Amy Vohs
AIA Oregon President
AIA Oregon Executive Vice President Search
Every President hopes they can get through their year without any major mishaps, accomplish something to build on past success and set the stage for future growth. Well this year has been an amazing lesson in change and resiliency. The day many of us anticipated would arrive at some point has come. As you may be aware, Curt Wilson EVP of AIA Oregon took the position to assist the organization to transition to a permanent EVP after Robert Hoffman left the position in July of 2019. While no one looks forward to a job search, my hopes for next year are for a successful process and smooth transition and here is how we plan to make that happen.
We have created an Executive Vice President Search Task Force with representation from the different sections across the state, members who took part in previous transitions and a varied voice with emerging professionals and Firm leaders to get a good representation of AIA Oregon member voices. We have laid out a schedule for the search, created a job description that identifies the role of a state-wide Executive Director/EVP and we are developing selection criteria based on AIA Guides for Equitable Practice Guide 4 on Recruitment and Retention processes. We will be posting the position at the beginning of December with a selection to be made between February and March of 2021. Lastly, a transition plan will be developed to work through with the selected applicant to insure a smooth transition.
The process to identify our next staff leader should go smoothly. Curt has done a couple of critical things to help make sure that is the case. Firstly, he has been documenting specific procedures that have been used to manage the organization with key documents in a manual to assist the next Executive Director/ Executive Vice President to transition into their role. Secondly, he has given us a schedule for some transition to help coach the new Executive Director on the logistics of AIA Oregon to put them on a path to successful leadership.
Despite all the challenges of 2020, the organization is in good shape - all thanks to Curt’s management. The staff team is strong and highly accomplished. Our budget, while challenged, is supported by healthy reserves and an optimistic future. We have furthered our transition to a single state chapter with leadership from all sections working together. The good stewardship of previous leaders is evident in everything we do and we owe our predecessors a debt of gratitude for leaving us a firm foundation.
The industry, the practice, the political climate and our communities have all changed significantly over the last year and a half since the last time we were in the job market. Our position description will reflect those changes. You can’t replace transformational leaders but you can look for a person who has those qualities and that potential and see where it takes us based on their own unique skills and abilities. When we do it right, this is a once in a generation opportunity.
As the process unfolds, we will keep the membership informed and we hope you will share your thoughts with us as well. Feel free to send comments or questions to info@aiaoregon.org.
Finally, I want to assure all members that while the selection of a new Executive Vice President and a smooth transition will be one of the most important tasks for the Board this coming year, the search process (including the EVP Search Task Force) we have developed will allow us to maintain our focus on our other responsibilities and goals.
Thank you,
Amy Vohs
AIA Oregon President