Message from the AIA Oregon Treasurer

Stephanie Morales
AIAO Treasurer

When I joined the AIA as an Associate AIA member in 2017, after completing the three-year master’s program at the University of Oregon, I never imagined myself landing here as your Statewide Chapter Treasurer just four years later. That bright-eyed student knew too well that she had so much to learn, and so many challenges yet to overcome before gaining any position of leadership within the profession, even less a local chapter of a national organization. Nonetheless, I am here. I am here as one of two current Associate AIA Board members, and as one of the few people of color currently holding the position of AIAO Board member. 

I got involved with AIAO when I became an active member of the Committee on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (CoEDI). The work by this committee, Co-Chaired by Kelly Chanopas and Octavio Gutiérrez, along with the AIAO Board, became the bedrock for what we now know as the AIAO Social Justice Action Plan and the Social Justice Resources Page on the AIAO website. This shift in conversation cannot be discussed without the global impact that the murder of George Floyd had on our society. May 25th will mark one year since Mr. Floyd’s murder. In the time that has passed, AIAO held a listening session to hear from its members regarding social justice and CoEDI hosted the annual Future Vision Conference last November, centering on Critical Race Theory and community advocacy as a means for equitable design. Community members formed the Portland chapter of NOMA, and firms around the state are gathering to report on the implementation of equity, diversity, and inclusion ideals within their practice.

So where do we go from here? During the first Board meeting of 2021, we held a planning session where each member had to commit to one of the Social Justice Action Plan Framework Goals in a tangible way. My commitment to you, our members, is to increase the number of BIPOC Board Members to better represent the diversity within our community. What I have learned in these past few months as your Treasurer is that I will always be encouraged to share my thoughts during Board meetings, and I feel welcomed to think critically on how the Board can better support its ever-changing membership. This support fuels my commitment to inspiring others to arise and become the future leaders of our chosen profession, but my commitment takes more than the power that I hold, it also takes you. 

We need your voice as a future AIAO Board Member. I’m looking at all of our BIPOC members who may have never seen themselves reflected in leadership. I see you. While it’s important to gain knowledge and devote oneself to the work, it’s also very important to lead, be part of the waves of change. Be the mover. Whether you are a recent graduate, an emerging professional, or a seasoned professional. You matter, your voice matters. I truly believe we can make positive change if we work together with sincere commitments to centering justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. This means having each of our organizations reflect the population it serves. Our collective consciousness has been elevated and we cannot turn back now. Will you take up the challenge? Will you support your fellow BIPOC designers to lead as the next AIAO Board member? The change we need is within us, we just have to answer its call. 

If you are interested in joining the CoEDI, contact info@aiaoregon.org. 

If you would like to learn more about this topic or get involved, visit our social justice resources page at: https://www.aiaoregon.org/social-justice-action-plan or email info@aiaoregon.org.

Message from the Outgoing AIA Oregon EVP

Curt Wilson, AIA
Outgoing. AIAO EVP/CEO

Thank you for your support

As I write my last message as an employee of AIA Oregon, I realize that I had no idea when I took over this role after my friend Robert Hoffman left to re-enter practice all the emotions I would feel as I exit to re-enter practice as Wilson Architecture.  The decision to become the interim Executive VP of AIA Oregon was not the result of a developed plan, but an opportunity to serve this organization at a high level and to challenge myself personally through a new experience.  The opportunity came about 6 months into our transition to a single state chapter, the new AIA Oregon. As a long-term board member of the old AIA Oregon, I was deeply involved in the reasons to become a single state chapter and what we anticipated as the benefits, but like all others leading the transition, I didn’t understand the depth of the challenges until after we committed.

My combined experience as chair of the legislative committee, state board leader, mid-size firm leader, and resident of Eugene gave me the perspective to help connect across our former chapters and modify how we all engage with AIA to move closer to the ideals we anticipated for the single state chapter.  I appreciate that the AIAO Board of Directors, led by 2019 President Seth Anderson, AIA and 2020-21 President Amy Vohs, AIA supported me through the last 22 months. Seth, Amy, all board members, and committee leaders gave me latitude to lead and move in directions that I recommended. That level of support was fundamental to help us get through the events of 2020 and early 2021 in good shape and ready to take on the future, a future that includes a new Portland home and the resumption of in-person events. 

