In February, AIA Wyoming was represented by Jessica Howard (executive director), Ellen Martin (associate director), and myself at the annual Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. During the summit, AIA National President Evelyn Lee, FAIA, pointed out that membership in AIA National has passed 100,000 people, a big milestone for our professional organization. She identified several areas where our profession is evolving in response to emerging technologies and expanding spheres of influence.

Evelyn also led an engaging panel discussion with Leah Alissa Bayer and Illya Azaroff. Leah has a virtual firm that is staffed remotely and does multi-family housing, custom residential, master planning and workplace design. Illya is the president-elect of AIA National and runs a practice focused on disaster response, climate adaptation and resilient design. Illya’s office operates on a 32-hour work week.

Keynote speaker Baratunde Thurston, host of the podcasts “How to Citizen with Baratunde” and “Life with Machines” and host of the TV show “America Outdoors,” spoke on the importance of active citizenship for professionals. He shared his philosophy of using the word “citizen” as a verb, encouraging us to get involved in our communities and utilize our skills as architects for the greater good.

Another item discussed at the summit was AIA National’s focus on the Framework for Design Excellence in its awards programs. They are encouraging local AIA chapters to incorporate these principles into their local awards.

At the conclusion of the Leadership Summit, we went to Capitol Hill to lobby Wyoming’s congressional leadership. Jessica, Ellen, and I were privileged to meet with Senator Barrasso, Senator Lummis, and Representative Hageman, as well as their staff members, at “Wyoming Wednesday,” where we discussed the following topics given to us by AIA National:

• Design Freedom for Federal Architecture
  • Requested support for the Democracy in Design Act and opposition to any efforts to remove local control, hinder design freedom, or add bureaucratic hurdles for approval of federal building designs.
    
    
• Arbitrary Fee Limitations for Federal Contracts
  • Requested that Congress should direct the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council to amend the FAR to align with clear statutory language, pass legislation to eliminate arbitrary fee limitations and mandate Qualified Based Selection (QBS) fair fee negotiations for all architectural and engineering (A/E) design contracts across the federal government.
    
    
• Architects Support More Housing
  • Requested that Congress fund or expand programs that enable more affordable and workforce housing to be built.
  • Requested support for the HOME Investment Partnerships Program.
  • Requested support for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program.
  • Requested support for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and Workforce Housing Tax Credit.
    
    
• Architects Support Community Resiliency
  • Requested that Congress act decisively to prioritize resilience in the nation’s built environment.
  • Requested support for the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance Program.
  • Requested that Congress introduce legislation similar to the Resilient AMERICA Act to better protect our communities from the devastating impacts of natural disasters.
  • Requested that Congress introduce legislation similar to The Shelter Act that offers a 25% tax credit for qualified disaster mitigation expenditures, capped at $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for businesses. Also requested that Congress incentivize investments in resilience by individuals and businesses, encouraging proactive measures to protect properties and communities.
    
    
• Tax Incentives for Architects
  • Requested that Congress protect or extend the tax relief provisions affecting the architecture profession in upcoming tax-focused legislation.
  • Requested support for the R&D Tax Credit.
  • Requested support for R&D Expensing.
  • Requested support for the 199A Pass-Through Deduction.
  • Requested support for LIHTC and Workforce Housing Tax Credit. 
  • Requested support for the 179D Energy-Efficient Commercial Buildings Deduction.
  • Requested support for the Historic Tax Credit (HTC).

At the AIA 2025 National Conference, Roger Stewart (AIA WY president-elect), Matthew Miller (strategic council), and I represented Wyoming at the Annual Business Meeting and Candidate Caucus Meeting. The Annual Business Meeting passed three bylaw amendments and one resolution:

• College of Fellows applicants who apply but become deceased during the jury process continue to qualify.
• The quorum requirements at Institute meetings were amended such that a quorum is represented by a majority of accredited member delegates present and a majority of the Institute’s state and local chapters with member delegates.
• Vacant director-at-large positions can be filled if a board member vacates their position before their term is up; the position may be filled by the entity or individual holding original authority over filling that position, or the board will be authorized to temporarily fill the vacancy until the delegates at the annual conference can fill the position permanently.
• A resolution was established to create an official policy on AI use in the profession. 

The treasurer reported that 2025 was the first year that AIA balanced its operating budget without drawing from the 1735 Investment Fund following the sale of Contract Documents in 2020.

Voting for national officers resulted in the following:

• Yiselle Santos Rivera, AIA, was elected as 2026 president-elect/2027 president.
• Jason Takeuchi, AIA, was elected as 2026-2028 at-large director.
• Lisa L. Kennedy, FAIA, was elected as 2026-2027 treasurer.

On the home front, the AIA Wyoming Board of Directors and our executive director have been actively involved in developing high-quality conferences for our membership. We have had many excellent, renowned architects speak to us this year, along with great activities and building tours designed to elevate and stimulate our architectural development.

This was achieved through the tireless efforts of our conference planning committees and our partnerships with generous sponsors, who contributed to our mission to improve the practice of architecture throughout the state. We encourage our members and any guests who share our commitment to design excellence, sustainability and improved practice management to attend our next conference in Casper, Wyoming, in the spring, along with our AIA Wyoming Design & Honor Awards. 

In addition to our inspiring conferences, we have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the AIA Western Mountain Region College of Fellows to participate in restoring the Jason Pettigrew Scholarship that promotes leadership in our profession. The scholarship will also send recipients to the AIA Leadership Summit, where they will learn leadership skills and agree to serve as the scholarship director for the following year. AIA Colorado will manage the scholarship, and we encourage any of our interested members to apply.

We have been coordinating with Mike Wilson, executive director at AIA East Bay, who has created an affordable Architectural Registration Exam (ARE) study guide called “PrepARE: A Better Way to Help with the ARE.” Here are a few highlights:

• There are options to buy a license and share it with membership, to become an affiliate and sell discounted licenses, and to create a program based on their study materials.
• The program includes office hours for live tutoring.
• The cost for a license is $750 per year.
• Individuals can pay $288 per year to become Associate AIA Wyoming members and access the study guide for no additional charge, rather than pay as much as $3,300 per year for Black Spectacles.

We currently have two licenses available for all Associate AIA Members to access free of charge. We are hoping that these two licenses will be effective in helping our Associate AIA Members prepare for and pass the ARE. If demand requires more licenses, AIA Wyoming will consider purchasing additional licenses.

And finally, we have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ByDesign to feature Wyoming architects in their TV program that airs on CBS. “America ByDesign” started airing in the U.S. in 2020 and is now in its fourth season. The show has been popular enough to be aired during primetime in some major markets, and CBS is requesting 50 episodes for next year. You can watch new episodes for free on aia.org five days before they air on CBS.

We recently received entries from several architects throughout the state, and “America ByDesign” has made its initial selections. Additional entries will be considered, and each project story will be 5-6 minutes long. AIA Wyoming will set the pace, but ByDesign is pushing to start production as soon as possible.

AIA Wyoming is anxious to have members join our standing committees. We want to invite everyone to consider joining one of the following:

• Education and Resources Committee
• Government Advocacy Committee
• Membership Development Committee
• Public Awareness Committee

Please contact Jessica Howard at AIA Wyoming if you are interested.

Keep the passion for our profession alive and continue to strive for excellence in all your work. We all benefit from a beautiful, sustainable and safe environment.