Housing and Community Development

The Role of Architects in Housing Equity: A Multi-sector Perspective

The Opportunity Starts at Home campaign is a long-term, multi-sector initiative dedicated to bringing diverse advocates—such as educators, healthcare professionals, and social workers—into the housing space. Housing is fundamental to the well-being of individuals and communities, influencing nearly every aspect of our lives.

With support from AIA, the campaign has successfully engaged architects in building a multi-sector movement to advance housing solutions at both national and state levels. By shifting the narrative around affordable housing, this initiative empowers architects to collaborate across industries, drive policy change, and design equitable, human-centered communities.

The webinar is part of a series produced by the AIA Right-to-Housing Working Group. In each episode, we ask: “What does the right to housing mean in practice?” and “How can architects contribute?”

Learning Objectives:

• Showcase the importance to build multi-sector partnerships and foster cross-industry collaboration to drive policy change, and design equitable, human-centered communities.
• Understand the critical role of the federal government in addressing housing affordability nationwide and how this can impact design.
• Explore the challenges low-income families face amidst rising housing costs and the increasing cost of living and identify tools that can influence equitable design.
• Learn how the campaign is reshaping the conversation around affordable housing—and how architects can contribute to these efforts.

Speakers:

Chantelle Wilkinson, National Campaign Director, Opportunity Starts at Home