By Mike Potter, AIA and Susan Menghini, Executive Director
Architects in Action 2020 is AIA’s premier annual policy and advocacy event. It was held virtually on July 9, 2020. This year’s event centered around dynamic panelists and keynote speakers who are reshaping cities and building equitable, resilient communities. All AIA members and component staff were welcomed and encouraged to attend.
Attendees heard from industry-leading experts, guest speakers and elected officials. They learned about emerging state and local legislative trends as well as innovative advocacy techniques and strategies developed by their peers. Participants gathered tools to advocate for the profession. Another focus included AIA’s commitment to environmental stewardship.
Robert Ivy
Robert Ivy, FAIA, The American Institute of Architects executive vice president and chief executive officer, began the conference with a big welcome and opening remarks. Following was an advocacy and state and local update by Anne Law, Esq., AIA director and counsel, state and local policy; Michael Winn, AIA senior manager, state and local policy; and Sarah Dodge, AIA senior vice president of advocacy and relationships.
Walter Meyer
David Martin
The keynote presentation, Creating Resilient Cities, included David Martin, Terra Group president and co-founder; Walter Meyer, local office landscape and urban design and principal urban designer; and Francis Suarez, Miami mayor. Mayor Suarez discussed his work to support sustainable and resilient projects throughout Miami, highlighting work with local design and construction industry partners including developers and urban designers.
Peter Exley
Maurice Cox
Francis Suarez
Peter Exley, FAIA, 2021 AIA president, moderated a keynote panel discussion with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and Chicago Planning and Development Commissioner Maurice Cox on how architects can work effectively with diverse city leaders and bring design thinking to the forefront.
Before the virtual happy hour, Corey Claiborne, FAIA, provided closing remarks. The conference closed with a virtual happy hour that was held to catch up with fellow SLGN (State and Local Government Network) representatives and discussed topics impacting the architectural profession. Participants provided brief reports highlighting recent advocacy successes.
Throughout the rest of the year, SLGN continues to track pending state legislation and communicate via email and conference calls on issues that impact our industry. AIA provides information when they see potential issues that could be of interest. The Historic Tax Credit issue has drawn a lot of attention across the country and there is a lot of support for it.
AIA Wyoming is grateful to Mike Potter, AIA, for serving as the AIA Wyoming SLGN representative over the past several years. We thank him for his service to the chapter, and we welcome Charlie Van Over, AIA, to fill this position going forward.
Mike Potter, AIA and Susan Menghini, Executive Director
This story appears in the 2020 Directory of the Wyoming Architecture Magazine.
