Each year the AIA brings leadership together for the AIA Grassroots conference sessions to develop our leadership to the fullest potential. Grassroots curriculum and participants change and evolve annually, while the goal of supporting component and community leadership remains. Participation is vital to the AIA, AIA Grassroots, and a priority for AIA Wyoming. Please contact the AIA Wyoming Board and leadership to learn how to attend and become more active in our AIA Chapter and attend AIA Grassroots in the coming years.
Soon-to-be incoming President, Emily A Grandstaff-Rice, FAIA, discussed intersectionality and working with K-12 Children to define their spaces. This session introduced AIA EVP/CEO Lakisha Ann Woods, CAE, current President & CEO of the National Institute of Building Sciences, 2021-2022 Chair-Elect of the Americans Society of Association Executive (ASAE) and Chair of the ASAE Foundation. Lakisha, the author of “Never Get Their Coffee,” discussed women in the C Suite in conversation with Emily Keynote. Ibram X Kendi, a MacArthur Fellow, presented “Creating a Just & Equitable Society,” a discussion of policies and accountability. Ibram and Emily discussed anti-racist thinking, ableism and recognizing access in the built environment. This led to a session introduced by Mary-Margaret Zindred, AIA, for Angie Mckinley’s presentation. This bridged into Nicole Bauknight, Assoc. AIA NOMA session, as the panel moderator for panelist Carole Wedge FAIA, Mark Swackhammer, Assoc AIA, Karen LU AIA NOMA, and Aaron Regla Associate AIA NOMA. Recorded sessions are available as AIAU courses.
Bob Harris, CAE, presented “Developing a Partnership Between Boards of Directors and Component Staff,” explaining the board’s fiduciary governance duties, in contrast to management, with an annual refresh and blend-in of new board members. This session and related content are always beneficial to our AIA Wyoming Board, as are the sessions provided by our Executive Director, Susan Menghini. The AIA Wyoming Chapter Board is a fundamental component of a functioning chapter organized and prepared to support our AIA Wyoming Chapter membership.
Grassroots 2022 presentations were well represented by AIA National leadership. The 2022 Grassroots content was directed to societal issues and remedies, placed within the contexts of how architects may improve society and their communities by better understanding how behavior and actions may assist or oppress those in our businesses and neighborhoods. Associate AIA members were well represented in presentations. The online grassroots event could benefit from greater attendance by practicing architects. This may be due to the presentations being noticeably absent of content tying actions directly to practicing architects. As we look to future Grass Roots events, it will be important to look for larger attendance and content that will generate interest from both practicing architects in AIA leadership positions and the desire of architectural firms to support attendance during office hours. As a member organization, nothing surpasses the participation of AIA membership as the ultimate success metric, and AIA Grassroots is no different in this respect.
