Connection
An emerging professionals committee take on the citizen architect’s role It is inspiring to live in an age when a “call to action” is becoming more and more a part of the fabric of the architecture field. The magnitude of the results of civic engagement depends on all of us. Many of the impactful movements around the country started as small, grassroots efforts. What are now nationwide initiatives in the AIA, such as the 2030 Challenge, were originally proposed resolutions by components. It is through our civic engagements that we make real-life changes, which can start from simply picking up the phone and talking to our government officials or visiting their offices. It is important to talk to these leaders about issues facing the architecture field, educating them on what architects do and how we can help our communities, and policies that would affect the health, safety, and welfare of constituents. Having emerging professionals more involved in AIA Grassroots and civic engagement is vital to continuing the pipeline of meaningful changes to the profession. One of the AIA Pennsylvania Emerging Professionals Committee’s focuses this year is to promote more emerging professionals to be Citizen Architects. The kickoff to AIA National Grassroots 2021 was Capitol Hill Day and was a great introduction to speaking to the federal legislators of Pennsylvania. Every year, this conference lays the groundwork for the big “ask” and best practices for congressional meetings, and it is a great precursor to AIA Pennsylvania Architects Action Day. Few of the Emerging Professional Committee members took part in the 2021 Grassroots Capitol Hill Day, and this prompted a discussion within the committee. We were inspired to get more committee members involved, so we decided to host a happy hour event called “Your First Call to a Legislator.” The event was an after-hours happy hour with four panelists: former government affairs chair and 2018 AIA Pennsylvania president, Scott Compton, AIA; Amal Mahrouki, director of legislative affairs and chief lobbyist at AIA Pennsylvania; and two members from the EPiC Committee, Megan Henry and Jeremiah Woodring. The happy hour was geared toward emerging professionals who had never participated in advocacy, Grassroots or Architects Action Day, or members who are uneasy with making phone calls to state officials or participating in advocacy.
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To start the event, Henry and Woodring shared their personal experience at Grassroots and Architects Action Day. I vividly remember my first Grassroots, Henry stated; I was one of hundreds of AIA members dropped off in front of the U.S. Capitol along First Street, snapping photos of one another carrying our “Citizen Architect” portfolios. I remember walking toward the entry for a briefing on the topics we would be discussing with each of our respective representatives. The first meeting included 15 of us crammed into a conference room
