The Association for Women in Architecture + Design (AWA+D) was founded in 1922 into Alpha Alpha Gamma, a national sorority for women architecture students, which arose from a student organization La Confrerie Alongine at Washington University in St. Louis founded by Mae Steinmesch, Helen Milius, Angela Burdeau and Jane Pelton in 1915. In 1934, the alumnae of the sorority formed the Association of Women in Architecture (AWA) as an organization for professional women architects. Its first president was H. Mae Steinmesch of St. Louis, Missouri. Subsequent presidents included Jean Driskel, Virginia Tanzmann, and Vicki Carter. In 1948, the oranization became the Association of Women in Architecture and Allied Arts (AWA).

Although chapters were formed in other cities, the Los Angeles, California, chapter was the most active. In 1964, the national organization dissolved and the other chapters gradually disappeared. The Los Angeles chapter, with a membership of approximately 200 women architects and designers in the Los Angeles area with members-at-large across the country is the only surviving original chapter. In 1975, the AWA altered its name to the Association FOR Women in Architecture. Its current name was adopted in 2012 as Association for Women in Architecture + Design (AWA+D).

The AWA+D holds annual meetings, gives out scholarships to women architecture students, and acts as a clearinghouse for information about women's status in the field of architecture.

Source: "AWA+D History: Herstory of the Organization", Association for Women in Architecture + Design, https://www.awaplusd.org/our-history