Reaching Our Potential as a Profession: AIA Director-at-Large Latoya Nelson Kamdang on Essentialism, Cultural Shifts, and Graceful Leadership
By Julia Gamolina
Latoya Nelson Kamdang is a U.S. Fulbright Senior Scholar, Registered Architect, Certified Interior Designer, LEED Accredited Professional, Adjunct Professor at Pratt Institute, and the Director of Operations at Ennead Architects. Latoya has a research focus on rapidly expanding urban areas, neighborhood gentrification, passive sustainable technologies, and indigenous architecture. She has executed projects in design and management capacities in hospitality, aviation, museums, and education. Latoya was on the design team for the Smithsonian Institute National Museum of African American History and Culture, an interdisciplinary team member from RFP submission through construction documents. Her spatial focus was the Slavery & Freedom History Gallery. She has also worked on overseas federal projects while a consultant at the Overseas Buildings Operations.
Latoya earned a Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design and a Certificate in Real Estate Design & Development from the Wharton School of Business. She has a Master of Fine Arts degree from George Washington University and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Marketing from Georgetown University. She actively sits on the board of the American Institute of Architects Board of Directors, the ACE Mentor Program of Greater NY, The Billie Holiday Theatre, and the Van Alen Institute. She is the Chair of the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee.
JG: Tell me about your foundational years — where did you grow up and what did you like to do as a kid?
LK: My links to higher education and the built environment date back to a family that was passionate about education and space. My parents built our childhood home and are MEP contractors who have run a family-owned business since the 1970s. Some of my earliest memories are of construction sites — walking through wood framing and imagining the layout as a finished product. We are multi-generations in the building industry, as my grandfather was an entrepreneur in the building trade, while my great aunts and grandmother were early educators in Mississippi's segregated schools.
In high school I worked in my parents’ office during the summer. I would scale quantity take-offs and price the materials per square foot as blueprints entered the building for upcoming projects. I credit my solid relationships with CMs and contractors to my roots on the construction side of the industry. I have so much respect for the teams who translate the drawings to reality through skilled trades and collaboration. Seeing so few women in the building industry however, I didn’t go to architecture school immediately. Instead, I studied business. I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do, but I innately knew that having a business background would intersect my eventual path.
How did you eventually choose where you studied architecture?
The then chair of the admissions committee, Laura Briggs, called me regarding my acceptance at the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design, and spoke to me personally about the program. The content of the call was a compelling reason that I decided to attend Penn. I was drawn to PennDesign because of the approach of Detlef Mertins that was shifting the program to a more digitally-focused approach. Cecil Balmond was a visiting professor at the time, and PennDesign was at the early stages of exploring algorithmic and computational design. In my first-year studio, I had the opportunity to work with Jenny Sabin who taught us the importance of scripting our applying inputs to produce multiple iterative outcomes.
Beyond this, former Dean Gary Hack was supportive of DEI issues, before it was a common acronym. While at Penn, he provided funding so BIPOC students could host a conference and engage in recruitment for more diversity in the program. We titled the conference “Unspoken Borders'' and the recruitment event was “Demystifying the Professions.” We were concerned that many of the issues in architecture and urban planning that intersected race and equity were often difficult to talk about and sometimes ignored in the classroom. We invited speakers to Penn — such as Mitchell Silver, Allison Williams, and Walter Hood — to address these issues through the lens of design but also acknowledgement of the socioeconomic and racial issues that surrounded our campus daily. In this regard, Philadelphia was a great place to live and learn. Shortly after I moved there, I drew inspiration from Julian Francis Abele, the first black graduate of the architecture school at UPenn in 1902, who lived a short distance from my Philadelphia residence. Representation truly matters.
Latoya and her colleague Shalini Abeyarante at Ennead. Photography by Aislinn Weidele.
How did you get to Ennead? What are you focused on these days?