On Monday, I return to AIA Oregon as an active and engaged member. As a member, I’m excited for the future led by our new EVP/CEO, Heather Wilson. We are lucky that an experienced AIA component leader who has worked in North Carolina and Utah is interested in being part of AIA Oregon.  Heather has been involved with the AIAO staff team for about 4 weeks now. She’s demonstrated the rare combination of leadership, support, and guidance.  Connect with Heather soon to help her learn more about your part of Oregon.

I mentioned above that I didn’t anticipate the feelings I would have this final week. I didn’t realize how difficult it would be to leave the AIAO staff team. The team includes Colleen Bastendorff, Adrienne Morris, and Kathy Wendland. Our team is split between Eugene and Portland, and in my view, we embody the transition from individual chapters to a single, unified chapter.  When I started in the middle of 2019, we were working in Portland and Eugene, doing things as they were done in the past.  For the past year or so, working from home has brought us all together.  We meet daily via Zoom and approach all our tasks as a team.  We enjoy each other’s company, support each other, and do more together than we could alone.  I will miss being part of the team. Colleen, Adrienne, and Kathy, I’ve always been so impressed with your commitment to AIA Oregon and to the importance of serving our members.  Thank you for your support.

Message from the New AIA Oregon EVP/CEO

Heather Wilson
New AIA Oregon EVP/ CEO

“The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”

– Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt led an active, full, and interesting life, if not a sad one. She was immediately stricken at an early age with the loss of her mother, father and brother to illness and depression, only to pull herself back together and have to nurse her husband, FDR, though his presidency and paralytic illness. Despite all of her obstacles, she maintained her drive and developed her voice as a feminist and anti-racist. She became an outspoken (and therefore criticized) woman in the public eye, redefining the role of “First Lady” with her social platforms, speaking engagements, and sometimes outright disagreement with her husband.

I love her example. Considering that in times gone before me, thought pioneers did more with less keeps me going. It reminds me that the fundamental task of finding your voice is the rudimentary first step but learning to flex it is another task entirely that requires dog-headed determination. It is not enough to be in the room if you never speak up – you must decipher a room and speak to your audience clearly, honestly, and sometimes, urgently.

Make no mistake; we find ourselves in urgent times that require the voices in the room to speak with authority. The availability and quality of our air, water, energy, and soil are at the mercy of our “progress” – our ingenuity cutting both ways. Simultaneously, we are asking similar questions around our societal structure: the quality of our schools, cities, public spaces and social capacity hang in the balance of unanswered questions around exactly how we ended up with so much brutality disrupting our ideals of humanity.

There is a deep public outcry for answers.

Forgive me for sounding too optimistic, perhaps, but I believe we – the designers, dreamers, artists, scientists and all-around bad-asses in AIA - can actualize a better future. I also believe the process will be just that – a process. It will require honest, open, clear communication facilitated by creative and inspiring thinkers that get things done. Forgive me again for sounding too naïve, but I believe our design community has the right tools for the challenge. Not only are you equipped by virtue of your training, education and passion; you have a secret weapon: AIA Oregon members and staff who are all dedicated to the same ideal.

And what can you get when you activate over one thousand people to accomplish high-end goals? Well, for the most part, you get ideas; and not all will work, but our job is to generate them, and share them, not judge them.

We will also create some great relationships, some that will serve to connect us to solutions in the near (and not so near) future. We will connect to communities we perhaps have not yet. And we’ll expand our knowledge at the same time we increase a sphere of influence.

Some of the outcomes will look like failures; I assure you they are not. They are continued attempts at success that will help us build resilience and working capacity. We’re going to increase our stamina and strength as a group recovering from COVID and racial unrest, and that will take time, consideration, and measured thought. But I know that if any group of individuals can come together to make it happen, its AIA members. Everywhere I have been in this nation, AIA members are poised and ready to take on tough issues, and now should be no different.

It won’t be easy at first, perhaps, to come back together after over a year apart. We’ll have to relearn some things, and maybe even disabuse ourselves of others. But as I start this week, my first as your full-time EVP, I know I’m looking forward to the journey, and I’m so glad I have the chance to do it with the members of AIA Oregon. As we get to know each other, I hope you’ll reach out by email or phone, and when we are meeting again regularly, I look forward to seeing how your individual contribution can make your membership that much more valuable to you. It’s going to be an exciting time and I thank you for trusting me to lead. Let’s envision and build collaborative solutions to an ever-changing world, together.

Looking forward to it,

Heather Wilson