Kate Conley, AIA, NOMA, LEED AP, is a Principal at Architects FORA. She is a licensed architect in California, Colorado, and Washington State. Kate leads Building Excellence initiatives at FORA, employing her strong technical and design expertise gained from a career studded with award-winning built work and from her world-class mentors in architecture and construction.
Kate started her career on affordable housing projects in Southern California after graduating Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Architecture and minor in Sustainable Environments from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Her passion for sustainable design led her to become a LEED AP and drew her to the Bay Area, where she has gained well-rounded technical expertise in a broad spectrum of project types. Focusing first on higher education residential projects, she then pursued flagship retail design opportunities in Chicago and Seattle and commercial office developments in the South Bay.
Passionate about equitable communities and practice, Kate recently spoke about housing equity at all scales at SF Design Week and AIA Silicon Valley's Architectural Intelligence conference. She is cofounder of Firm Acquisition Consultants, 2022 AIASVC's Women in Architecture Chair, AIACA's Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Task Force member, and 2022 AIA Women's Leadership Summit core planning committee member.
Architects FORA, Mountain View, CA, US, Principal & Owner
Kate Conley, AIA, NOMA, LEED AP, is a Principal at Architects FORA. She is a licensed architect in California, Colorado, and Washington State. Kate leads Building Excellence initiatives at FORA, employing her strong technical and design expertise gained from a career studded with award-winning built work and from her world-class mentors in architecture and construction.
LPA Inc., San Jose, CA, US, Project Architect
Project architect for large-scale core & shell commercial office properties in Silicon Valley.
Foster + Partners, Cupertino, CA, US, Associate
Project architect on a high profile retail projects for a tech giant in the nation's largest metropolitan areas. Conducting client meetings and managing a global team of engineers and consultants including cross-country site visits.
CAW Architects, Inc., Palo Alto, CA, US, Job Captain
Taking projects through all phases of design and construction including project interviewing, client relations, consultant team management, entitlements, construction documents development with a designer/drafter team, and construction administration responsibilities.
Lauterbach & Associates, Oxnard, CA, US, Intern Architect
Coordinated consultants and advocated for clients in a project management role. Drafted in Architectural Desktop and schematic modeling in Sketchup. Wrote contracts and other administrative documents. Researched codes and materials.
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo, CA, US, BArch, Architecture
California State University International Programs, Florence, Italy , BArch, Architecture
AIA Henry Adams Certificate, Award
Each year, The American Institute of Architects awards an engraved medal and certificate of merit to the top-ranking graduating student in each architecture program accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (or CACB for Canadian schools). A certificate of merit is awarded to the second-ranking graduating student. These awards are provided as part of the AIA Scholarship Program.
