December 21, 2022

AIA New Jersey 2022 President, John Cwikla, AIA, Reflects on A Successful Year

Holiday greetings! It is my pleasure to wish you and your family the best of the season. It has been my privilege to serve as your 2022 AIA New Jersey Chapter President, and I’m looking forward to an even better year in 2023.

At AIA New Jersey (AIA NJ), we have much to celebrate as we look back at our accomplishments during the past year…

• Membership is strong and climbing, and we are building connections with students and future architects through programs and outreach.
• AIA NJ, in conjunction with our Emerging Professionals Community (EPiC), launched a new Mentorship Program (AMP) which has been well received. Be on the lookout for communications
  regarding the next round of mentor matching.
• The AIA NJ ExCom is prepared to launch the new Educational & Scholarship Foundation in early 2023, which will replace the defunct Scholarship Foundation.
• The AIA NJ ExCom updated our bylaws to align with AIA National’s new governance format. (States vs. Regions)
• The AIA NJ ExCom completed an internal review of our management platform and will be moving to a new platform (BoardEffect) in 2023. This will allow us to communicate more efficiently between the Chapter and the Sections and manage the organization better.
• Our all-volunteer committees created and put forth numerous exceptional programs and events this year, some of which are listed below:
  o The first in-person Inaugural & Awards Dinner in three years, since pre-pandemic.
  o Several Code Seminars to assist our members with the changes to the 2021 IBC codes.
  o East Coast Green Event in the Spring.
  o Design Programs in the Spring and Fall.
  o Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Programs throughout the year.
• The Legislative & Government Affairs Committee continues to actively monitor and comment on legislation important to architects. A few are listed below:
  o Tax credits for Low-Carbon Concrete.
  o Updates to educational and experience requirements for licensure.
  o Model School Plans for SDA and non-SDA schools, which is a hot topic going into 2023.

All the items listed above are offered to our members, for their benefit, by groups of hard-working volunteers, and we are always in need of additional volunteers, who are passionate about their
profession.
Interested in getting involved with AIA New Jersey? We’d love to hear from you! There are multiple committees and task forces that can always use an extra interested volunteer or two to help. The list of committees and events can be found at aia-nj.org under the Communities and Events & Program tabs.

Please reach out to asst_director@aia-nj.org if you’re interested or have questions. Alternatively, you can reach out to your local Section and get involved there as well.
We continue to face challenges as an industry, supply chain uncertainty, a changing climate, and an equity gap to bridge. Many of these challenges can best be addressed by coming together, sharing knowledge, and strengthening our ties to the broader community. Collectively we have the power to drive positive change through the projects we design and the causes we champion. I encourage you to get involved and share your expertise and increase your impact on our profession and the world.

Rest assured that AIA New Jersey is in good hands with incoming AIA NJ President, Ron Weston, AIA, and the rest of the incoming leadership. Thank you for your membership and continued support.

Here’s to a great 2023!
John A Cwikla, AIA
2022 AIA NJ President

By Stacey Ruhle Kliesch, AIA, AIA NJ Advocacy Consultant | Posted in AIA-NJ News | Tagged: #2022, #AIA, #AIANJ, #AWARDS, #Codesandstandards, #EDI, #JohnCwiklaAIA, #Success, #valueofmembership, Legislative & Government Affairs | Comments (0)