International Women's Day
Happy Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day!
The United Nations has designated this year’s International Women’s Day theme as ‘Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress’, recognizing women’s achievements across social, economic, cultural, and political spheres. Reflecting on this theme, Hacker is thrilled to announce several initiatives that align with this objective of accelerating progress through investment in our staff that identify as female and women of color. These developments demonstrate our commitment to supporting and empowering women in our organization.
This month signifies a significant milestone as we transition to being a company led and owned by women for the first time in our 40-year history!
Jen Dzienis and Sarah Hacker are leading firm operations, and the majority of stock ownership will be in their hands by the end of the month. This transition is characterized by a heightened focus on holistic company health, which encompasses clarity and discipline in processes, transparency of information, a culture of feedback, and a focus on team morale. Moreover, it brings us closer to aligning our leadership demographics with our stated company values.
Since the increase in female ownership, the firm has successfully implemented a career pathways initiative. This initiative aims to offer expanded opportunities for professional growth and advancement through the lens of equity. This framework revamped our title promotions process from a hierarchical one, where leadership made all promotion decisions, to a nomination-based system where staff nominate their peers or individuals nominate themselves. The promotions resulting from this redesigned process included six outstanding team members – 3 new Associates and 3 new Associate Principals. All six of these exceptional people identify as women, with 25% being women of color. It is noteworthy (and not at all surprising) that opening decision-making to a more diverse group led to increased diversity in outcomes.
Below, you can learn more about each person ascending to leadership roles at Hacker. We are thrilled about the impact they will undoubtedly have on Hacker, which has historically been led by White, cisgender, and able-bodied individuals. Our commitment to achieving greater diversity within our leadership ranks remains steadfast, and we are proud to celebrate this important milestone.
Associate Principals
We proudly announce the three new Associate Principals at Hacker, listed alphabetically by first name:
Caitlin Ranson
AIA
Associate Principal | Architect
Hacker has promoted Caitlin Ranson to Associate Principal. With a background in studio art, Caitlin promotes clear conceptual thinking on various project types in the education, cultural, and multifamily spaces. Her strength in managing complex projects from beginning to end helps maintain positive client engagement and overall design excellence.
Keri Erwin
AIA, NOMA
Associate Principal | Architect
Hacker has promoted Keri Erwin to Associate Principal. Keri is devoted to socially-driven architecture that cultivates place within growing globalized cultures and changing urban fabrics. She champions high-quality design with meaning, equity, and accessibility. Keri is a founding board member of NOMA PDX and is involved in Your Street, Your Voice.
Sienna Shiga
AIA
Associate Principal | Architect
Hacker has promoted Sienna Shiga to Associate Principal. Working across many project types and scales, she aspires to design with sustainable, honest, and authentic materials for the building’s surroundings and inhabitants. With a focus on complex higher education projects, Sienna brings program insights and thoughtfulness to every design problem.
Associates
We proudly announce the three new Associates at Hacker, listed alphabetically by first name:
Amy Maras
Associate | Interior Designer
Hacker has promoted Amy Maras to Associate. As an interior designer of residential and commercial spaces, Amy strives to design interiors focused on sustainability, especially related to healthy materials, social equity, and the well-being of occupants. Amy aspires to engage in projects highlighting the stories of communities or people they serve.
Jen Endozo
Associate | Architect
Hacker has promoted Jen Endozo to Associate. Jen strives to learn more about the impacts of the built environment and incorporate sustainable practices in her work. She thrives in a collaborative environment to keep a project moving forward with an engaged and excited team. Always up for a challenge, she embraces opportunities within a given design constraint.
Kirsten Heming
RA, LEED AP BD+C
Associate | Architect
Hacker has promoted Kirsten Heming to Associate. Kirsten views architecture as a means for responsible development that is human-scale and makes a place of wellness with biophilia and natural materials. She has a passion for adaptive reuse and user experience as well as an expertise in Revit. Kristen strives to create a collaborative environment.
