Moya Talks started as an initiative to give Moya Design Partners’ staff learning opportunities and a window to diversity. Fittingly, we launched it back in February, to commemorate Black History Month and highlight key Black figures in Architecture, Economic Development, and the Civil Society. We soon realized the potential of the initiative as a vehicle to expand our values and explore pressing issues. Since then, every Friday at noon we bring experts and pick their brains about a variety of topics. In March we celebrated Women’s History Month, in April we explored the relationship between Design and Sustainability, in May we delved into Economic Opportunities and Development, and in June we focused on DE+I. We have been blessed with the opportunity to learn from a myriad of guests and engage in meaningful conversations that have not only opened our minds, but also brought the team closer together. The MOYATalks interviews are now available on YouTube and as a Podcast. We encourage you to check them out.
Buwa’s upbringing in a family of serial entrepreneurs played a significant role in his interest and love for creating companies. After finishing college at NYU, Buwa and some friends jumped right into the Dot Com bubble and soon learned valuable lessons on what it takes to succeed in business. “You need to crawl before you run,” Buwa says “it is a process I wholeheartedly believe in, and that is essentially what has carried us (Dantes Partners) through today”.
Buwa identifies his work at 11th Street in Columbia Heights as his breakthrough moment. “I met with the tenant association. They were in a rut; they had accumulated so much debt from the original owners”, says Buwa. He was able to come in and save the 40-unit building. He moved the existing residents into one building, selling them the units at cost while selling the vacant units as condominiums. Elated by the unexpected economic turnaround, one of the tenant board members baked a cake for Buwa. That gesture of authenticity and appreciation confirmed his decision to use real estate development for positive change.
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“Being a developer means you must harmonize a group of differing characters. Adversity forces you to remain cool because of all the different sets of challenges”
–Buwa Binitie
Buwa compares his job as a developer with the role of a conductor in an orchestra where he needs to conciliate different interests and talents. “Being a developer means you must harmonize a group of differing characters. Adversity forces you to remain cool because of all the different sets of challenges. To harmonize with the group, people must buy into your vision”.
Watch the full interview above.
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Maria Thompson is the Executive Vice President of Development and Construction at Hoffman and Associates, one of the largest developers in the United States. One of Hoffman and Associates signature developments in DC is the Wharf, a mixed-use project that encompasses residences, retailers, and restaurants located along the Potomac River. Maria headed the oversight of the construction of the Wharf.
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“ The key success factor is staying organized, making commitments and meeting them, everyone has a role to play. You are the captain of the ship and people are looking at you for direction. ”
–Maria Thompson
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Maria’s firm, Hoffman and Associates, are advocates for recruiting women into leadership positions while also providing resources and support to these individuals to help them thrive in these roles. Maria was impressed when she first joined the company: “Just the diversity in the leadership in such a small company. We are doing big things, but as an organization, we are a fairly small company.”
Maria believes that the key to advance diversity starts in recruitment more than in missions or regulations. She is a mentor in the Maya Angelou Public Charter School, where she helps young girls aged 9-12 providing a safe space.
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Catarina Rivera is an advocate, activist, and educator; she is the founder of Blindish Latina and constantly smashes stigmas about disabilities through storytelling, advocacy, and training. Catarina has Type 2 Usher Syndrome and was born with moderate to severe hearing.
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“ Getting over the denial of me realizing I was blind was the key to finding out the resources that are available and how to self-advocate what needs you need to get your work done or improve your opportunities.”
–Catarina Rivera
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Through her platform, Blindish Latina, Catarina has been able to build off of her intersectional experiences as a disabled Latina woman. She never claims that her experiences are all-encompassing but rather individual stories. Understanding their particularities help smashing down stigmas. There are a lot of disabilities that have no physical markers of it. “Many disabilities are invisible. Do not ask those with disabilities to prove the disability”, Catarina says.
Watch her full interview in our YouTube Channel and follow Catalina at @blindishlatina
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Jonathan Moody is the President and CEO of Moody Nolan, the largest African American Architecture Firm in the USA. Founded by Jonathan Moody’s father in the early 1980’s Moody Nolan was awarded the AIA 2021 Architectural Firm Award. As the firm’s first president, Jonathan helped grow the firm and veered the focus toward education and community service.
As the most prominent African American Architecture Firm’s leader, Jonathan acknowledges, there is a responsibility to keep pushing for social change because it is a never-ending process. The challenges faced by his generation are different from that of his father’s “Just having a foot in the door is not enough because you have to create more equal opportunities for everyone.”
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“ I think this is a critical year; if we don’t do it this year or at least establish enough momentum this year where all of these things are aligned in terms of how the world has changed and how people perceive what we do regarding the environment, it will be too late. ”
-Jonathan Moody
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Jonathan advocates for an open and urgent conversation in the profession that starts from being honest and listen to what communities are enduring as the climate changes and new conditions appear.