As I was looking to transition to a new opportunity, Ennead Architects had qualities that aligned with my values as an architect. Ennead is a design-first firm with an emphasis on technical and design excellence. Being an architect and interior designer with a business background, I am able to approach my role as Director of Operations in a nuanced way that merges creative and strategic thinking. It was important for me to have support for the value that I was bringing to the firm and it was clear to me in the recruitment process that I would have it. When I learned that J. Max Bond, a mentor, and Jim Polshek, one of the founding partners of Ennead, were friends, it solidified my decision to join.
At Ennead, I have been focused on what it means to be a high-performing team — HPT — to deliver design, technical, and operational excellence, and how we can translate having the right people doing the right things in service to our clients and the communities we serve. HPT is a philosophy that is frequently discussed in theory and exceedingly rare to execute in practice, but when executed with intentionality has boundless possibilities. The making of architecture is true collaboration. Several people work together to produce successful design outcomes, including our consultants and contractors. The synergy between team members, communication strategies, and complementary skill sets are just as important as individual skills.
“The making of architecture is true collaboration. Several people work together to produce successful design outcomes, including our consultants and contractors. The synergy between team members, communication strategies, and complementary skill sets are just as important as individual skills.”
Looking back at it all, what have been the biggest challenges? How did you both manage through perceived disappointments or setbacks?
One of my biggest challenges was simultaneously managing operations, business development, teaching, and parenting as New York was faced with a stay-at-home order. Just before the pandemic, I was in the process of securing a large contract through some strategic business development efforts, and I was feeling pretty confident. As news reports of COVID in Wuhan became increasingly more serious, I was in denial while others started to avoid public spaces. I was having interviews to bring on additional staff for a new project. I remember specifically attending a luncheon hosted by an urban design forum with Michael Sorkin and Lesley Lokko. Two weeks later, I was reading Sorkin's obituary and New York was fully shut down. When the seriousness of the situation hit me, it really hit me. We lost so many talented people during this time. It was scary.
While all this was happening, I had to learn to manage a fully remote workforce, shift from in-person to online teaching, and transition a second grader who had minimal screen time to an online, remote education platform. I was overwhelmed by the situation and really frustrated with myself. I had to transform the way I approached practice, parenting, and teaching, and none of it was seamless. Needless to say, all of the business development opportunities I was working towards also went away, projects that were confirmed immediately went on hold, and there was so much uncertainty. I had to start from scratch in a new world and economy, and I wasn’t fully prepared to do my job while taking on being a primary source of strength and stability for my staff, students, and family. This was an exercise in “humility” just as much as it was in “adaptability.”
What have you also learned in the last six months?
I am leaning into the practice of prioritizing my day and my week with impact in mind. I am obsessively analytical about making sure that my actions are directly aligned with outcomes. When I first had my daughter, the transition to balance work-life with a small child and no local support system was challenging especially with regard to time. As a mom balancing work, life, and family, I’m always seeking advice on ways to advance optimization, prioritization, and getting through my one-hundred-and-sixty-eight-hour week with the best use of my time. My alumni book club recently suggested Essentialism, which was striking especially as an operations director. As I’ve processed the message, I am moving between critical, design, and strategic thinking with impact at the forefront. I’m constantly asking myself, “How are my actions aligning with the overall strategic goals?”
National Museum of African American History and Culture.
What are you most excited about right now?
I have a lot of curiosity and enjoy monitoring the ways the industry is shifting. As I mentioned, When I was at PennDesign, there was a highly experimental approach with former Dean Detlef Mertins and Cecil Balmond that encouraged a computational design phase. I was the recent recipient, along with Darius Somers and Teonna Cooksey, of an Architectural League Research Grant. We have been experimenting with AI and Midjourney as it relates to black history and culture, and the outcomes have been fascinating.
I have a history of working on black cultural projects on exhibit design with the National Museum of African American History and Culture and with the Buffalo, NY, Michigan Street African American Cultural Commission. Working with Midjourney, as a tool for idea creation and interpretation of black culture into spatial outcomes, has been an exploration that we’ll continue to investigate throughout the duration of the grant. I am excited about the ways in which AI will advance architectural discourse. When I think about essentialism and time, I also think that AI has the ability to advance the design process by providing more iterations in a shorter time frame. I’m curious and excited about the ways it will continue to evolve our industry.
