2021 Directory

8 WYOMING ARCHITECTURE .21 | aia-wyoming.org A s we look forward to 2022, we reflect on the journey we’ve all taken over these past couple of years. What was initially “optimism in the face of uncertainty” in February 2020 has now manifested a plethora of positive initiatives paving the road for our years ahead. Our organization’s difficult decisions over the past 18 months have equipped and enabled us for a potential future more beautiful than the one we left pre-pandemic. However, now is the time to rise and capture the opportunities presented to us, to be more than we ever have, to lead and design the future organizational model of the AIA. 2022 and beyond will be monumental! As our national organization emerges from the grips of the pandemic, we’ve learned many lessons along the way as it relates to the potential and limitations of virtual work. In the virtual world, Zoom meetings are inexpensive, they’re emotionless and placeless most of the time, and we all have felt the fatigue associated with them. With all these negatives, the virtual world also presents us with positives. The possibility of a national organization that knows no boundaries – one more accessible and better represented in areas of geography than any we’ve had in the past. Now, as we begin to design the future of the AIA, hybridized working and service have come to the forefront. Let’s keep the positive attributes of the virtual world but also understand and accept its limitations. Let’s recognize that our BEST work is done together, in person, and be explicit regarding the value and importance of future in-person gatherings and meetings. Because our 2020 and 2021 boards have led our organization through these times with financial prudence, we’re emerging from this pandemic in a strong financial position and capable of accomplishing not only restructuring of meetings and travel but so much else as well. We’re blazing the trail and are in the beginning stages of designing our new headquarters, the renewal of 1735 New York Avenue. The current building, designed by TAC in 1973, has served our profession exceedingly well for almost 50 years now, showing its age in relevance, function, and performance. This is a moment for us to look at ourselves in a mirror as an organization whose proclamations of taking a stand against climate change were authored in a building with a hobbling, non-renewable fueled mechanical system and not a bit of insulation anywhere in its walls or roof! Earlier this year, the board interviewed and selected the architect and general contractor for this project. The selected architect, EHDD, and the builder, Turner Construction, have been working with the board and a smaller “Building Renewal Task Force” on initial concept development and cost for this project. Through this dialogue, we’re proposing that the new AIA headquarters be a tangible version of our values, a center for architectural advocacy and a membership common ground. It will be an exemplar of environmental stewardship, cultural equity, and inclusion that transcends its address in Washington, D.C., deep into every corner of our organization. EHDD is on target to have final schematic level work to the board by the end of January 2022. In 2022, we will be welcoming a new EVP/CEO and offering a deeply deserved thank you and farewell to Robert Ivy. His leadership of the AIA has marked some of the most prosperous times of our organization. While his steady hand, profound knowledge, and unmistakably witty smile will be missed, we’re looking ahead to a new leader who, with our 2022 board and senior leadership team, will be tasked with designing an organization for the future. To enable this forward-thinking work, two items of monumental nature occurred this year. First, the delegate members voted in June to establish the state-based model for the Strategic Council and other institute bodies. Secondly, through work with members responsible for two redacted resolutions, President Exley appointed the Members’ Voice Task Force to help better understand and improve the working and communication dynamics between the board of directors and national committees, including the Strategic Council as well as our local/state components. With the vote moving our organization from regions to states, we anticipate increased efficiencies with member dues, enhanced advocacy efforts, and a more consistent member experience across the components. It will create a more direct, streamlined connection BY NATHANIEL HUDSON, AIA 2021-23 AT-LARGE DIRECTOR, AIA NATIONAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS Moving Forward Wyoming is no exception to the long line of leaders who’ve contributed to the longevity and success of the WMR.