AIA Ohio is soliciting nominations for the position of AIA Ohio Early Professional Director.  AIA Ohio’s Early Professional Directors serve as the voice of associates and recently licensed architects on the AIA Ohio Board. 

Per the AIA Ohio Bylaws:

6.011 Early Professional Directors: There shall be two (2) Early Professional Directors, from two different Ohio local components, on the AIA Ohio Board.  The Early Professional Directors shall be members of AIA Ohio and shall have graduated from a NAAB-accredited program no more than ten (10) years prior to their election.  The Early Professional Directors shall be elected by a simple majority vote of the Board.  The election shall take place at the September board meeting.  The Early Professional Directors shall serve for a staggered term of two (2) years each, or until a successor is chosen.  The Senior Early Professional Director shall have one (1) vote.  In the absence of the Senior Early Professional Director, the Junior Early Professional Director shall carry the Early Professional Director vote. 

The current Senior Early Professional Director, Zach Herbst, AIA, was elected for a term of Jan. 1, 2025-Dec. 31, 2026.  The current Junior Early Professional Director, Sarah Vala, Assoc. AIA, was elected to serve a two-year term, from Jan. 1, 2026-Dec. 31, 2027.  Nominations and declarations of candidacy for the open Early Professional Director position should be made by sending a letter of intent from the candidate, a letter of support from the candidate’s local AIA component, and a list of qualifications to AIA Ohio by August 31, 2026.   Candidates for the open position cannot be from the same local component as the current Junior Early Professional Director, which is AIA Cleveland. 

Information for each nominated or declared candidate shall be submitted via email to:

Kate Brunswick at Kate@assnoffices.com.

Nominations or declarations will be forwarded to the AIA Ohio Board for review prior to the September 18 AIA Ohio Board Meeting.  Candidates should plan to be available to attend this meeting, which will be held at 10:00 a.m. at the AIA Ohio offices in Worthington, Ohio, in order to be interviewed by the Board. 

Questions

Questions can be addressed to:

Kate Brunswick, CAE, Hon. AIA – Kate@assnoffices.com

Zach Herbst, AIA – zherbst@msaarch.com

Sarah Vala, Assoc. AIA – svala@ikminc.com