Corey Clayborne, FAIA, who has served as AIA Virginia’s Executive Vice President since June 1, 2017, is leaving to serve as Senior Vice President, Knowledge & Practice at The American Institute of Architects headquarters in Washington, D.C. “This is a tremendous opportunity to work alongside a dedicated and dynamic staff team to equip and position architects around the globe with the resources to lead in the fight against the climate crisis while maintaining a commitment to shaping healthy equitable communities.” His last day with AIA Virginia is June 17, 2022.
“AIA Virginia has been extremely blessed to have benefited from Corey’s leadership and vision,” says board president Robert Easter, FAIA. “We wish him great success in this new position of professional leadership.”
A search committee is being formed to fill the position.
Clayborne earned his degree in architecture from Virginia Tech and spent 13 years in practice before stepping in to lead AIA Virginia. He received AIA Virginia’s Award for Distinguished Achievement in 2016 and the AIA’s Young Architects Award in 2017. In 2020, he was elevated to Fellowship for his sustained efforts to create a more diverse and sustainable leadership pipeline to the profession.
Executive Vice President, Corey Clayborne, has pledged to travel around the state and visit firms, components, partner organizations, and universities.
Here’s his recent travel schedule:
AIA Local, State, and National Engagement AIA Virginia Board of Directors Meeting Hampton University Hampton March 31 – April 1
AIA Virginia Meeting of the Roundtables Virtual April 21
Mayor’s Innovation Project Design Charette Blacksburg April 28
AIA Virginia Safety Assessment Program Training Virtual May 6
Ambassador Engagement Virginia Tech School of Architecture + Design Advisory Board Meeting Virtual April 11
Professional Design Practice Presentation James Madison University Harrisonburg April 18
Operation: Reach, Retain, and Develop Mentorship Program Celebration with AIAS National Charlottesville April 29
As architects and designers, our daily practice should revolve around collaboration. This act is necessary for allowing a project solution to reach its highest and fullest potential. It strengthens the outcomes of policy development in our communities. As an association, collaboration allows us – as a profession – to broaden our impact and crystalize our relevancy.
Collaboration is part of our currency.
Over the last few weeks, AIA Virginia has been spending significant amounts of this specific currency. For the first time, the organization held a design and construction conference in partnership with the state components of the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) and Associated General Contractors (AGC). Held at the Virginia Beach oceanfront, architects, engineers, and contractors convened for networking and business development while exchanging industry best practices. Our members’ clients were used to curate and present much of the conference content. In its inaugural year, this AEC (Architecture/Engineering/Construction) conference was most certainly a success. Make sure this event lands on your 2023 calendar when the “save the date” is released!
Two days after the AEC conference, we partnered with ACEC in sponsorship to support the Virginia Association of Governmental Purchasing (VAGP) conference. In this endeavor, we provided content on procurement best practices and risk management for the professionals who procure architectural and engineering services. This partnership with VAGP has grown significantly over the last three years providing significant advantages in our legislative work.
Lastly, it is an absolute honor to support AIA Blue Ridge as it serves the Town of Blacksburg through a grant from the Mayor’s Innovation Project and AIA National. The Town desires to transform an old vacant downtown building, formerly serving as a dry-cleaning facility, into a downtown business incubator. For the first charette, I watched local architects, Town staff, and community members come together harmoniously to create the programmatic requirements and bubble diagrams that bring the project vision to life.
As you move forward this month, reflect on what the role of the architect is in our communities. We are the creators of the built environment. This is a massive responsibility. A responsibility that is best executed when we use collaboration as part of our currency.
In service,
R. Corey Clayborne, FAIA, NOMA, MBA, CAE Executive Vice President
VANOMA’s 2022 Project Pipeline Summer Camp is scheduled for July 18th – 22nd. Planning has begun and we need your help! If you are interested in volunteering to help plan, or just work the week of the camp, please sign-up via our website, www.vanoma.org/project-pipeline. See the full list of volunteer opportunities and descriptions below, and let us know how you would like to be involved upon sign-up.
