AIA Virginia’s Political Action Committee (PAC) is currently striving to reach its annual fundraising goal. Why should you participate in this effort? Each donation from architects like you not only contributes to this goal, but also ensures that, as a profession, we have a voice in the state legislature.

On behalf of AIA Virginia members, the PAC advocates for individual architects, the profession, the built environment, and the natural environment at the federal, state, and local levels. Its advocacy efforts to date have helped protect licensure, health safety and welfare legislation, and enforced resiliency measures throughout the state.

The Board of Directors of AIA Virginia has adopted position statements on a variety of subjects relevant to the architecture profession, including, but not limited to:

• civic engagement
• professional development
• regulations and licensing
• diversity
• environmental responsibility

How are these priorities decided and acted upon? AIA Virginia councils, such as the Advocacy Advisory Council, Joint Legislative Council, and other entities, work together to review incoming legislation and analyze its relevancy to architecture and other adjacent professions. This work is critical, and we need our members’ constant attention and participation to help review upcoming issues and respond to them in an effective and timely manner.

Active participation in advocacy related efforts throughout the state is welcomed, whether within your local chapter, within a state council, or just by donating individually. The point is, donating to an entity like the AIA Virginia Political Advocacy Committee is a way to solidify your commitment to protecting the rights and regulations of this profession, whether at a firm-wide level, or as an individual designer. While firms are encouraged to donate at an organizational level, individual designers should note that their own donation is seen and intended only as a personal support of the PAC, separate from their firms. This ensures that designers feel empowered to support and participate in advocacy efforts, regardless of their organization’s involvement.

PAC donations ultimately support candidates on both sides of the aisle that are allies to the architecture profession, by educating these candidates about the values and issues that impact architects every day. Donating to the PAC is a simple way you can contribute; there are numerous opportunities that allow architects to advocate for the profession by volunteering on committees, councils, and on a national level through initiatives like ‘Architects Speak Up’, which pairs architects with their state legislators to learn directly about policy making, and ‘Hill Day’, when members meet and speak directly with their local representatives on Capitol Hill.

Through this work, AIA Virginia uses the collective power of its membership to contribute to the legislative and regulatory policy making process, offering us, as architects, a seat at the table for how the future is shaped — and ultimately built. Donate today and be a contributing voice to this critical and imperative effort. Donate now!

— Maggie Dunlap, Assoc. AIA, Chair, AIA Virginia Advocacy Advisory Council