Yiselle Santos Rivera, AIA
Principal, Global Director of Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
HKS, Inc.
Yiselle Santos Rivera, AIA, NOMA, LSSYB, WELL AP, LEED AP BD+C, originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico, is a Principal and the Global Director of Justice, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion at HKS. Yiselle is an activist architect that works to dismantle barriers and bring visibility to underrepresented designers by creating inclusive workplaces. As medical planner, Yiselle amplifies the voices of marginalized communities encouraging processes of co-creation to provide equitable access to care for all. She is considered an advisor to clients and firm leaders in their journeys to build more diverse, equitable, and inclusive organizations.
As an AIA Nation committee member, Mrs. Santos Rivera led the creation of the Ethnical Diverse Additional Considerations section of AIA’s Alternative Care Site Preparedness Assessment Tool V2.0 and contributed to the development of AIA’s Equitable Development Frameworks. Yiselle is a storyteller, a “Latinas in Architecture: Stories of raising the 1% one Latina at a time” author, 2015 Christopher Kelley Leadership Development Program Scholar, LA.IDEADC committee co-founder, award-winning WIELD event founder, and 2021-22 NOMA Research & Development Chair. Currently, Yiselle is the AIADC Chapter Immediate Past President, 2023-24 NAAB Board member, and recipient of the 2018 AIA Associate Award, 2019 AIA Diversity Program Recognition Award, and the 2022 AIA Young Architect Award.
As an AIA Nation committee member, Mrs. Santos Rivera led the creation of the Ethnical Diverse Additional Considerations section of AIA’s Alternative Care Site Preparedness Assessment Tool V2.0 and contributed to the development of AIA’s Equitable Development Frameworks. Yiselle is a storyteller, a “Latinas in Architecture: Stories of raising the 1% one Latina at a time” author, 2015 Christopher Kelley Leadership Development Program Scholar, LA.IDEADC committee co-founder, award-winning WIELD event founder, and 2021-22 NOMA Research & Development Chair. Currently, Yiselle is the AIADC Chapter Immediate Past President, 2023-24 NAAB Board member, and recipient of the 2018 AIA Associate Award, 2019 AIA Diversity Program Recognition Award, and the 2022 AIA Young Architect Award.