Seth Anderson, AIA
2019 AIA Oregon President

Hello. My name is Seth Anderson and I am your 2019 AIA Oregon President. I have lived and worked in Bend, Oregon for 15 years. I moved from Idaho as a young professional looking to further my career and expand the project types I could work on and found that opportunity during the boom of the early 2000s. I maintained employment through the Great Recession and in 2012 decided I wanted to try my hand at being an owner of a firm. Around the same time, I was looking to expand my professional network and connect with other architects in the central Oregon community and beyond.

For that reason, I joined the AIA and immediately became an active member as a board member of AIA Southwestern Oregon Chapter and a delegate to the AIA Oregon Council. I served in those roles until 2014 when I was asked by Alene Davis, 2016 and 2017 AIA Oregon Council President, if I would be interested in serving as AIA Oregon Council President-Elect and help facilitate the transition to a single state chapter. Having been involved in most of the process, I was excited about the potential that a unified AIA in Oregon could provide, so I willingly accepted. And what a rewarding experience it has been!

From the beginning, the guiding principal behind the unification of our state was to provide all members in the state with equitable access to quality programming and other member services. The leaders from across the state that discussed, analyzed, planned, and eventually voted for a single state chapter knew that it would be a difficult reorganization, but in the long run this was the best way to ensure the future of AIA in Oregon and be able to improve on the great work already being done. 2019 has been a year of transition and major change – from the official merger and its related adjustments to Executive Vice President Robert Hoffman’s “retirement” and return to professional practice – but we’ve made great strides towards unification and the betterment of our organization.

I would like to share just a few of the successes we’ve had in 2019.

The 2019 Oregon Design Conference was held at Salishan in April. More than 140 people attended a three-day event that included dynamic speakers on the current and future state of our profession.
Curt Wilson was hired as interim Executive Vice President and had agreed to serve in this role into 2021. Curt has shown exceptional leadership and commitment to the organization and we are all better for it.
Two strategic planning sessions were held identifying our strategic initiatives for our single state chapter and the implementation of Strategic Initiative Groups to implement and achieve those goals.
Creation of the chapter-wide Programs committee to evaluate and make recommendations on the programming happening in our state.
The AIA Oregon Committee on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion held the Future Vision 2019 symposium in September to discuss topics about equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), their importance relative to the health of the industry, and develop tools necessary to promote equity in the profession.
AIA Eugene recognized six of our building-sector partners with Craftsmanship Awards, acknowledging the work that the building industry does for our projects and our clients.
At the AIA Portland Architecture Awards, a jury of architects from Montreal, Quebec selected 10 project awards; energy data collected from project submissions helped to determine two Architecture 2030 Awards; and the AIA Oregon Executive Committee selected 3 Professional Achievement Awards from those nominated.
Continuation of programming, continuing education, and social activities statewide.
Recruitment of new board members and committee chairs willing to serve our members.
Our success in the 2019 Oregon Legislative Session included collaboration with our public sector partners to modernize the Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS) for procurement of architects and engineers on public-sector projects, alignment of the definition of Substantial Completion between contracts and legal standards, improvements to the Green Energy Technology (aka 1.5% for Renewal Energy) program, and creation of a state-wide safety-assessment program.

As the year comes to an end so does my term as president, and it’s time to pass the torch. I couldn’t be happier that the board has elected Amy Vohs to take the helm. Amy has been highly engaged in the AIA Oregon Council as Treasurer since 2016 and as a member of various AIA Portland committees. Amy also assisted with the transition to a single state chapter, helping to vet the financial benefit of the merger. Her clear vision for the future of our Chapter, organizational skills, and concern for our members, allied partners, and sponsors give me great confidence in her ability to continue the progress that we have made as an organization. Here’s to an amazing 2020!