Pier Pressure - Women Improving the Built Environment - NIVAS Founder Lindsey Kruger!
We are back with our Pier Pressure blog series, and SO excited to introduce you to another phenomenal female designer in Denver. This absolute badass is making waves globally, from right here in our backyard.
Lindsey Kruger, NIVAS Founder and Executive Director, started the organization after working in Solukhumbu and Dhading districts of Nepal with Architecture for Humanity, where she saw first-hand what folks in under-served communities need most. NIVAS is a nonprofit focused on helping marginalized and unhoused women-led families build secure homes in rural Asia. Lindsey has a BFA from our local RMCAD, and received her Masters in Development Practice from Regis University. Utilizing her 17 year career in architecture + design, she seeks to aid marginalized families in their quest toward safety and empowerment.
Lindsey contacted us earlier this year with the incredible opportunity to become sponsors for NIVAS’ Women’s Day Campaign, aimed to help a group of single mothers on their mission to end homelessness for their families. Every dollar donated to this campaign will be matched by NIVAS’ women-led company sponsors and every bit will go directly to providing the materials and resources these families need to reach their goals. Their land procurement will begin this spring and their home builds will start this fall in both Nuwakot and Saptari, Nepal. Read on to learn more about Lindsey, and see the link below for more information about the campaign.
Describe your job without using any industry terminology.
My job has always been to translate a client’s vision of their dream home (or space) into a built reality by pulling together the necessary parts to make it happen, whether that client is in the US or in rural Asia. These days I do a lot less specifying materials, and a lot more finding funding collaborators and resources for securing land, weighing options for materials for remote sites, and supporting clients’ ability to engage in their own construction process. Either way, all clients need an experienced partner to help them navigate their building project and that’s what I love to do.
What is your very favorite part of your job? And the least favorite?
Favorite: Working in peer-to-peer collaboration with people who didn’t think they would ever get an equitable seat at the table… at any table. Watching hidden voices take center stage and dive into design or planning or host a workshop at their new home is usually mind-blowing for me. Granted I often feel like a dunce due to my limited language skills in these settings, but I manage and it fills my cup and keeps me excited about everything we do.
Least Favorite: Being eaten alive by evil little parasites because of my paper-thin desk-job skin.
If you could pick up your business and move it anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
Everywhere! This question hits on our biggest dream - taking our service model on the road. The housing crisis is so prevalent in nearly every country, but especially in low and lower-middle income countries. So we’re at no loss for clients. Our vision is to expand our service area, bringing good homes to people all over the world. Next step is just to fund it.
How do you move forward when everyone is telling you your idea won’t work?
Asking for advice on the concept of NIVAS in the beginning or ideas along the way, I’ve gotten a lot of crickets in response to my queries. Really smart and successful people have just been like: “How the hell are you going to do that?”. But sometimes you just know your idea is possible, even when others don’t. You might be able to see from a perspective they don’t have. If your idea is something you can test drive without too much loss, I say just give it a try! We honestly didn’t know if we could build 1 house halfway around the world, but we tried anyway and ended up building 85 in less than 6 years. Of course, we had some die-hard blind-faith fans who did believe in us. So I guess my advice is, if you really believe your vision is possible, focus on the believers and jump in head first (with cautious optimism).
What is one career decision you wish you didn’t make?
Living life with regrets seems silly, because everything got you where you are today. That being said, man I wish I had never taken on clients who had already fired (or been fired by) their designer. RED FLAG. So much time wasted and such a ding my optimism about human beings. Outside of that, every career move taught me really critical things about working in collaboration and delivering a complete product, all of which I use today.
