Allison Beer McKenzie, AIA; Principal, Director of Sustainability at SHP. “I tend to think of AIA membership as a layer cake of diverse benefits that all work together to make you a more well-rounded architect. Just a few of these for me include: strong connections to layers of networks at local, state and national levels, diverse continuing education opportunities, and advocacy opportunities to help me find my own voice as an architect and as a human.”

Doug Richards, FAIA, Associate, GBBN. “For the last ten years, I have been able to meet and learn with the best young architects in the region [through the AIA Vision program]. I have watched some of these folks go on to lead in their firms and communities while also expanding my personal acumen from countless national experts that we have brought here to share their knowledge.”

Steve Kenat, AIA, Director of Community Development | Principal, GBBN. “We have the responsibility to be thinking much further ahead, leading smart policy, delivering vision for current clients, and as stewards for future generations.”

Michael Schuster, FAIA, President, MSA Design. “Architects are the designers of the environments. It is imperative that architects train and study design, design strategies, and the essential aesthetics of our places.”

Vince Terry, AIA, NCARB, NOMA, Regional Director of Business Development, Moody Nolan. “Our work is so much more than just a complete and functioning space. We must strive to inspire our clients to enhance relationships, promote unity, and assure equity in addition to practical items of reducing carbon footprint, waste, and initial costs while promoting inclusivity and storytelling within their newly crafted space.”

Eric Todd Inglert, AIA, Associate Professor and Assistant Department Head, Civil and Architectural Engineering and Construction Management, College of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Cincinnati. “I am able to draw a path between the folks I have met in the AIA and all the highlights of my career that have resulted in me being in front of students and teaching architectural engineering today.”

Robert L. Knight, AIA, National Client Manager, Partner Engineering and Science. “AIA continues to be a thought leadership vehicle and the resource for our industry on trends that affect our profession. These values have helped me change with the profession and industry to be a valued professional to my clients.”

Afsaneh Ardehali, University of New Mexico. “I firmly believe our greatest challenge still remains to be in redefining our role and regaining our power in forming the physical, social, cultural, and environmental consciousness.”

Robert W. Dorsey, FAIA, Professor Emeritus of Construction Science, University of Cincinnati. “Being involved with AIA was very important…Going to meetings, meeting other architects, getting involved with the national convention—those activities were very important to me. I got to know people at the national office and architects from across the country.”

Michael R. Mauch, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, Principal, RWA Architects, Inc. “The more I got involved in AIA, especially through the AIA’s Custom Residential Architects Network (CRAN), the more I grew as an Architect and as a person. The benefit wasn’t about getting more work, it was about being better.”