Wrapping Up 2024: A Letter from the President

First: a thank you to all our members and allied partners: your support has made the ongoing efforts of AIA Toledo possible. I would like to thank each of the AIA Toledo Groups for their dedication and hard work to ensure the continued success of the Chapter.

For 2024: AIA Toledo continued to pursue the strategic goals developed and codified through the AIA Toledo Strategic Plan adopted in 2022. This year’s programming and additional service to our membership and allied partners focused on the strategic plan year 2 initiatives, including:

• Maintain high quality services and programs to our members and community by increasing the number of volunteers.

• Leverage the High School Design Competition to promote the profession of architecture to a diverse community of students, provide support and mentorship, and increase participation.

• Promote efficiency and volunteerism by digitization of all committee policies and procedures.

• Collaborate with other professional, service, and community organizations to improve the built environment.

• Promote the value of architects.

AIA Toledo Programs Group: AIA Toledo offered the opportunity to gain 23 Learning Units (CE), and 16.5 HSW through Chapter Programs, Lunch and Learns, Emerging Professional events and construction tours, and Joint Programs with professional partners. The expansion of program variety and opportunities through joint partnerships proved to be particularly successful and afforded significant community outreach through continuing relationships with the Toledo Design Collective, IIDA, and new or renewed relationships with the Imagination Station and the Toledo Regional Society of Professional Engineers. My thanks to Lyndsey Stough, Associate AIA, for both her leadership as AIA Toledo Treasurer, but also her initiative and guidance of the Cardboard: Build Outside the Box Construction, the Toledo of Tomorrow and the design of the Iconic Build of Toledo with the Imagination Station.

Outreach events such as participation in the Old West End Festival with the Toledo Design Collective, the Imagination Station programming and the presentation by the Regional Growth Partnership would not have been possible without the support and engagement of our professional association allies in the region. Programs such as the ADA Seminar and Code Seminar addressed new conceptual and technical challenges facing practitioners: maintaining currency with building code updates and trends and developing new approaches to the art and science of building.

AIA Toledo Associates and Emerging Professionals Group: The “Firm Crawls” provided by the Emerging Professionals Group proved to be extremely popular with professionals and students and have been successful in affording additional interaction between practitioners, students and allied members. Feedback from participants has been especially positive for these events, and my thanks to Alex Schrinel, AIA and the EP group for their continuation of the “crawls”.

The AIA Toledo High School Design Competition continues to rebound from the restrictions of COVID. This year’s Rendering Day at BGSU, with coordination by Lindsey Brusoe, AIA, with extensive participation from our allied partners, was very well attended and made a significant impact on the exposure of the students to differing aspects of architectural practice and presentation. Thank you to the committee and the many school mentors who continue to show the educational and civic benefits of early engagement with architecture and three-dimensional visualization.

The AIA Toledo Advocacy Group, AIA Toledo Honors Committee, and the AIA Toledo Membership Group continue to develop their successful initiatives including representation with AIA Ohio ongoing legislation, development of awards and recognition processes, and increased membership with an emphasis upon responsiveness to the needs and desires of the membership.

AIA Toledo Communications Group continues to need additional input from members with respect to branding and developing approaches to social media as well as meaningful relationships with the community and input into resources for digital engagement and communication.

Bowling Green State University: on a more personal note, a special thank you to all who have volunteered to support the BGSU School of the Built Environment, through engagement with both the Architecture and Construction Management programs. Both programs have successfully emerged from recent accreditation visits and the participation from AIA Toledo members through the Architectural Advisory Board, the Industry Advisory Board and service as architectural reviewers in the undergraduate and graduate architectural programs is integral to the programs’ past and future success.

For 2025: Next year will bring the third and final year of the 3-year Strategic Plan: and with it an opportunity to address planning challenges and to evaluate past challenges and responses. As we move toward the next strategic planning process, please consider being actively engaged in the process and implementation of the next strategic plan.

Again, a thank you to all our members and partners who volunteered in 2024 to serve on the various AIA Toledo committees and groups: your involvement is important to continue successful service to our members.

As a reminder, the Chapter wants and needs ongoing input and involvement from the membership to continue expanding and broadening the amount and quality of programming and events that have found success with the membership and the community. Have an idea? Want to engage but are not sure how? Let us know! Your continued innovation, involvement and support is vital to our efforts.

Respectfully,

Linda S. Beall, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, WELL AP

2024 AIA Toledo President