Chicago Women in Architecture Foundation Announces 2025 Award Winners

The Chicago Women in Architecture  (CWA) and the Foundation (CWAF) are proud to announce the recipients of the 2025 awards, who will be honored at the annual Spring Brunch on April 27, 2025, at RPM Events. This highly anticipated event will bring together members, supporters, and industry leaders to recognize the outstanding contributions and achievements of women in the field of architecture.  In addition to the awards presentation, the Spring Brunch will feature networking opportunities for members to connect, inspire, and celebrate together. 

“We are excited to announce this year’s award winners and honor the trailblazing women in architecture who are not just building structures.  They are building bridges across communities, connecting diverse perspectives, and cultivating a more equitable and inclusive profession. The measure of success in architecture is not just in the buildings we create, but in the people we inspire and the communities we uplift. Their leadership serves as a beacon of inspiration for us all.” – Anh Pham, 2025 CWA President

Lifetime Achievement Award: Kristine Fallon, FAIA

The Lifetime Achievement Award honors distinguished architects who have profoundly impacted the profession, positively contributed as members of CWA, and have supported issues faced by women architects throughout their careers

Kristine Fallon graduated with an M. Arch from Virginia Tech in 1977 and began work in the Chicago office of SOM. She was licensed in 1980, founded her own firm in 1993 and was elevated to the AIA College of Fellows in 1995. She entered the profession at a time, before PC’s, when computers were barely considered and used only for databases and engineering calculations; at a time when the only communication technologies were the telephone and the telex machine (the fax machine had not yet been invented). Over a 40-year career she participated in and strongly influenced the development and dissemination of computer graphic/CAD, building information modeling, and web-based collaboration and management technologies within the capital facilities industry, working with architects, engineers, contractors and owners, as well as with the U.S. and European software firms that served them. 

Fallon’s company, Kristine Fallon Associates, Inc. (KFA), received technology awards and was lauded for its flawless implementation and management of highly effective web-based collaboration and management processes and systems for multi-billion dollar capital programs: at the Chicago Transit Authority, the Illinois Tollway and the Pennsylvania Dept. of Transportation, among others. Their work in this area was cited as “best practice” in research publications by the Federal Highway Administration and the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies.

Fallon’s major accomplishment, however, was her ability to communicate to software companies her deep understanding of the varying roles, responsibilities, processes and goals of the people working within the capital facilities industry. She consulted to Autodesk, Revit Technology (before their initial software release), Nemetschek Allplan, and Newforma. She had a major impact on the direction and adoption of computer technology within the industry and on the technology environment within which architects practice today.

She was also a prolific writer, publishing two books (one with co-author Arleen Boyd), and co-authoring over 10 major research publications for: the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the U.S Army Corps of Engineers ERDC-CERL, The Art Institute of Chicago and the Society of American Archivists. She was a contributing editor at Architectural Record and wrote a monthly technology column for the Professional Services Management Journal. She served as President, Vice President and Newsletter Editor of Chicago Women in Architecture and was included in the Chicago Women in Architecture: Progress & Evolution, 1974-1984 exhibition. She served on the Chicago and Illinois boards of the American Institute of Architects and was appointed to a five-year term on AIA’s national Technology in Architectural Practice Advisory Group, serving as chair in 2007. She has spoken at multiple AIA conventions and at scores of conferences worldwide.

Breaking Glass Award: Catherine Baker, FAIA and Danielle Tillman, AIA

The Breaking Glass Award honors established architects who are changing the face of the profession through their achievements and design excellence

Catherine Baker, FAIA is the founder of Nowhere Collaborative, a woman-owned and place-based architecture practice formed in 2022 that addresses sustainability, incremental development, and community-based design. With degrees in architecture and the social sciences, her work is rooted in the intersection of the social and technical disciplines of architecture. 

