Public Offerings - Online Talk by Yemí Aládérun
Architect Yemí Aládérun advocates for education, housing equality and representation to improve access to the built environment professions
Using examples of her civic engagement activities, Yemí will discuss the avenues she is following to engender positive change on issues regarding collaboration and partnership, housing delivery, inclusion and representation in the construction industry.
Yemí Aládérun is an architect and development manager at Enfield Council, working on Meridian Water, for Enfield Council, the major £6bn, 25-year regeneration programme led by the Council bringing 10,000 homes and 6,000 jobs to Enfield, north London, next door to the beautiful Lee Valley Regional Park.
She is an advocate for education, income and housing equality and is extremely passionate about social mobility and broadening access to the built environment.
Yemí is a non-executive board member of Women's Pioneer Housing (WPH) association, ambassador for The Architects Benevolent Society, co-founder of the PARADIGM Network, and a core team member of Part W. Prior to moving to Enfield Council in 2021 she was major projects manager at Islington and Shoreditch Housing Association and worked at Mae, and at Barbara Weiss Architects, where she was an associate.
Yemi was selected as one the UK’s next generation of boundary-pushing designers and innovators by the Architect’s Journal in its 40 under 40 cohort for 2020. Fran Williams, writing in the AJ (14 December 2020: ‘AJ 40 Under 40: Yemí Aládérun’) states: "Àlàdérun believes our understanding of what architecture is as a discipline needs to expand to encompass issues such as race, space, and politics and she applies this ethos through her impressive advocacy work with respect to education, income, gender, housing and racial equality to improve access to the profession."
The Women’s Pioneer Housing association strives to make a positive difference to women’s lives. Founded in 1920 by suffragists, who understood the importance of providing women with good quality affordable homes of their own, as part of their wider fight for women’s equality, today WPH continues to challenge gender inequality and provide much-needed homes and services which offer a springboard to independent women to achieve their potential, and aims to influence others to do the same. It owns around 1,000 properties in West London, mostly studio or one-bedroom flats in large converted Victorian or Edwardian buildings, many of which are listed or in Conservation Areas.
The PARADIGM Network supports construction industry professionals passionate about increasing Black and Asian representation within the built environment, encouraging and helping talented architects and those in associated fields, through education, and, as they progress in their careers. It is also keen to promote the development of Black and Asian-led practices.
Part W is an action group calling for gender equity in the built environment. One of its most recent campaigns is the Women's Work London Map of buildings and projects in which women have played a significant role, inviting suggestions for the pilot map. With much needed funding, Part W is seeking to spread this study around the UK and beyond.