Presenters
Lead the camp day discussions, instruct students on activities, and assist in the development of the program curriculum leading up to the week of camp.
Mentors
Act in support of the presenters, helping to lead break-out room discussions as well as answer general questions from students in attendance.
Technical Support
Assist with facilitating and running Zoom sessions, Miro boards, and other technology needed for students to interact and share their work.
General Support
Assist with general planning tasks as well as packaging and mailing of student supply kits.
Content Creators
Assist with the development of various marketing and digital promotional materials as well as the development of student activity workbooks and pre-recorded presentation materials.
Other
Brings forth new ideas or roles in support of the overall planning and development of the virtual summer camp and its legacy.
“In relation to the built environment, justice is about how the rights and benefits of spaces, places, and resources are distributed in design and occupancy; how past injustice can be repaired and healed, and balance restored; and what the processes are for ensuring fair resolution of injustices.”
Hello AIA Virginia members, I am excited to begin my two-year term as your representative on the Young Architect’s Forum (YAF).
WHO AM I?
I am a Senior Associate at CannonDesign in Arlington, Virginia where for the last 9 years I have been specializing in higher education projects, mostly student life and science and technology. I graduated from Oklahoma State University and have had my architectural license since 2016. I officially onboarded to the YAF at the annual meeting last week and will be on the Strategic Vision Focus Group for the next year. But enough about me, many of you may wonder what the YAF is and what the role entails.
Carrie Parker, AIA
WHO IS THE YAF?
The YAF is a program of the American Institute of Architects and the College of Fellows (COF) and is organized to address issues of particular importance to recently licensed architects, within 10 years of licensure.
The national YAF Advisory Committee (AdCom) is charged with encouraging the development of national and regional programs of interest to young architects and supporting the creation of YAF groups within local chapters. Approximately 23,000 AIA members are represented by the YAF; our volunteer leaders are Young Architect members in the AIA national, regional, state, and local components. YAF programs, activities, and resources serve young architects by providing information and leadership; promoting excellence through fellowship with other professionals; and encouraging mentoring to enhance individual, community, and professional development.
The Young Architects Forum Leadership consists of:
AIA College of Fellows Executive Committee Liaison;
YAF Past Chair
The YAF itself is in its first year of a renaissance. Previously the YAF body was composed of only 18 individuals appointed by regions of states. This is the first transition year where instead of regions, we are representing individual states and territories. This will soon give us a body of more than 50 individuals, increasing the size of each focus group and allowing us to accomplish more in the process.
The AIA has re-organized this year and the YAF is now under the body of the Workforce and Knowledge Community Group, while the sister organization of the National Associates Committee (NAC, Virginia represented by Caitlin Morgan) remains under the AIA’s Center for Emerging Professionals. Why this change? There has been a lot of conversation about the definition of “Emerging Professionals” and the Emerging Professionals Task Force deemed that those who are licensed are no longer “emerging” in their careers. An Emerging Professional is officially defined as “professionals who have completed their academic studies up to the point of licensure or up to 10 years after completion of their academic studies.” So in order to better serve you and create content that you will use, there is now more specificity to cater to each population.
WHAT’S NEXT?
We are gearing up for YAF’s 30th anniversary at Summit 30 this fall where we will set the strategic initiative and vision for the next 5 years. We are hosting a series of 90-minute virtual charrettes called “Mission 2013: Code Red” April 5-7 (times vary) to allow us the opportunity to gather data that will inform the Summit. Help us answer questions like “What will the world look like in 100 years? How will the profession of architecture evolve to meet the demands of our future communities and climate? What technology needs to be invented to support these efforts?” Join the YAF for a robust conversation about the future of our planet as we crowdsource risks and opportunities related to the built environment’s connection to planetary and human health. Register to participate HERE.