Catherine’s career is dedicated to inclusive design. She has over thirty years of experience in community-based design in Chicago and her commitment to advancing the next generation of architects is reflected in her volunteer mentoring and program development of architectural youth education and youth work programs. As president of AIA Chicago she initiated the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee.  Catherine is currently focused on applying her experience to understanding people and problems, making connections, and formulating equitable solutions to the development, design of buildings, and built-environments in a rural context. Catherine is an adjunct professor at IIT, regularly participates on design juries, and has been invited to speak at local and national conferences on housing and community-based design. She was a member of AIA’s delegation to the United Nation’s Habitat III in Quito, Ecuador, was appointed to the Chicago DPD Committee on Design, and she has presented on community-based design at the Danish Architecture Center in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Danielle Tillman’s specialty is built environments that naturally integrate into their communities. As Managing Principal of Chicago-headquartered bKL Architecture, Tillman has become an expert at infusing architecture with social mindfulness. Throughout her career, she has focused on building relationships with community leaders and residents to synthesize their requirements and feedback into project programs. Tillman’s diverse portfolio includes mixed-use and residential developments such as 300 N. Michigan and The Dylan at 160 N. Morgan in Chicago, The Selby in Toronto, and select projects in China. Tillman’s key educational and institutional projects include GEMS World Academy, University of Chicago Campus South Multi-Use Facility, numerous Chicago Public School initiatives, and the renovation and expansion of the Whitney Young Public Library. 

She serves on the Board of Advisors for the College of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology and has been appointed as a Commissioner for the Chicago Plan Commission. Additionally, Danielle is the 2025 President of the AIA Chicago Foundation Board of Trustees. Her accomplishments have been recognized with numerous honors, including being named a 2022 Crain’s Notable Executive of Color in Construction and Commercial Real Estate, and a 2022 Crain’s Notable Black Leader and Executive. Danielle is the recipient of the 2021 AIA Young Architect Award, the 2019 AIA Illinois Alan Madison Service Award, and the 2019 Crain’s Chicago Business “40 Under 40” award.  

Making Waves Award: Janeen Harrell, AIA

The Making Waves Award recognizes early-career architects who have had an impact through an innovative project or initiative.

As both an architect and interior designer, Janeen Harrell approaches her work with a unique and thorough perspective. She is responsible for the design, management and successful completion of a broad range of projects including commercial, residential, and corporate buildings and interiors. Janeen founded her firm, iJ DESIGN STUDIO, to help broaden access to design and ensure that more businesses and communities of color benefit from great design. The studio’s mission is to actively enhance the health and well-being of our communities through design that honors creative expression, the human spirit, and the natural environment. Janeen has extensive experience in varied phases of projects and consistently delivers thoughtful, contextual, well-crafted design solutions to the built environment while maintaining excellent client and consultant relationships. She has a strong interest in the intersection of sustainable and affordable design and has crafted her academic and professional endeavors to explore this intersection. African American women account for fewer than 0.5% of licensed architects in the United States, and Janeen is proud to have earned this distinction. Janeen’s colleagues also recognize her as an exemplary leader and a valuable asset to the profession. She served as the 2020 President of the American Institute of Architects Illinois Board of Directors and is the first African American woman to hold this position. Initially elected to the board in 2013, she has served in numerous positions at national, state (Illinois), and local (Chicago) levels including her immediate past role as an AIA National Strategic Councilor. Janeen is an active member of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) and has been honored by the Illinois Chapter as a trailblazing woman architect. She also enjoyed sharing her professional and personal journey when asked to be a panelist at the 2023 NOMA National Conference. Janeen’s work in the community seeks to encourage diversity and exposure within the design professions as well as performance arts

Collaborator Award: Martha Thorne & Eleanor Gorski

We are pleased to introduce this award for the first time this year.  The Collaborator Award recognizes Individuals or Institutions that have collaborated, supported the CWA organization in a significant way. 

Martha Thorne as Associate Curator for the Department of Architecture at the Art Institute during CWA’s 25th and Eleanor Esser Gorski as President and CEO of the Chicago Architecture Center during CWA’s 50th. Both women and the organizations that they represent were critical in the success of CWA’s anniversary celebrations.

Join us in celebrating these remarkable women and their achievements at the 2025 Spring Brunch. Tickets are available here. Consider becoming a Sponsor by visiting our Sponsorship Page

Event Details:

• Date: Sunday, April 27, 2025
• Time: 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
• Location: RPM Events, 317 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60654

About the Chicago Women in Architecture Foundation

CWA is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit membership organization founded in 1974 to establish community, mentorship, visibility, and advocacy for women working in the field of architecture and related professions. Through the ongoing efforts of the entirely volunteer-led organization, this mission is realized by offering educational, professional, and social networking events; organizing and sponsoring lectures in partnership with like-minded organizations; and awarding annual scholarships to undergraduate women architecture students in their final year of study.

In 2003, CWAF was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit private foundation. Today, CWAF continues its support of CWA initiatives by raising funds to expand scholarship offerings as well as fundraising for events and special projects that further the careers of women in and around the field of architecture.