May 17, 2023 _ news

License to Build: Meredith Benz Earns RA

We’re delighted to announce that Meredith Benz has passed all her architecture licensing requirements and is now an officially licensed architect.

Becoming licensed takes dedication, focus, and stamina. It is a rigorous, often multi-year endeavor requiring at least 3,740 hours of experience in six different practice areas (e.g. Project Management, Programming & Analysis, Construction & Evaluation, etc.) and passing a set of six corresponding exams. Committing to a study and test-taking schedule at the beginning of the process helped Meredith achieve her goal of completing her exams within a year. “There were a few months where I was focused on taking a different exam each month,” she says. “Additionally, there are great third-party test-taking resources that GBBN offers that I used consistently.”

Given the arduous process for becoming a licensed architect, what made Meredith want to pursue licensure? “There is a striking lack of licensed, black, female architects in the profession, and I don’t believe the statistics reflect our potential to be influential in this industry,” explains Meredith. “I felt a sense of obligation to do my part to assist in shifting those numbers.”

Congratulations Meredith!

Learn more about her here.