Leadership

Yolanda Cole, AIA, IIDA, LEED® AP Principal
Hickok Cole Architects


PROFESSIONAL CREDENTIALS
Yolanda Cole is a Principal and owner of Hickok Cole Architects, a large commercial architecture and interiors firm located in Washington, DC. She has over 25 years of base building and interior design experience in a variety of project types from large-scale, mixed-use developments to small commercial interiors, both around the world and in the region. She is widely recognized for her leadership in the region’s business community and for her work on many award-winning projects in the commercial/corporate, government, and institutional markets.

Prior to joining Hickok Cole Architects as a partner, Ms. Cole was a partner with Arlington-based LyrixDesign, which merged with Hickok’s firm to become Hickok Cole. LyrixDesign was one of the top 25 woman-owned and interior design firms in the region. She began her career with New York-based Kohn Pederson Fox Associates (KPF), where she was a senior designer of large-scale high-rise office buildings. While with KPF, Ms. Cole served as senior designer for the 1.2-million square-foot Chifley Tower in Sydney, Australia, where she lived for two years; and the award-winning Capital Cities/ABC headquarters in New York.

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
Ms. Cole has over ten years of graduate and undergraduate education in the fields of architecture and music. She has consistently held positions at the top of her class and has received scholarships from universities to attend special programs abroad in both fields of study. She has been a professor of architecture as well as an instructor in music.

Columbia University: Master of Architecture, Graduate School of Architecture and Planning
University of Cincinnati: Undergraduate co-op program, College of Design, Architecture and Art; Received Tebow Scholarship for Foreign Study Program in London, England
The Ohio State University: Bachelor of Music Education, Summa Cum Laude, top 1% class; Received Arts and Sciences Scholarship
Acadamie Internationale: Summer Master Class in Flute with Jean Pierre Rampal, Nice, France

COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP
Ms. Cole has been an active member of the Board of Trade for over 12 years and was co-chair of the Regional Development Task Force. In her position as the Principal of three firms over her career, she has also been a sponsor and contributor to a number of non-profit organizations, as well as an active member of professional organizations.

The Greater Washington Board of Trade: Co-chair, Regional Development Task Force; Member, Strategy Council; Member, Investor Relations Committee; Executive Committee, The Avant-Guard Club; Member, Executive Connections; Advisory Group, Potomac Conference; Member, Green Committee
Smart Growth Alliance: Jurist for SGA awards program
AIA|DC: Member; Treasurer of the Board; Registered Architect in DC, VA, MD, NJ, IL
NAIOP (National Association of Industrial and Office Properties): Member
IIDA (International Interior Design Association): Member
U.S. Green Building Council: LEED®2.0 Accredited Professional
DCBIA (District of Columbia Building Industry Association): Member
Urban Land Institute: Member; Participant, Reality Check; Mentor in Young Leaders Program; Committee Member, Technical Assistance Panel (TAP)
National Building Museum: Member
Catholic University: Guest lecturer and jurist
Brown Academy: Board Chair for private pre-K-8 school, previous Chair of Development Committee
Emerging Scholars Program: Founding Director for 501(c)3 non-profit educational program
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation: Jurist for graduate school architecture candidates
The National Children’s Museum: Copper Sponsor for “Extravalooza” fundraisers