AIAS Grassroots Leadership Conference
—
July 18 – July 20, 2024
Hey there, future leaders! Get ready to dive into the heart of leadership at AIAS Grassroots 2024. Our theme, ‘Flourishing Futures,’ is all about nurturing growth, resilience, and imagination in a world full of twists and turns.
Picture this: like a delicate flower breaking through tough soil, we’re exploring what it means to lead with both empathy and conviction. It’s like finding that sweet spot between being soft-hearted and tough-minded, where kindness fuels determination and compassion drives action.
Join us for inspiring talks, hands-on workshops, and meaningful discussions as we cultivate a community of leaders who aren’t afraid to lead with gentle determination. Together, let’s plant the seeds of change and watch them blossom into something beautiful.
So, are you ready to shape a future where leadership means more than just calling the shots? Let’s do this! See you this summer!
What is Grassroots?
Grassroots is our annual leadership conference that focuses on developing our members and their future. This is a conference for you to network, enhance your career, and gear up for the next year at your chapter with the AIAS. You’ll be experiencing the city which is home to the AIAS National Office, and can explore the complicated layers here that you can apply to any city.
Registration
EARLY BIRD (DEADLINE May 31ST, 11:59 PM ET)
Early-bird Member (Individual): $199
Early-bird Non-member (Individual): $249
Early-bird bulk reg for members: $175 each (5 or more)
Early-bird bulk for non-members: $225 (5 or more)
REGULAR (DEADLINE JULY 1ST, 11:59 PM ET)
Regular Member (Individual): $249
Regular Non-Member (Individual): $299
Regular bulk reg for members: $225 each (5 or more)
Regular bulk for non- members: $275 each (5 or more)
Hotel
The Embassy Suites-Washington DC Convention Center is the official Grassroots hotel.
Hotel registration link here.
Rates are $259/night, and each room can accommodate up to 6 people.
Book your room by June 19th to lock in the special AIAS rate!
Embassy Suites-Washington DC Convention Center
900 10th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
Schedule
All times in Eastern.
Thursday, July 18th |
---|
Time | Programming | Details | Location |
---|---|---|---|
11:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. | Hotel Check-in / Registration Open | Check into the Embassy Suites, your preferred hotel, or AirBnB, and then be sure to pick up your conference badge, bag, and other materials! | Embassy Suites Hotel |
2:30-3:30 p.m. | Quad/Regional Breakouts | Quad/Regional Breakouts | MLK Library |
4:00-6:30 p.m. | Opening Keynote Session | New Board Swearing-In Ceremony. Opening Keynote speaker: Sarika Bajoria |
MLK Library |
7:00-9:00 p.m. | Quad/Regional Receptions | The quad/regional receptions give you a chance to mingle with the members of your quad or international region! This is a chance for you to get to know your new quad or regional directors as well. End the conference with your AIAS regional family, and make those close connections that AIAS is all about. | Quinn Evans, ZGF, Gensler,Smithgroup |
Friday, July 19th |
---|
Friday morning/early afternoon sessions are organized through tracks, you will need to follow the track you sign up for |
Time | Programming | Details | Location |
---|---|---|---|
7:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. | Registration Open | Embassy Suites Hotel | |
9:30-11:30 a.m. | Wharf Track: Quinn Evans Air and Space Museum Hard Hat Tour | Come and view the newly renovated Air and Space Museum with the firm that designed it, Quinn Evans! | The National Air and Space Museum |
9:30-11:30 a.m. | Penn Quarter Track: National Building Museum Tour | Step back in time to the 1880s and learn about the design, construction, and history of the National Building Museum, formally known as the Pension Bureau. Along the way, you’ll discover time capsules, lions, and more surprises lurking around every corner. | The National Building Museum |
9:30-11:30 a.m. | Downtown Track 1: Page Firm Tour + Renwick Gallery Sketching Tour | 9:30 – 10:30: Page is a multidisciplinary design, architecture and engineering firm with 1,300+ talented staff and offices in the U.S. and abroad. Their work consists largely of complex projects that benefit from their integrated disciplines and that make a significant impact on the communities they serve.
