By Sean Sheffler, President
Last week, I had the rewarding opportunity to join over 400 architects who had gathered in Washington DC for the AIA’s annual lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill. The centerpiece of the annual AIA Leadership Summit, this group of citizen architects spent the day meeting with their respective elected officials to discuss three pieces of legislation currently under review by the Senate and the House of Representatives. One of those potentially affects the way we design, another affects the way research-driven firms practice, and the third affects the way that many of us bill for our services. By offering our experiences as real-world perspective, and by acting as a face for these otherwise broad issues, we helped our legislators understand the impact that their vote would have on our profession.
Formerly known as Grassroots, the AIA’s Leadership Summit has been reinvented to provide leadership training and “best practice” tools for component executives, presidents, and President-elects to effectively guide their chapters. Held at the Grand Hyatt, the conference itself offered two dynamic keynote speakers, and an opportunity for me to join a panel discussion on collaboration with local AIAS Chapters. As always, it also afforded us an opportunity to reconnect with colleagues from all over the country, as well as make some new friends — like AIA National President Kimberly Dowdell, FAIA, NOMAC, who impressed me with her gentle presence, fierce intelligence, and sharp wit. From an organizational standpoint, the Leadership Summit also marks the official beginning of the election campaign for new officers, with candidates for Director-at-large, National Secretary, and President-Elect each stumping for their positions. (I will cast our chapter’s votes when I return to DC for the AIA’24 Convention in June.)
Of course, the highlight of the trip was the Capitol Hill visit. I had the pleasure of joining AIA Pittsburgh’s first vice president Bob Shelton, longtime board member Quintin Kittle, AIA PA’s Young Architect representative Melanie Ngami, and Executive Director Michelle Fanzo for a morning meeting with representative Chris DeLuzio’s office, to argue in favor of the Democracy in Design act, preventing legislation that would enforce federal buildings to be designed in a distinct, uniform style, without regard to budget, context, or vernacular, and which would not necessary represent the people these buildings are meant to serve. It was a true opportunity to educate about the power of design and the value that architects bring to the process.
We then joined forces with AIA Philadelphia and AIA Pennsylvania representatives to meet with staffers for Senator Bob Casey, and Senator John Fetterman, expressing our support for HR7024, the Tax Relief for Families and Workers Act, which would continue to allow tax relief for firms that perform research and development services. (The bill had recently passed in the House, so garnering Senate support becomes that much more critical.) Bob and I then joined our colleagues from AIA central Pennsylvania to pay a visit to their district’s representative, congressman Lloyd Smucker. We urged him to support action that would raise the 6% fee cap to 10% on federal design contracts, allowing architects the potential for more fee to provide their increasingly complex services.
It occurred to me that, while this is an experience that many American citizens may not get to take part in, I am fortunate to say that I have participated in this event before, back in 2012. I was much younger, with the requisite amount of wide-eyed enthusiasm that comes with it, but I am proud to say that I left with the same exhilarating feeling of engagement and empowerment that comes with representing our profession’s interests at the highest possible level.
While I am not naïve enough to think that our actions had any direct effect on what happens next in Congress, I am also not quite so cynical to not be overwhelmed by the experience. This is truly democracy in action, allowing our voices to be heard by our elected officials in the interests of affecting change. Advocacy on behalf of all architects is only a small part of our ethical obligation to the profession, and I am honored to have had the opportunity to represent AIA Pittsburgh – and all architects – in this manner. It’s an eye-opening and invigorating experience. I encourage all of you to use your voice in whatever environment makes sense for you – in your firm, community, state or country.