Crain’s Chicago Business — “The Most Powerful Women in Chicago Business”

September 3, 2018

“Ask architect Jeanne Gang what power is, and she doesn’t hesitate to answer. It’s about ‘being a voice that is heard, a voice that people are waiting to hear.’

People around the world listen to Gang’s voice. A MacArthur fellow, Gang … has risen to become one of the world’s top architects. …

Gang’s international success hasn’t seemed to faze her …

She does, however, use her starchitect status to take on the big issues of the day, including gender discrimination and the lack of diversity in her field. In July, Gang wrote an opinion piece in Fast Company magazine about the gender pay gap in architecture. The studio, now in its 21st year, employs about 120 people. Men and women are represented almost equally. Even so, there was a small pay disparity between the sexes. Gang writes that the firm [was able] to discover and correct it. ‘It’s very objective,’ she says. ‘It’s easy. It’s math.’

In the essay, Gang urges other firms to make the same fix themselves—and to do so ‘immediately.’”

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