10:30 – 11:30: After the tour of Page’s DC Office, join AIAS Alum and Associate Vice President, Carrie Parker, for a sketching tour at the Renwick Gallery! |
Page/Renwick Gallery |
9:30-11:30 a.m. | Foggy Bottom Track: Turner Construction + Hartman-Cox Architects AIA HQ Hardhat Tour | 9:30 – 10:30: Preservation is social justice. Preservation architecture and historic preservation contribute to the health, safety, and welfare of communities through lowering carbon footprints, diverting materials from landfills, retaining architectural and cultural significance and character. Hear from four past participants of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s HOPE Crew program on their entry to the preservation space and how preservation has continued to influence their architectural studies and work
10:30 – 11:30: This project is one of the first fully decarbonized major renovations in the United States—restoring and upgrading the 50-year-old building and its original, antiquated systems to maximize cost-effective energy efficiency and to decarbonize the campus in accordance with the AIA Framework for Design Excellence and the AIA 2030 Commitment. When completed, the building will have net-zero emissions—five years ahead of the goals of the AIA 2030 Commitment. |
AIA HQ |
9:30-11:30 a.m. | Downtown Track 2: Midtown Center Sketching Tour/Grazie Mille Project Tour |
Grazie Mille: Wyn Design Co meticulously detailed everything from bespoke furniture to a custom millwark dj booth where local DJs spin live on the weekends.From concept design through procurement, Wyn Design Co led a fast paced and collaborative design process. Midtown Center: Designed by SHoP Architects and located in the heart of Washington, D.C., Midtown Center is a 14-story mixed-use office, dining, and retail complex arranged around a large new public plaza. The building works to integrate with its environment—and honor local architectural traditions—through a unique glass-and-copper facade designed to slowly patina over time. |
Midtown Center |
9:30-11:30 a.m. | Downtown Track 3: Franklin Square Tour with STUDIOS Architecture |
Join a captivating tour of the revitalized Franklin Park, winner of the 2023 AIA D.C. Urban Design Award. You’ll experience the journey of this 200-year-old city block, from its origins as a White House water source to its evolution into a vibrant commuter hub. In addition, you’ll learn about the innovative federal-municipal-private partnership that fuels a transformation centered around ecology, economy, and equity. The tour will highlight the sustainable and resilient features of Franklin Park, including its ecosystem restoration, water management, and energy-efficient design. This tour will reveal Franklin Park’s transformation into an active, inclusive neighborhood-serving park celebrating its legacy with water-themed elements. Discover how the park’s design and renovation promote inclusivity and accessibility allowing all visitors, regardless of physical or economic abilities, to engage and participate fully in the park’s activities. You’ll gain inspiration from this urban oasis’s past, present, and future, in a space where history and community converge. Following the tour of Franklin Park, the group will walk to the STUDIOS Washington DC office for a studio tour and firm introduction — about 12 minutes from the park. |
Franklin Square Park/STUDIOS Architecture |
9:30-11:30 a.m. | U Street Track: U Street Tour | Join a focused exploration of the U Street Corridor in the Shaw|Cardozo neighborhoods of Washington, DC. You’ll witness firsthand how this community, a short Metro ride north of the city’s monumental core, illustrates the thin lines between gentrification and neighborhood revitalization. Once venerated as Black Broadway, U Street’s complicated history and today’s efforts to revitalize this vibrant corridor serve as microcosms for larger cultural and urban issues around the world. This tour will reveal laboratories for responsible, mixed-use, mixed-income, transit-oriented development in partnerships between multiple public agencies and the private sector, and will explore these projects’ impact on the surrounding neighborhoods. | U Street |
9:30-11:30 a.m. | Union Market District Track: Neighborhood Transformation in Union Market Tour with Joel Mills | According to one study, 40% of all new housing in DC was built on just 5% of the city’s land area between 2000-2020. Therefore, high growth areas have experienced dramatic community change, creating neighborhoods that are almost unrecognizable from past eras. Change continues at a high pace in DC, which has created over 30,000 new units of housing in the last 4 years. Union Market represents a key area of change in the city. It is home to the zip code with the highest new apartment construction in the country, with over 7,000 new units over a 5-year period. The area has also been subject to significant conflict over development and change, including over a dozen lawsuits. This tour will take participants on a journey through the neighborhood’s evolution from an industrial warehouse district toward a thriving, mixed-use neighborhood center. | Union Market |
11:30-1:00 p.m. | Food/Neighborhood Tours | Explore the neighborhood where your first tour of the day was and check out the local food scene with your group! | Locations correspond with each track |
1:30-2:30 p.m. | Wharf Track: OTJ Firm Tour | OTJ Architects is a premier architecture and design practice that partners with leaders in the commercial real estate, corporate, government, life sciences, multi-family, arts, culture, and education, as well as nonprofit sectors. With offices in Washington, D.C., Boston, MA, Chicago, IL, Dallas, TX, Miami, FL, New York, N.Y., San Diego, CA, and San Francisco, CA, OTJ delivers enduring human centric solutions that drive optimal performance, promote diversity, equity, wellness and sustainability, while maximizing each organization’s real estate investment.
