Elysia leads AIA Pennsylvania as Board President in 2026, following her 2025 term as President-Elect. By day, she is a project manager at Crabtree Rohrbaugh & Associates in Mechanicsburg, where she has spent more than a decade designing K–12 schools in partnership with local districts. As a LEED Accredited Professional, she is especially passionate about creating sustainable, healthy learning environments that serve students and the communities around them.

A path built through service

Elysia’s AIA involvement began at the chapter level and has grown steadily. She chaired the AIA Central PA Emerging Professionals group, served as Chapter Treasurer and Chapter President, and chaired the statewide Emerging Professionals Committee (EPiC) from 2017 to 2019. At the state level, she has served as Executive Committee Secretary, Government Affairs Co-Chair, and Strategic Council Chair, and contributed to the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee’s work on UDream feedback and the Women in Leadership Scholarship. In 2021, she completed the AIA National Intercultural Leadership Program, and in 2022 she was selected as a crew member for the YAF Summit 30: Mission 2130, a competitive, application-based summit that gathers just 50–60 funded participants to tackle the profession’s biggest challenges.

Much of her work has centered on the next generation. Through PALM (Promoting Advocacy and Licensure through Mentorship), she helped connect students, aspiring professionals, and licensed architects around the ARE, career goals, and advocacy. Since 2015, she has also served as the architecture mentor for the Cumberland County ACE Mentor Program, guiding students on projects like the City Island Bathhouse renovation and a tiny house development.

Licensure, and why it matters

Elysia names earning her architectural license in 2019 as her most significant accomplishment, the result of a goal she set before starting college in 2007. “That license means you are legally and ethically responsible for the health, safety and welfare of the general public,” she notes. It’s a responsibility she carries into both her design work and her volunteer leadership.

The power of enthusiasm

Asked about the key to her success, Elysia turns to a line from Washington Irving: “There is eloquence in true enthusiasm.” Enthusiasm, she says, is the quality she admires most in others: people who are genuinely excited and eager to participate, collaborate, create, and make a meaningful impact.

That same energy has guided her own journey, leading her to volunteer her time on the committees and initiatives that inspire her most. “I believe passion is contagious,” she says, “and I strive to channel that energy to inspire others while working collaboratively to achieve shared goals.”

Mentorship and community engagement sit at the heart of it. Learning about the interests, challenges, and aspirations of the people around her, both professionally and personally, motivates Elysia to get more involved, look for ways to make a difference, and take on new challenges. “I find great fulfillment in helping others grow while continuing to grow myself.”

Mentors who made the difference

Elysia is quick to credit the mentors she met at pivotal moments in her career.

Grace Heiland, a fellow female architect five years her senior, became a mentor during Elysia’s first year out of college. Grace helped strengthen and refine her design skills and inspired her to set ambitious goals and dedicate herself to achieving them. “She leads by example,” Elysia says, “and continues to motivate me to learn, grow, and challenge myself.”

Seth Wentz entered the picture as Elysia became involved with the AIA Executive Committee. He has been instrumental in mentoring her through leadership responsibilities, from navigating board expectations to collaborating with deeply experienced professionals to communicating, guiding, and inspiring others around the board table. It’s guidance that now informs her work as Board President.

Looking ahead

Elysia’s priorities as a leader reflect her values. She hopes to expand the pipeline into architecture, increase access to educational opportunities, and create clearer pathways to licensure so the profession becomes more inclusive and attainable for future generations. A longtime goal of her AIA service has also been helping communities understand the value architects bring to thoughtful planning and growth. She points to 2020’s Design for Better project in New Cumberland as a model of what’s possible when architects and communities collaborate.

Please join us in congratulating Elysia on this well-deserved honor.