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Buying, Acquiring, Elevating: Three Women, Three Paths to the Top

FORA Owners to Speak at National Event: A’23

We often talk about the future. The Conference on Architecture is where the AEC industry gathers to define it, design it, and connect across industries to build it. Join us in San Francisco to explore what it means to design a better world now, together.

When Leah Bayer, Sarah Vaccaro, and Kate Conley, three mid-career women architects, were presented with an opportunity to buy a multifamily housing practice from its retiring founder in 2020, they each found themselves on a different path to firm ownership. One was buying in from the outside, one was rising from within, and one was merging with her existing small practice. With a record number of architects retiring from the profession in the next handful of years, they aim to empower the next, more diverse generation of firm owners to confidently step into firm ownership negotiations, no matter their pathway.


LEARNING OBJECTIVES

  1. Identify and evaluate prospective leadership transition opportunities against career goals to determine how to best proceed.

  2. Build a network of support to inform, advise, and help facilitate throughout a firm ownership transition, resulting in successful transactions and elevation of diverse firm leaders.

  3. Apply tools, tips, and techniques that facilitate win-win firm ownership negotiation terms for current and future owners.

  4. Develop and implement a plan for transitioning work, clients, and staff to the new owner(s) to ensure long-term success of the firm.




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March 23

Designing for Women: Building Places that Prioritize Women & Children