AIA International Mentorship Series - More than a Network: Discover the Value of Mentorship
The AIA International Global Mentorship Program invites everyone to join our 2025 Kickoff Session on April 28: "More than a Network: Discover the Value of Mentorship."
When: Monday 28 April 2025 @ 10:00 (Eastern US Time)
Where: Online
Speakers
Yew Kee Cheong, President, AIA International
Eleni Stefania Kalapoda, AIA Associate, LEED Green Associate, ENVSP
Paula Cano, AIA Associate, LEED Green Associate
Description
Join the AIA International Global Mentorship Program’s first group session!
This year’s theme is Creating Value in Your Career. In this first session, we will introduce new mentors and mentees, outline the program format, and hear from AIA International President, Yew Kee Cheong. Additionally, special guests, Paula Cano and Eleni Stefania Kalapoda, will share their experiences of successful mentor-mentee relationships.
Group sessions are open to all.
If you are interested in joining the 2025 Mentorship Program as a mentor or mentee, you can still sign up before May 21. Please complete the form HERE.
If you have questions, please contact Michelle Montgomery at emergingprofessionals@aiainternational.org.
Speakers Bio
Yew Kee Cheong is a Singaporean architect with more than 30 years of professional experience as an architect and educator, with passion in sustainable design and wellness design. He is the 2024-2025 President of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) International and the 2024 President of AlA Southeast Asia. He served as its 2020-2021 Treasurer and 2017-2018 Director for Unassigned Members. Yew Kee was elevated to the AlA College of Fellows in 2023- the first Singaporean. He received his Master of Science in Sustainable Design from the University of Nottingham, UK and Master of Architecture from the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, USA. He worked in reputable firms in USA, Mexico and Singapore with projects over eight countries. Yew Kee is Founding Principal of 2B ARCHITECTS, an award-winning boutique firm in Singapore. Yew Kee was instrumental in leading a team of Country Representatives from Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam to form the AlA Southeast Asia section in 2023 In Singapore, Yew Kee is a Council Member of the Singapore Institute of Architects (SIA) from 2008-2023, and the Founding Chair for SIA Sustainability Committee and Chairs for SIA Wellness Committee and SIA Design Competition Committee. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute. Yew Kee is active in bridging professional and community works. In 2013, Yew Kee received the Singapore Ministry of National Development Medallion for Distinguished service.
Eleni Stefania is a New York-based architect-engineer and urban designer focused on designing and building more efficient, intelligent, sustainable buildings and cities. Her work is driven by a people-first approach, tailored to the diverse social, cultural, and economic urban contexts, environmentally responsible, and flexible to adapt to long-term future growth. She has served as an Autodesk Advisory Council expert (AUAC 2025-2027), a Design Jury for the EUROPE40UNDER40 Architecture Awards (2025) for the Chicago Athenaeum & European Centre for Architecture, Art, Design and Urban Studies, sustainability subject matter expert for the USGBC LEED v5 Technical Advisory Group, reviewer, research paper mentor, topic coordinator, and contributor for several academic magazines, scientific journals, and professional architectural, engineering, and planning conferences. Eleni Kalapoda is an interdisciplinary designer on civic, cultural, institutional, and infrastructural projects that integrate systems of economies and ecologies that reimagine the flows or people and resources throughout our cities and buildings, sustaining a holistic and future-responsive strategic framework for resilient urban development that is more equitable, just, livable, and committed to restoring the balance between the Earth’s resources, ecosystems, and the communities that thrive in them.
Hailing from Colombia, Paula Cano aims to increase the representation of licensed Latina architects, pay homage to established techniques, and seamlessly Integrate modern technology and Innovative methodologies. She is a Designer at SOM, and holds an M.Arch from the University of Texas at Austin.
Her professional journey has spanned Europe, North and South America, and Russia. Paula has been recognized with the AlA Dallas Students Excellence in Design, the Wood Excellence Design Award, and the AAUW STEM and the O'Neil Ford FAIA Fellowship, and is involved with the AlA Latinos in Architecture and the ULT Austin Chapter.