Signature recent projects include headquarters for Booz Allen Hamilton, Five Guys, and PBS, as well as workplaces for Adobe, BMW, and NAACP Legal Defense Fund; the reimagining of Visitation Frederick as a commercial mixed use and hospitality destination; the design and delivery of the new Venue at Thunder Valley Casino Resort as well as the renovation of the iconic Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in our capital. For more information, please visit www.otj.com. |
OTJ |
1:30-2:30 p.m. | Penn Quarter Track: The American Society of Landscape Architects | Join us for a tour of the ASLA HQ! Founded in 1899, ASLA is the professional association for landscape architects in the United States, representing more than 15,000 members. Landscape architects lead the planning, design, and stewardship of healthy, equitable, safe, and resilient environments. Our Vision: Healthy, Beautiful, and Resilient Places for All | The American Society of Landscape Architects |
1:30-2:30 p.m. | Downtown Track 1: Hickok Cole National Geographic HQ Hardhat Tour |
Since its founding in 1888, National Geographic has called the District of Columbia its home. Over generations the headquarters on 16th street and subsequent campus expanded to better serve their mission; “use the power of science, exploration, education, and storytelling to illuminate and protect the wonder of our world”. BASE CAMP is the next step in this evolution and includes a reimagined central plaza, new entry pavilion and an interior/exhibit renovation that transforms the existing quiet campus into vibrant and dynamic destination. It is not often that “wonder” is a requirement for a project team! To match the intent of National Geographic’s mission statement and to embody the spirt of exploration, education, and storytelling, the design and construction highlights multitude state-of-the-art building technologies, including a nighttime show on the building façade made possible by jumbo- size, electrochromic glass. To help with the overall spatial composition of the pavilion design in the plaza, the team used parametric modeling design technology in conjunction with a Solid Surface “eyebrow” to create a dynamic and balanced building façade. Currently under construction and delivering in late 2025, in conjunction with HITT contracting, Mark Ramirez, Principal and Project Director at Hickok Cole, will lead the tour of the campus.
|
National Geographic Headquarters |
1:30-2:30 p.m. | Foggy Bottom Track: Gensler Firm Tour |
At Gensler, the value of our work stems from its positive impact on the human experience. We are a dynamic and collaborative design firm uniting creativity, research, and innovation to solve complex problems for our clients. Our work challenges conventional ideas about architecture and the built environment. We aren’t just designing buildings — we are reimagining cities and places that make a difference in people’s lives. Founded in 1965, Gensler has built a team of 6,000 professionals who partner with clients in over 100 countries each year. Everything we do is guided by our mission: to create a better world through the power of design. |
Gensler |
1:30-2:30 p.m. | Downtown Track 2: Urban Land Institute Tour |
Join us for a tour of ULI’s office! ULI is the oldest and largest network of cross-disciplinary real estate and land use experts in the world. ULI is its members. Through our members’ dedication to the mission and their shared expertise, the Institute has been able to set standards of excellence in development practice. | ULI |
1:30-2:30 p.m. | Downtown Track 3: HKS Firm Tour |
Join a firm tour of HKS’ DC Office! We believe that design should build trust between our collaborators, our clients and those who inhabit the places we design. We aim to inspire and empower the people and communities who encounter our work. To preserve and respect our natural resources, we create places that conserve and rejuvenate our planet, too. | HKS |
1:30-2:30 p.m. | U Street Track: Torti + Gallas Firm Tour |
Join Torti Gallas + Partners for a tour of their adaptive reuse school building turned office! Before TG + P even thinks about planning building solutions, we build relationships. We listen to clients and community members so we can work together to make each project create value for everyone involved.
