San Francisco is the land of Ramaytush Ohlone People. Millions of Indigenous peoples have been displaced by centuries of U.S. policy of removal and extermination. In the 1950s, the U.S. government attempted to assimilate Native Americans by moving them to cities and eliminating reservations, offering empty promises of assistance with housing, social services, and employment. Numerous American Indians made the move to cities like San Francisco where they struggled to adjust to life in a metropolis and faced unemployment, low-end jobs, discrimination, homesickness, and the loss of traditional cultural support.
Friendship House believes that every urban Indian deserves a community that centers their needs, and that Native-led means real solutions for Native communities. Manifesting this belief, The Village SF is establishing a space of belonging for urban, Indigenous people that solves for their current reality—namely that American Indians are urban, inter-tribal, inter-racial, and without a physical and cultural home. A place like The Village does not exist in any other urban area—a physical building where urban American Indians can gather to connect with each other and their indigeneity and receive critical essential services in a culturally sensitive environment.
During this panel discussion, project team members Equity Community Builders (ECB), PYATOK architecture + design, and Stok will share the story of how The Village SF came to be and where it’s heading. From their current experience bringing this one-of-a-kind cultural, spiritual, and social services space to life, presenters will dive into questions at the crux of this unique exercise in Indigenous placemaking: How can an Indigenous ownership group and majority non-Indigenous building professionals collaborate authentically to bring to life a building embodying Indigenous values? How can cost and space constraints be navigated to deliver an ambitious Native-led vision?
Through this lens, presenters will share the unique cultural-based imperatives and the dialogue that are guiding the project’s direction. Presenters will discuss how they are aligning sustainability goals with the Native cultural vision to identify relevant building frameworks and hotspots that fit the owner’s values and vision while incorporating practical limitations like cost constraints. Participants will leave with a transparent and honest account of how the project’s vision has shifted to accommodate barriers while staying true to Native values.
Located in the first American Indian Cultural District of its size ever designated in the United States, The Village SF will be a 46,000 SF six-floor building that represents a return to Indigenous life ways. Operated by Native-led organizations, it will serve over 9,000 American Indians living in San Francisco with a goal of being one of many ways to preserve urban Indians in San Francisco and beyond for centuries to come. The Village SF is a blueprint for Indigenous placemaking in San Francisco and urban areas across the nation, with collaboration, community, and sustainability at its core.
Venue: ZOOM (link in confirmation)
Schedule: Program: 12:00p -1:00
Cost: Free
Speaker Bios:
Suzanne Brown, Principal, Equity Community Builders
Suzanne is a real estate developer and partner at Equity Community Builders (ECB) in San Francisco. ECB develops Bay Area infill projects with a focus on community, social equity, and environmental sustainability; project types include housing, student housing, education, museums, and community facilities. For The Village SF, Suzanne is working closely with Friendship House of the Native American Indians and the design team to develop and implement integrated sustainable design strategies that embody the ancient values of Native Americans and their relationship to the earth into modern urban architecture. Suzanne received her B.S in Civil Engineering with a minor in Architecture in 1992 from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York and her Masters in Structural Engineering in 1997 from Georgia Tech in Atlanta. She holds both Professional Engineer and Structural Engineer licenses in California.
Janey Madamba, Senior Associate, PYATOK architecture + urban design
PYATOK Senior Associate Janey Madamba has over 19 years of experience designing high-density housing, with a focus on affordable family and supportive housing. Janey is the architectural Project Manager for The Village SF, coordinating closely with project owners, city agencies, and various engineering consultants to embody the project’s vision in built form. A lifelong resident of the Bay Area, Janey is passionate about family, community, and the arts. She has been a part of a community-involved modern dance group, has conducted empowerment workshops for young girls in East Oakland, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center in San Francisco and Dimensions Dance Theater in Oakland. Janey recently facilitated a panel discussion on San Francisco Cultural Districts for the National Organization of Minority Architects 2020 conference.
Kristen M. Hershowitz, Partner, Stok
Kristen M. Hershowitz is a Partner at Stok and serves as a Co-Facilitator for the Bay Area ILFI Collaborative. She has more than 15 years of experience in the building sector; over the last eight, she’s guided dozens of project teams through the LEED, WELL, and LBC frameworks, passively impacting countless building users. Kristen brings a holistic approach and experience, as well as her knack for connecting with people and communicating complex ideas and requirements, to every project she manages. She excels at educating and empowering project teams to work with project potential and possibilities. Kristen strives to create a lasting impact with all her projects and teams and feels the most meaningful and rewarding part of her work is educating and contributing to a paradigm shift in the built environment.
Christina Weber, VP of Strategic Growth and Client Solutions, Stok
Christina Weber is Vice President of Strategic Growth and Client Solutions at Stok, a provider of integrated sustainability and high-performance building services. In this role, she helps create and implement strategies to ensure Stok achieves its impact goals globally, while remaining customer- obsessed along the way. Christina has nearly two decades of business development experience, including global account management for purpose-driven companies servicing the commercial real estate and AEC industries. She is a passionate advocate for her clients—a portfolio that ranges from startups to Fortune 10 companies—advising on meaningful solutions impacting their business and operations. Christina is a LEED Green Associate and holds a Master of Corporate Real Estate in Workplace Strategy (MCR.w) designation from CoreNet Global, where she is an active member of the Northern California Chapter and serves on both the Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging (EDIB), CRE Awards and Sustainability committees.
Thank you to our Sponsor!
IMPEC Group