We hope 2020 is getting off to a great start! We would like to introduce ourselves to you: Monica Blasko, AIA Young Architect Regional Director (YARD) and Megan Henry, AIA Regional Associate Director (RAD) for Pennsylvania. Our roles within the Institute are to support you as one of our members while we promote leadership, mentorship, and fellowship for the future of our profession through the Young Architects Forum (YAF) and the National Associates Committee (NAC).
If you are not familiar, the YAF is a national committee of recently licensed architects (10 years or less) and the NAC is a committee of Associate AIA members who work together to represent the voice of Emerging Professionals (EP) within the AIA. A primary goal of both the YAF and the NAC is to provide our members with valuable resources and improve the way we communicate across the AIA. To help reach this goal, please know we are available as a resource if you have concerns or suggestions for what we can do better as an organization. As the RAD and YARD, it is important that we hear and amplify your voice, and we are working together to advocate for issues relevant to Emerging Professionals within the AIA— especially within our region.
Increasing support for the National Design Services Act (NDSA) has been a leading effort of our committees in recent years. The NDSA is a community design and student loan repayment bill promoted by the AIA that enables architecture students and recent graduates to contribute design services in their communities in exchange for much-needed student loan assistance.
We are looking for your help in bolstering issues important to the architecture industry, including the NDSA, through the ArchiPAC. ArchiPAC, the bipartisan political action committee (PAC) of the AIA, serves as the single voice for the architecture profession on the national political scene and is funded only by AIA members’ contributions. Since 2017, the EP WolfPAC and supporters have contributed the most amount for ArchiPAC and have been the largest donor group in the organization.
Can you pitch in to keep up the momentum as we head toward elections this November?
We have made our donations to ArchiPAC, and we are asking that you do as well— any amount is greatly appreciated and will assist in our collective cause. Please follow the link below to contribute, and be sure to enter the “EP WolfPAC” team name in the “Who Told You About ArchiPAC?” box for any contributions you provide or seek from other AIA Members: www.archipac.org.
And as the saying goes, “all politics is local” – please make a donation to the Pennsylvania Architects PAC to help solidify the ongoing, dedicated advocacy efforts of AIA Pennsylvania’s Government Affairs Team and Committees.
We are excited to get to know you better and work together on elevating our collective voice in the Institute, our profession, and in our communities. We are the catalyst for change, and we hope you will join our efforts.
Respectfully yours,
Monica Blasko, AIA
AIA Young Architect Regional Director of PA
monica@qkArchitecture.com
Megan L. Henry, Assoc. AIA
AIA Regional Associate Director of PA
mlh@mksdarchitects.com
#WeAreAIA #AssocAIA #AIA #NDSA #ArchiPAC #EPWolfPAC #NACYAF #AIAAdvocacy