Founded in 1953, the firm has continued to evolve. Today, Torti Gallas + Partners is a leading proponent of New Urbanism—and a powerful force in the creation of environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable communities. |
Torti + Gallas |
1:30-2:30 p.m. | Union Market District Track: Hickok Cole Firm Tour |
Join us for a tour of Hickok Cole Headquarters! In a building with personality, character, and soul, our new HQ celebrates history while looking optimistically toward the future. Now home to 100+ creative, purpose-driven designers, the historic Press House begins its next chapter as a place where vision comes to life. With our process on display and values on our sleeve, we welcome our team back into the workplace with a bold, flexible environment designed to inspire work that matters in our backyard and beyond. | Hickok Cole |
3:00-4:00 p.m. | NCARB Open House | This tour of the award-winning National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) office will highlight the features of the downtown DC office designed for collaboration and inspiration. Meet key team members in this colorful LEED Gold space. | NCARB HQ |
3:00-4:00 p.m. | Women in Architecture Panel | Join us for an inspiring session as we dive into the world of architecture through the lens of three accomplished women in the field: Terry Bitar, Milan Jordan, and Danielle Lake. Each brings a unique perspective shaped by their diverse experiences. | Embassy Suites |
3:00-4:00 p.m. | AIA Advocacy Workshop | Join the AIA Advocacy team to learn about best practices and methods for advocating as architects and design professionals. This workshop will cover the ins and outs of lobbying, effectively engaging with policymakers, key issues facing architects today, and more. | Embassy Suites |
3:00-4:00 p.m. | Graphisoft Impact x Design Session | Navigating your unique journey from education into professional practice can be challenging and full of questions. If you have ever wondered how to make an impact at a firm, how to make valuable contributions on a project team, how to continue to pay it forward through volunteer opportunities, or how to continue to make an impact on the global profession, this session is for you! This interactive session will be led by Jessica O’Donnell, AIA, NCARB – a former AIAS member and current AIA Strategic Council member focusing on the Value of Architecture / the Architect of the Future. Jessica will provide insights on leadership, collaboration, service, and innovation through a series of short personal stories, brief case studies, and audience engagement during open Q&A. Come share your thoughts and concerns about the future of the architectural profession and discover ways you can continue to make an impact at a variety of scales throughout your journey in the field of architecture and design. |
Embassy Suites |
3:00-4:00 p.m. | Storytelling & Portfolio Review | Architecture is about so much more than creating a successful design. If you are not able to present that design in a clear and concise manner, your idea may fall flat. But sometimes you will not be around to talk about your work – like in a job or scholarship application. In this session, learn how to convey your ideas so that they can speak for themselves. We will answer questions like: “How do I develop a narrative for my design? Why should I?” and “What drawings and techniques will get that story across to the viewer?” In addition to drawing and layout presentation techniques, this session will also cover some of the intangibles around public speaking and thinking on your feet when you are standing in front of your work for your review. We have partnered with Archinect to take your professional development and portfolio to the next level! Head over to the Archinect People tab and upload your portfolio today to be reviewed! Not sure how to get started? Check out this step-by-step guide! | Embassy Suites |
5:30-8:00 p.m. | Career and College Expo | Come mingle with firms, partners, associations, and universities in a casual, low-stress environment. Whether you’re interested in talking about career opportunities, exploring graduate school, or just gathering information, the Career Expo is the place! | Embassy Suites |
6:00-8:00 p.m. | Networking Reception + Chat with the Alliance Presidents | Details to come soon! | Embassy Suites |
8:00-10:00 p.m. | Nighttime Monuments Tour | Join Immediate Past President Colt Brock and Immediate Past VP Julia Andor on a nighttime tour of some of DC’s most iconic sites. | Meeting Point TBA |
Saturday, July 20th |
---|
Time | Programming | Details | Location |
---|---|---|---|
9:30-12:00 p.m. | Committee Sessions | Join us for incredible sessions hosted by our wonderful committees. They have put in so much hard work this past year and it will be wonderful for them to share what they have been working on! | Embassy Suites |
1:30-4:00 p.m. | Closing Keynote Session | Details to come soon! | MLK Library |
5:30-7:30 p.m. | Informal Quad/Regional Dinners | Details to come soon! | Location TBA |
Keynote Speakers
Sarika Bajoria
Founder, Contemplative Designer
Principal, Sarika Bajoria Unlimited
Adjunct Professor, Parsons School of Constructed Environments Sarika Bajoria founded Contemplative Designer, an educational and research organization, and her design practice,Sarika Bajoria Unlimited, with the singular vision to bring about a built world where each and every “outer space” is a mediator of human flourishing, not just well-being. To achieve this vision, she believes that designers have to intentionally build an “inner space” of flourishing within. Through workshops and keynotes, Sarika teaches contemplative design technology to empower architects and designers to transform challenges into resources of empathic imagination and meaning. As Adjunct Professor at Parsons School of Constructed Environments she brings this contemplative design framework to the classroom. Her research involves quantifying the impact of this unique pedagogy on the design process, designers and project outcomes. To develop this framework Sarika synthesized her experience of practicing architecture for 22 years at firms including Skidmore Owings Merrill, Perkins & Will and her own design practice, 16 years of teaching contemplative practice, and research in the science of human flourishing, neuroaesthetics, psychology and diverse contemplative traditions.
Sarika has been recognized with several awards including “Building Design+Construction 40 under 40” and “Engineering News Record New York Top 20 under 40”. She designed for underserved communities as Founding Director for Architecture for Humanity NewYork and serves a fellow at the Center for Conscious Design. She obtained her Masters in Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania and Bachelor of Arts in Physics, Math and Art from Luther College, Iowa.