Call to Action: The next RIBA President needs to be representative of its members! Time for the first worker at the helm.

Earlier in the month we put out our Call to Action with an open letter and a form where Architecture workers could nominate themselves to run as part of our campaign. Well good news, we have four candidates who are working in the Architecture Industry.

These people are not company owners, they have worked themselves up like YOU and are full of ambition. 

Hannah Deacon:

Since 2019 I have been working as a Project Architect running multiple schemes through all design stages, including 2 projects currently on site. In 2021 I also became a RIBA Student Mentor for Oxford Brookes.

Everyday is a constant battle to convince clients and consultants that zero carbon construction is essential instead of a 'nice to have'. This is exacerbated when challenged on my authority and experience as a young woman in a patriarchal elitist environment.

My primary action as President would be to enact real change by making the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge mandatory and strip practices of their chartership if they are not showing real commitment to reducing climate change.

Benjamin Champion:

I’m an architect at Sheehan Nagle Hartray Associates and I qualified in October 2020. Last year I ran for a national council seat and got half-way through the rounds of voting, and I’m currently organising an event for the London Festival of Architecture called ‘Ask an Architect’ to raise money for charities tackling homelessness.

Muyiwa Oki:

Muyiwa Oki is an Architect in the Design and Digital team at construction consultancy, Mace Group. At his previous firm, Grimshaw Architects, Muyiwa was founder and chair of the Multi-Ethnic Group and Allies staff network and an external speaker and mentor for aspiring architects at the Grimshaw Foundation, which exists to encourage greater social mobility within architecture. 

In the wider industry, he’s known for presenting at Practice Clinics focused on EDI leadership and participating in panels, events, and radio programmes on behalf of RIBA. Also, a regular contributor to the next generation of architects as an Ambassador for the Mayor of London: Design Future London challenge. 

Muyiwa is also co-founder of a design-tech venture called Modulor, focused on making Digital Twins of spaces affordable.

Henry Pelly:

Henry is a Principal Sustainability Consultant at Max Fordham LLP, an employee-owned environmental design practice.  Henry is RIBA chartered architect and was the Youth Commissioner for Sustainable Development on the RIBA Ethics and Sustainable Development Commission.  He is intent on putting all the recommendations of the commission into action.

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