Emily Pilloton-Lam

Founder and Executive Director
Girls Garage

Emily Pilloton-Lam is the Founder and Executive Director of the nonprofit Girls Garage. A designer, builder, educator, and author, she has taught thousands of young girls and gender-expansive youth how to use power tools, weld, and build projects for their communities. She has presented her work and ideas on the TED stage twice, with 3.8 million views and counting. She has also presented on The Colbert Report, CNN, The Today Show, and in the documentary film If You Build It.

She is the author of three books about the power of community-based architecture and has shared her story and the stories of her students on stages and venues worldwide for the past two decades. Emily has taught as Adjunct Faculty in the Architecture and Sustainable Design departments at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, and UC Davis, and lives with her family, human and canine, in Berkeley, California.