Co-hosted by Tulane University’s MSRED program and AIA New Orleans’ Committee on the Environment, Connect to Thrive features writer and consultant Kira Gould who will talk about her book and podcast, how the architecture and construction sector is evolving, the value of engaging groups and networks, and specifically the alignment between design and real estate development. 

Kira will talk with New Orleans young professionals Hayley Tilton of Deloitte and Caroline Garfield of Multistudio about communication, advocacy, leadership, and more.

This event is free for AIA members and university students/alumni. Non-members/non-students’ fee is $20. Breakfast is provided.

Kira Gould, Hon. AIA, LEED AP, is a writer, strategist, and convener dedicated to advancing design leadership and climate action. Through Kira Gould CONNECT, she provides strategic communications for people and firms working toward a healthy, regenerative future. She is a Senior Fellow with Architecture 2030 and a volunteer leader with the American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment, whose national leadership group she chaired (2007). Since 2020, Kira has co-hosted the Design the Future podcast with Lindsay Baker, who leads the International Living Future Institute. Kira co-authored Women in Green: Voices of Sustainable Design (2007) with the late architect and author Lance Hosey. 

Hayley Tilton joined the Deloitte Audit & Assurance Sustainability & ESG Services team in June 2022 and​ received her BSM in Finance & Master’s of Accounting from Tulane University in 2014. In 2020, she returned to Tulane part-time to earn a Master’s in Sustainable Real Estate Development, jump-starting her career in sustainability. She is a GRI Certified Sustainability Professional, LEED Green Associate, and holds the IFRS Foundation’s Fundamentals of Sustainability Accounting credential. Since returning to Deloitte, she has focused on ESG assurance readiness across industries and on implementation and internal assurance of climate-related processes and controls for large financial institutions.​ She is a Member of the Board of Directors of Sustaining Our Urban Landscape (SOUL), a nonprofit that plants trees and advocates for protecting and increasing the urban tree canopy in New Orleans, one of the most deforested cities in the United States.

Caroline Garfield is an architectural designer at Multistudio who works to engrain climate-positive design throughout all her projects and at a firm-wide level through training, project team workshops, and resource creation. She hold a Masters in Architecture and Masters of Sustainable Real Estate Development from Tulane University. She believes that sustainability, wellness, and beauty are integral to one another.