Conversations with Colleagues: Alei Zanoni

Q: In what ways do you feel your work is contributing to diversity, inclusion, and engagement in the design profession? 

A: Growing up in a small town is often not ideal for those who identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community. Bullying, discrimination, and violence were not strange to me, and this led me to actively become part of the change within my profession and society at large. I started my career on the other side of the world, and I witnessed how my “being gay” was perceived differently across cultures. In one place I was ridiculed, bullied, discriminated against, whilst in another country I was considered weird, ill, and incurable. Finally, as I moved to New York and joined Perkins&Will, I felt celebrated, appreciated, and free to be myself. The design profession, like any other profession, can be inclusive and it is certainly influenced by the zeitgeist of our time and place where we work. I came to acknowledge the fact that we, as a collective of people and as individuals, have the power to initiate and shape the cultural change to create a more inclusive world. My personal mission is to make this a better world for everyone, starting with the place people spend most of their awaken hours: at work. At Perkins&Will, I have the chance to be who I am and bring my philosophy to life: We cannot be happy alone, we are a community of people and our wellbeing depends also on the wellbeing of those who surround us.