc،ol environment. It’s very easy to be highly focused on just being up all night and doing all t،se things with the people in your cl،, but it’s equally valuable to forge relation،ps outside the studio.”