The Future Forward Grant is open for applications. Presented by the AIA Large Firm Roundtable (LFRT) and the YAF, this grant supports emerging professionals and young architects in the testing of new ideas that disrupt the traditional conception of practice, process, and product in the field of architecture. The application period is now open and closes on April 30, 2022, at 11:59 pm EST. Find the grant and apply HERE.
Executive Vice President, Corey Clayborne, has pledged to travel around the state and visit firms, components, partner organizations, and universities.
Here’s his recent travel schedule:
AIA Local, State, and National Engagement
AIA Virginia Strategic Planning Retreat Warrenton March 3-4
Mayor’s Innovation Project Design Charette Blacksburg March 24
AIA Virginia Board of Directors Meeting Hampton University Hampton March 31 – April 1
Ambassador Engagement
Virginia Tech School of Architecture + Design Advisory Board Meeting Virtual March 14
AEC Conference (in partnership with ACEC and AGC) Virginia Beach March 17-18
Virginia Association of Governmental Purchasing Conference (in partnership with ACEC) Virginia Beach March 20-22
I first met Milka Bliznakov in the Fall of 1977. She was quite intimidating: a strong Bulgarian accent bellowing from a deep-voiced, chain-smoking woman who was tenacious and demanding. Tears still come to my eyes when I think about her influence on my life and career. She was the first female architect that I ever met. I was new to Blacksburg, and Charles Steger assigned me to be her Graduate Assistant. She made me teach the one class that I had the least interest in as an undergraduate, Architectural History. She was my Thesis advisor and taught me writing and language skills that you would not expect from someone for whom English was a second language; she put so much red ink on my Thesis that you would have thought it had a ruptured spleen. She supported me when during my second year in Blacksburg I created a Lecture series to introduce Tech to Black design professionals. She funded my participation in programs outside of Blacksburg to give me broader experiences and expose me to the world of architecture. As I said at her memorial service, she was a mentor, a teacher, and a friend.
Robert Easter, FAIA
In 1985, Milka founded the International Archive of Women in Architecture “to document the history of women’s contributions to the built environment by collecting, preserving, and providing access to the records of women’s architectural organizations and the professional papers of women architects, landscape architects, designers, architectural historians and critics, and urban planners.”1
In my graduating classes at Hampton University and VA Tech, there were a combined total of four women receiving their degrees with me. Today, half of the students graduating from Hampton are women and many are like April Drake, Ramatoulie Muhammed, Ashley Montgomery, are destined to be trailblazers who set the design profession on fire. There are more women in architecture today, because they have defied the barriers, withstood the biases, and proven to be critical partners in the work of improving the built environment. And I am certain that most of you reading my thoughts know of many who are doing work that demands our attention, and making contributions that demand our gratitude.
I don’t know how many women were licensed to practice architecture in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but I know that the struggle for recognition and participation has not been easy. What I do know is that Virginia has been blessed to have great leadership in our profession demonstrated by some awesome women. My life has been strongly influenced by designing women, whether licensed or not, who have contributed to my life experiences.
Some were co-workers and colleagues like Carmina Sanchez, Mason Andrews, Marci Turner, Laura Battaglia, Lisa Hampson, Guylaine DesRosier, Lisa Letteri, and LaVeesha Rollins, whose work made me look good. Some, like Jame Anderson and Becky Messer, were great practitioners, collaborators, and even competitors who occasionally allowed me to ride their coattails to success. Others, like Krystal Anderson and Caitlin Morgan, are up-and-coming leaders who will one day take the mantel of leadership in our profession.
And then, there are some dear friends: like Helene Dreiling, Roberta Washington, Kathryn Prigmore who have pushed me, supported, encouraged, and advised me over the years. I would have to write a book to mention all of the great women architects who have touched my life; but, during this Woman’s History Month, I hope you will take some time out and thank some of the ones who helped shape you. For all that she did for me, I never got the chance to tell Milka thank you. But I hope that in this writing, she smiles, knowing that, at least for me, she will never be forgotten, and that her impact has made a difference.
Robert L. Easter, NOMAC, FAIA 2022 AIA Virginia President
