A Year of Impactful Engagement

Dear members and friends,

2024 was a year of impactful engagement. Members embraced leadership opportunities to impact the future of the profession and bring together our AEC community. Members brought forward their individual and team work of the highest quality, confirmed by the significant number of Fellows and projects honored in 2024. The collective voice of our members drove advocacy efforts to increase all types of housing, an urgent need for communities in our ten-county chapter. And on a national level, our member’s involvement on the AIA Strategic Council culminated in shared findings on topics in 2024 to move the profession forward.

As we look ahead to 2025, the divided political context reminds us of the value of architecture as a form of work that is focused on people and their needs. AIA Seattle champions three strategic imperatives: Climate, Housing, and Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. AIA Seattle members have multiple opportunities in 2025 to participate in our vision for equitable, resilient, thriving communities. A few ways you can plan to plug in:

Participate in a member committee: Join a monthly meeting to hear how you can get involved
Consider a Leadership role: Self-nominate for the AIA Seattle or Seattle Design Festival Board of Directors to be a strategic leader of an aligned vision Stay tuned for the early 2025 ‘Call for Nominations’
Advocate in the 2025 Washington State Legislative Session: Impact policies that affect the profession and our communities by registering for AIA WA Council’s preview on 12/17 and Capitol Connections on March 3rd

In 2025, we will continue to keep AIA Seattle members and the SDF community informed about the future of our strategic work and our location:

Strategic Plan: The strategic planning taskforce is refreshing our current plan, and will be inviting input from AIA Seattle members and the SDF community early in the year to inform the evolution of our work through 2030.
Our new home: As announced September of 2023, the partner organizations at the Center for Architecture & Design (1010 Western Ave) made the decision to not renew our lease when it expires in October 2025. After 10 years of shared physical space, each organization is considering the needs of their organizations independently, while finding new ways to continue collaboration. We are incredibly appreciative of the two taskforces, many members, and the board who have thoughtfully informed these decisions and working to find AIA Seattle + Seattle Design Festival’s next home.

Thank you for being a valued member of the AIA Seattle community. May you have a peaceful end of year and joyful launch into 2025. – Melissa K. Neher, Executive Director, AIA Seattle + Seattle Design Festival