Rosa T. Sheng, FAIA, LEED AP BD+C is a Vice-President at SmithGroup serving multiple roles as Higher Education Studio Leader in Northern California and national Director of Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion. She is also the founder of Equity by Design [EQxD] and the first Asian American Women to serve as AIA San Francisco President (2018) in the organization’s 136 year history.Recognized as a designer, architect, strategist and thought leader, she is known for delivering design solutions with transformational impact in the built environment. When asked "What type of Architecture do you do?" Her answer, “The kind that’s never been done before."

This mindset has resulted in a variety of award-winning and internationally acclaimed projects including the aesthetically minimal, highly technical glass structures for Apple’s original high-profile retail stores -revolutionary work place of the future in the Pixar Animation Studios Steven P. Jobs Building –and current work to advance equitable and sustainable design solutions for institutions of higher learning in California. These include the UC Davis Teaching and Learning Complex, Lorry I. Lokey Graduate School of Business at Mills College / Northeastern, as well as STEM projects for the California State University system and Community Colleges to advance underrepresented student in academic persistence and future ready resilience.