Kitchell Class is in session at this year’s CMAA National Conference in Washington, DC! We’re thrilled to announce two education sessions:

First up, Project Manager Chris Lerma will participate in “The Value of a Non-Traditional and Diverse Workforce” Monday, October 30 at 4:00pm in National Harbor 12-13. Chris will be joined by Jaimee Robinson and Sharon Berger from Gannett Fleming for this session, which explores why traditional recruitment practices no longer meet the industry’s need for new employees and future leaders. Guests will hear stories, lessons learned, wins, and losses from employees generally considered non-traditional, such as women, transgendered persons, and mid-life career changers. Attendees will gain a clearer understanding of what these employees face, why they choose these career paths, and how they add value to their firms in ways that a more traditional employee may not.

On October 31, Program Director Dan Porter will moderate “Equity-Based Facilities Master Planning” at 11:45am in National Harbor 2. Join Dan and panelists Anton Blewett (K-12 Education Planner, DLR Group), Nathanial Browning (Director of Capital Projects, Facilities and Resource Management, Sacramento City Unified School District), Dr. Regina Stanback Stroud, Ph.D. (President, RSS Consulting) and Leigh Sata (Vice President, Capital Projects and Operations, California College of the Arts) for a discussion about the critical role facilities master plans play in ensuring equity, meeting students needs and supporting the ability to learn. Some districts are moving away from the traditional facilities master planning process that prioritizes construction projects based on facility condition indexes and capacity factors. These districts now use equity-based facilities master planning that considers student and neighborhood factors to prioritize needs. In this session, see the path the Sacramento City Unified School District took to create an equity-based facilities master plan and explore the lessons learned.

While you’re at the conference, be sure to connect with Kitchell team members Jeremy Judd, Leo Rosas, Ernesto Gonzalez, Bill Johal, Jeff Dees, Jen Frahm, and of course Dan Porter and Chris Lerma!