AIA to take messages of partnership, progress to U.S. Conference of Mayors
AIA’s CEO and president lead delegation and will speak to city leaders gathering for the 92nd annual meeting.
AIA EVP/CEO Lakisha Ann Woods, CAE, and President Kimberly Dowdell, AIA, NOMAC, will travel to Kansas City, Mo., for the June 20-23 annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Both leaders will be featured speakers to the hundreds of city officials gathered for the nonpartisan forum. Dowdell will lead a Best Practices Forum panel conversation on adaptive reuse for designing housing crisis solutions with Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird, Lincoln, Neb.; Mayor Quinton Lucas, Kansas City, Mo.; Mayor Corey Woods, Tempe, Ariz.; and former Charlottesville, Va., mayor and Chicago commissioner of Planning and Development Maurice Cox.
Members of AIA’s national advocacy team and leaders from AIA Kansas City will join Woods and Dowdell at the conference to hear the unique challenges facing mayors, learn how AIA and architects can assist mayors across the country, and call on mayors to partner with architects to make city planning and building decisions.
AIA has a longstanding relationship with the U.S. Conference of Mayors. This event allows mayors to engage directly with the president and the U.S. Congress on the most pressing issues of the day, along with leaders from business and industry. Members of the AIA delegation will have one-on-one meetings with mayors to discuss the benefits of hiring a chief architect. AIA will also host a booth at the conference where attendees can learn how to connect with their local AIA chapter and meet architects in their community. In addition to discussing the merits of hiring a city architect, AIA leaders will also share ways cities and architects can work together to address the climate crisis, community inequities, and affordable housing.