Design Like a Girl Mentor Program
The Design Like a Girl Mentor Program was founded in 2016 in Washington DC 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 it is the goal of the program to open doors that might eventually lead to greater gender equality in the architectural, and other STEM professions.
DLAG consists of four 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 four workshop dates coincide with DCPS’s no school days on Mondays and Fridays.
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 three 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
Dates for 2025-26 TBA.
This program is supported by generous grants from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and the following sponsors:
-HOK
-VMDO DC Architects LLC
-LeoADaly
-Moya Design Group
-The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company
Location:
District Architecture Center
421 7th Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20004
Questions? Contact Heidi Sohng
In solidarity with our mission, donate to our youth programs.
Become a DAC member and save on events like this one!