San Francisco—In recognition of Women’s History Month, ICG Italia hosted an empowering event, Inside The Architect Studio: A riveting exploration into the lives of women leading the industry, on March 13 from 5:30-7:30 p.m., here at the ICG Gallery. The women-led ICG Italia, brand of Iris Ceramica Group, developed this program as part of an important Women’s History Month initiative to honor women’s leadership roles in the architecture and design community.
The esteemed architecture industry panelists discussed their journeys and challenges as well as their shared contributions to sustainability initiatives around the world. The panelists include: Federica Minozzi, CEO of Iris Ceramica Group; Michelle Hatton, associate principal of SOM; Aida Ribar, regional leader of WorkPlace at HOK; and Jean Rainer, senior vice president of Shorenstein Properties.
As a women-led company committed to supporting women thriving in the workplace, Iris Ceramica Group and its CEO, Federica Minozzi, value meaningful programs that connect with female leaders and truly understand the importance of inspiring the next generation of women in the A&D industry.
This kicks off ICG Italia’s Inside The Architect Studio 2024 series of events geared to the A&D community with programming that spotlights leading architects and their industry insights in small group settings.
Federica Minozzi
CEO, Iris Ceramica Group
After graduating with honors from the Faculty of Law at Modena University, Minozzi joined Iris Ceramica, her family’s industrial holding company, where she studied and investigated the areas of sales and marketing, an orientation that soon turned out to be strategic for her future and essential for the development of her entrepreneurial and managerial skills.
Over the years this has allowed her to hold positions of the highest responsibility in all the companies in her family’s multinational group; she is now group CEO.
Michelle Hatton
SOM, Associate Principal
Originally from South Africa, Hatton started her career in Houston with Gensler. She eventually moved to the Bay Area and after focusing on workplace design for 16 years at Gensler, joined SOM three years ago as co-studio head and design lead for the Interiors Studio. Her expertise has expanded beyond workplace and she is energized by new opportunities to improve the human experience and affect the quality of design.
Aida Ribar
HOK, regional leader of WorkPlace
Ribar has been a successful leader and principal at HOK since 2017. She is passionate about creating empowering environments that foster productivity, well-being and user engagement. With more than two decades of project experience, she drives the firm’s workplace practice in both San Francisco and Seattle and is deeply involved in the local design community. Originally from Sarajevo, she has called the Bay Area home for the past 28 years.
Jean Rainer
Shorenstein Properties, senior vice president
Rainer is a SVP of development services in the investment group at Shorenstein. She joined Shorenstein in 1998. She is responsible for supporting and executing the company’s office development activities nationwide, including site evaluation, entitlement, design, construction, project management and initial tenant improvements. During her career at Shorenstein she has developed, repositioned or renovated 6.8 million square feet. Rainer graduated from UC Davis with a B.S., and from California College of the Arts with an M.F.A. She is a LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP) and a member of the Urban Land Institute.