Curt Wilson, AIA
AIA Oregon Representative, AIA Strategic Council
Principal, Wilson Architecture
Happy New Year to my friends at AIA Oregon! It is my pleasure to continue to serve AIA Oregon as the Oregon representative to the AIA Strategic Council. 2023 is the second of my three-year term. My first year, 2022, was the first year representatives were selected from state chapters instead of regions. This resulted in a larger Council and the inevitable growing pains. The 2022 leaders did a great job of navigating the larger group, and the 2023 leaders have a plan to increase our effectiveness.
You may recall that the strategic council was formed when the former AIA Board of Directors was changed from the body of regional directors to a smaller group elected across the Institute. The board was responsible for the leadership and governance of the organization, and the strategic council was assigned to chart their own course and help plan for what’s next. This transition was authorized at the 2014 Annual Meeting and the Council has evolved in their focus and organization, including the transition from regional to state representation.
So, what does the Strategic Council do? In some ways, it is easier to answer with what the Council doesn’t do. The Council does not govern and is not a subset of the Board of Directors. The term “think tank” if often used to describe the Council. According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, a think tank is “an institute, corporation, or group organized to study a particular subject and provide information, ideas, and advice.”
An example from 2022 is a proposed new initiative at AIA to increase carbon literacy. A Strategic Council subcommittee was formed to explore the understanding our members had of embodied and operational carbon, and how that understanding, or lack of understanding impacted design decisions. The group presented their work to the full council, which included research, engagement with members and industry experts, and surveys. We helped them refine their proposal, then the leadership of the group and Strategic Council presented their proposal to the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors accepted the proposal and is working with staff and other committees to implement an educational program focused on increasing the depth of knowledge on embodied and operational carbon that will be available to all members. Formally speaking, the Council is no longer involved with the initiatives, although some members have committed to stay involved.
The current, outgoing, and incoming Councilors met in Washington DC at the AIA Governance Week in December to debrief 2022 and plan for 2023. Using the definition above, we identified the subjects that we’ll focus on, and created teams or Study Groups to identify how we’ll arrive at “information, ideas, and advice”. The teams are formed on these subjects: Advocacy, Carbon, Design, Economy, Equity, and Health and Wellness.
I’m on the Economy Study Group, and our first meeting is today. The term “Economy” is broadly applied to our group, and generally refers to financial and value-based subjects. I expect that we’ll organize around four subjects: 1) Value of architecture, 2) Doughnut economics (adopted from a book by Kate Raworth), 3) Economics of AIA, and 4) The Future. A subject of interest to me is the perception of value of architectural services. A sub-committee formed in 2022 to explore this subject from an external perspective and developed working relationships with associations that represent clients, building owners, and facility operators. This subcommittee is folding into the Economy Study Group, and it will be interesting to participate in the refinement of the topic.
The role of representative is important for Councilors and my goal for 2023 is to be more visible to AIA Oregon members so I can represent your priorities to the Council. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have questions about the Strategic Council or AIA.