Bruce Sekanick, FAIA

Architects spend much of their careers thinking about the future. We design buildings that will serve people we may never meet, create places intended to last for generations, and work to leave our communities better than we found them.

There is another way we can build for the future—by investing in the people who will become the next generation of architects.

For decades, the AIA Ohio Foundation has supported architectural education in Ohio. Scholarships remain one of the most important parts of that mission, helping students enrolled in Ohio’s accredited architecture programs continue their education and move closer to entering the profession.

But as we look at the future of architecture, we need to think even more broadly about the pipeline that brings students into our profession and helps them successfully move through architectural education and into practice.

That is where the AIA Ohio Foundation Legacy Fund can make a difference.

A Legacy with a Purpose

The concept behind the Legacy Fund is relatively simple. An architect, firm, family, group of colleagues, or other supporters of the profession can work with the AIA Ohio Foundation to establish a fund supporting architectural education and the future of the profession.

That fund might carry your name.

It might carry the name of your firm.

It could honor a partner, mentor, teacher, colleague, family member, or architect whose influence deserves to be remembered.

A firm celebrating an anniversary could establish a scholarship recognizing decades of service to its community. A group of colleagues could create a fund honoring a retired partner. A local AIA chapter or group of members could recognize someone who helped shape architecture in their region. An individual could establish a scholarship representing an area of the profession that has been especially important during his or her career.

The possibilities allow us to connect our own professional stories with the aspirations of those who are just beginning theirs.

And that is what makes a Legacy Fund different from simply making a contribution.

A contribution helps today. A legacy can help year after year.

Strengthening the Pipeline

We talk frequently within AIA about the architectural pipeline. It begins long before someone receives a license.

Students first need to discover architecture as a possible career. They need access to architectural education. They need encouragement and mentors. They need opportunities to become connected to the profession. And, increasingly, they need financial support to complete an architectural education that can require many years of study before the process of experience, examination, and licensure is complete. AIA Ohio programs such as the EPFF (Early Professional Friend Firm) and the AIA Ohio Digital Lending Library help is some ways, but they are only a small part of the larger picture.

Every point along that path matters.

When talented students encounter financial obstacles, the profession risks losing people who could have become outstanding architects, community leaders, firm owners, educators, and advocates.

Scholarships alone cannot solve every challenge facing the profession’s pipeline. But scholarships can make the path easier.

More importantly, they send a message to students that the profession they hope to join is already invested in their success. On a recent call of the AIA College of Fellows, a newly elevated Fellow commented on how he was used to competing with everyone as opposed to working with everyone.  When he was working on his Fellowship submission, he realized that he was not on an island, but rather, everyone is on your team. That is the same message we need to deliver to students within our architectural programs.

There is something powerful about a student receiving a scholarship bearing the name of an architect or firm from Ohio. It creates a connection between generations. Behind that scholarship is a person or organization saying, in effect, we believe the future of this profession matters, and we believe you can be part of it.

What Will Your Legacy Represent?

One of the opportunities presented by the Legacy Fund is the ability to think about what has mattered most during your own career.

Perhaps it is design excellence.

Perhaps it is leadership.

Perhaps it is sustainability, historic preservation, community service, mentorship, public architecture, small-firm practice, technology, or another area that has shaped your work.

Perhaps there is no specific specialty at all. Your goal may simply be to help an architecture student finish his or her education and become an architect.

For firms, a Legacy Fund can also become part of the firm’s story.

Architecture firms regularly celebrate 25-, 50-, 75-, and even 100-year anniversaries. We recognize founders, partners, projects, employees, and communities that contributed to that history. Establishing a scholarship can transform that history into something forward-looking—honoring what the firm has accomplished while helping another generation begin its own professional journey.

A Legacy Fund can also be created in honor or memory of someone else. Few professional recognitions could be more meaningful than attaching someone’s name permanently to an opportunity for another person to enter the profession that meant so much to them.

We All Have a Role in the Future

The future of architecture will ultimately be determined by the people who choose to enter it.

We need talented designers. We need leaders. We need architects who understand their communities and are prepared to serve them. We need young professionals who will eventually become firm leaders, AIA volunteers, educators, mentors, and advocates for the built environment.

Those individuals are sitting in architecture studios across Ohio today.

Some are only beginning to understand where this profession may take them. Others are wondering whether they can afford to complete the journey.

The AIA Ohio Foundation provides us with an opportunity to help.

A Legacy Fund does not simply recognize where we have been. It connects what we have accomplished during our careers with what comes next.

For those of us who have benefited from this profession—for the careers it has given us, the friendships it has created, the communities we have served, and the opportunities architecture has provided—there may be no better legacy than helping someone else have that same opportunity.

To establish a Legacy Fund with the AIA Ohio Foundation, reach out to AIA Ohio Foundation Executive Director Kate Brunswick (kate@assnoffices.com), to discuss your intent.  A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will be developed between you and the Foundation, outlining the terms of your Legacy Fund. Legacy Funds can be started with a minimum contribution of $5,000, and must be fully funded at $35,000 within ten years. The terms of how and when scholarships are granted from the Legacy Fund are determined by mutual agreement between the donor and the AIA Ohio Foundation, and are outlined in the MOU.

Consider establishing a Legacy Fund in your name, your firm’s name, or in honor of someone who has made a difference in your professional life.

After all, the strongest legacy we can leave architecture may not be a building.

It may be an architect.