The Design Like a Girl Mentor Program was founded in 2016 in Washington, DC, and just completed its first year in Los Angeles! The goal is to introduce local middle school girls to architecture and related professions. Girls ages 11-14 are paired with female mentors from the architecture, construction, and engineering fields to learn first-hand about these exciting careers from professional women. By engaging more girls across the city, the program aims to open doors that might eventually lead to greater gender equality in the architectural and other STEM professions.

DLAG consists of several full-day workshops during the academic year. Each workshop has a theme and includes a field trip, a design project with drawing and model building, and concludes with a presentation by each girl of her design.

The first workshop of the series focuses on the Fundamentals of Architecture, where the girls learn about tools of the architectural trade, architectural vocabulary, and basic design concepts. The following workshops explore different areas of the design professions.

Workshops have included the following themes:

• Construction & Engineering Landscape Architecture
• Theater Set Design: Designing Spaces for Space
• Memorials & Sacred Spaces Design for Wellbeing
• Interior Architecture Adaptive Reuse
• Sustainable and Biophilic Design

Workshop dates:

• First Workshop: September 13th
• Second Workshop: October 18th

Location: AIA|LA / ACLA Center for Communities