Who are you admiring now and why?
I am admiring the graceful transition in leadership of AIA Past-President Emily Grandstaff-Rice and current President Kim Dowdell of the AIA. I started my campaign for AIA Board of Directors around this time last year, and Emily was beginning her Presidency and Kim Dowdell was President elect. The visibility of consecutive women in AIA Presidents will undoubtedly have an impact on the industry in defining what an architect looks like. Beyond representation, they are a beacon of women in the industry who are showing up to support each other. Their transition model was an excellent example of what good leadership should be.
“I want architecture to have the awe-inspiring sense of place that takes your breath away, similar to what is experienced in a stunning natural landscape. To achieve this, I fundamentally believe that the profession has to be diverse and inclusive so that a multitude of ideas and experiences can be brought into the collaborative design process.”
What is the impact you’d like to have on the world? What is your core mission? And what does success in that look like to you?
Design should be used as a mechanism to envision sustainable and healthy communities that can thrive and inspire. I want architecture to have the awe-inspiring sense of place that takes your breath away, similar to what is experienced in a stunning natural landscape. To achieve this, I fundamentally believe that the profession has to be diverse and inclusive so that a multitude of ideas and experiences can be brought into the collaborative design process. For me, it’s something we fundamentally must do. The lack of inclusivity poses an existential threat to our ability to reach our full potential as a profession. Just as 2023 was ending, I was on crutches and in a boot for six weeks. This experience transformed my perspective on navigating a disability. While I considered myself to be already sensitive to the experience, living the experience was quite different. It is necessary to have input from communities through more robust engagement processes, and a diverse profession to be able to achieve this.
As part of my core mission, I spend time as the Chair of the NCARB Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee, which explores opportunities and recommends strategies to increase DEI efforts to ensure that the profession fully represents the population it serves. This committee champions DEI perspectives and advocates for continued conversations and actions at the Council, in order to reduce barriers within the education, experience, and exam pathways to licensure. For example, last year NCARB retired the rolling clock policy for exams, which disproportionately impacted women and people of color, and they also updated the governance policies to increase opportunities to serve on NCARB’s Board of Directors. For me success is supporting measurable and sustainable progress toward a more equitable profession by breaking down barriers. The outcome will be elevation in our built environment.
Latoya speaking at the AIA Women’s Leadership Summit.
Finally, what advice do you have for those starting their career? Would your advice be any different for women?
The advice I have to young professionals is to design your career. It is important to be proactive about your path but also flexible enough to adapt when things don’t happen exactly as you planned. My original plan didn’t include spending time in Taiwan as a Senior Fulbright scholar, but it happened to be one of the most transformative times in my career.
Also, unconscious bias in the workplace is real and while it is not fair, it is something that women will have to continue to navigate as we continue to make progress on gender disparity. Leadership and gender stereotypes, for both men and women, can be extremely damaging in the workplace and don’t lend themselves to the highest and best use with regard to firm performance. With regard to communication and acceleration to leadership, Deborah Tannen speaks of a concept called the “assertiveness double bind.” A double bind is when two things are required of an individual and the successful accomplishment of one of them makes the other impossible. Women that aspire to leadership positions have to be aware of the context of this in reference to perception of their own growth. Firm leadership has to be conscious of the way that they navigate this and make sure that they are conscious of the way that this can play out in the workplace. Assertiveness is a necessary quality for leadership, but not often received well from women. In my diverse leadership roles, I am hyper-aware of these perceptual differences and the way it can show up in the workplace, classroom, and in advocacy work.
As a child of entrepreneurs, I detest office politics. Growing up, the success of our business was measured in results tied to profitability, not posturing. I see constant positioning without rigorous performance as wasted energy. Now, even understanding this about myself, I know that it is not enough to put your head down and do the work. If all of your hard work happens in a vacuum, and there is little awareness of your thoughts, ideas, and contributions, it is likely that someone else will happily take the full credit for your contribution. How you communicate this without sounding overly egotistical is tricky, but possible. The balance is delicate. I’ve learned, and continue to learn, by watching others who do it with grace.