On March 24, 2021, OLP’s own Architects of Change club facilitated their first virtual Live Conversation of the 2020-21 school year, with local San Diego fashion designer and community advocate, Ms. Gwendolyn Bates! AOC members, Annya Apodaca ’22 and Isabella Hernandez ’23 sat down with Ms. Bates to have a fruitful conversation hosted on Zoom. Ms. Gwen Bates is an entrepreneur and is the new director of Fashion Week San Diego. She is also the owner of GFASH and committed to empowering marginalized communities to follow their dreams. She is taking action by collaborating with diversity fund programs to create equity within the realm of fashion during COVID-19. The conversation touched on her experience working in fashion as a woman, which was appropriate as the conversation took place in Women’s History Month. Her successes have not gone unnoticed– as she was recently nominated for San Diego Emmy’s Top 10 best-emerging designers, and will continue to break barriers to create a better world. It was an honor to have such an empowering and inspirational local role model sit down with the OLP community, as she challenges what is, imagines what can be, and moves humanity forward.
