July 16th, 2026

A Grant Writing Workshop: How to Apply & Why It Matters

There are a wide range of architecture related grants available - travel grants, research grants, fellowships and residencies - offered by a variety of organizations. Professional career grants can be a powerful way to take initiative and pursue independent, architecture adjacent initiatives. Grants offer more than just funding - they can help launch personal and professional passions, support emerging architects and designers, and create meaningful connections. They open doors to explore ideas, conduct personal research and engage with different communities and peers. They are more accessible than they might seem, and with the right approaches, they can be transformative and enriching. In this seminar, Fiyel will highlight the how-tos of grant writing, in hopes of guiding emerging professionals on how to gain the resources they need in pursuing their work from start to finish!

Fiyel Levent

NCIDQ, IIDA

Fiyel Levent is the Director of Interior Design at New York-based MBB Architects, where her work on cultural and educational projects includes the award-winning H.F. Guggenheim Foundation offices, Congregation Rodeph Sholom, and Trinity School Library. As a native New Yorker, she is drawn to projects that make an impact on communities and institutions, and engage with the historic fabric of the city. As part of her research supported by the 2020 Arnold W. Brunner Grant from the Center for Architecture and AIA New York, she studied the Oodi Library in Helsinki as a model of civic design and programming. She has also been the recipient of the AIA Stewardson Keefe LeBrun Travel Grant and The Architecture League of New York's Deborah J. Norden Travel Grant, and has given various lectures and a Tedx talk about her travels. Trained academically and professionally as an architect, interior designer and writer, she holds degrees from The Cooper Union School of Architecture and The University of Edinburgh, Scotland. She is the author of the children’s book, Our Built World: An Architectural Journey Along the Silk Road, forthcoming in 2027 from Candlewick/MITeen Press.