BE (Building Equity) Infill is a series of events focused on raising awareness for intersectionality in the workplace, and advancing the professional development of marginalized individuals including, but not limited to women, member and allies of the LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities.
What: Join us for our very first speaker event — where we will have a conversation with Olivia Fung, Principal Architect at NORR and Katie Warwa, Partner & Lead of Operations at Urbis Infill Homes on their lived experiences, professional development, barriers and challenges they have encountered within the industry, and more.
When: Thursday, March 9th, 2023, 6:00 to 8:00PM
Where: 10814 59 Avenue NW, Edmonton, AB (Ace Lange Show home)
Tickets:
Students: $10.00
Members: $25.00
Non-members: $35.00
*Tickets include one complimentary drink and light refreshments
ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS:
KATIE WARWA, Urbis Infill Homes
Katie Warwa is an Owner/Partner and Lead of Operations at Urbis Infill Homes, a design builder focused on infill in Edmonton’s mature neighbourhoods. She has a background in Architecture, with a Masters of Architecture graduate degree from the University of British Columbia. She started her career working for large scale Architecture firms in both Edmonton and Vancouver, but found her sweet spot in smaller scale residential design. Her real passion has been in aiding to run and grow Urbis, which is a family business that she shares with her father and brother as partners. She has been with Urbis since its infancy when it was a small operation of just four employees and has worked in every facet of the business evolving the company to what it is today. She wears many hats and touches everything from marketing, to client relationships, to exterior and interior design of homes, to overseeing construction. She is also key to company culture managing multiple teams within Urbis and plays a role as the glue between design and construction. Her experience in male dominated industries since the early 2000’s, as well as her growth as a small business owner while balancing starting a family gives her some great insights into what many working women confront in today’s workforce. She is excited to share her personal experiences with the BEInfill Community to kick off this exciting new series of events.
OLIVIA FUNG, NORR
Olivia is a vibrant architect who shares her passion for the pursuit of design excellence with clients, colleagues and students. With a decade of experience, she has ventured into the international and domestic market to realize different approaches and methodologies for architecture and interior design. Her speciality is Residential, but she is also accomplished in the sectors of Commercial and Public Buildings.
For Oliva, good design is a solution that reflects and narrates the way we work, play and live in a space within the confines of a unique site. Her approach is a natural flow of sharing, discussing and debating ideas to get to the ideal solution. Having lived and travelled in cities such as London, Hong Kong, Berlin and Taipei, it is equally inspiring to question and challenge our environments in different cultural contexts as well. Olivia inspires others as a volunteer for the Edmonton Film Festival and YP Merge, a collaboration amongst Young Professional design and construction groups to increase knowledge of business, trends and technology.
Outside of design, Olivia enjoys playing the piano in her spare time and is a symbol of her cadence on a global stage in design where she doesn’t miss a beat.
