December 20, 2023

AIA New Jersey – 2023 President’s Year-end Message From Ronald C. Weston, AIA

My time serving as AIA NJ President winds up this month and looking back, it seems like just yesterday that I took the gavel. It has been a busy and rewarding year for me, and I am pleased to say that the state of our chapter remains strong.

The passing of our longtime Executive Director, Joe Simonetta, Hon. AIA, in March was a great loss for our chapter and presented the biggest challenge of the year. It was an honor to formally remember Joe at several state and national events during my term. Tributes and support were received from AIA components and colleagues across the country.  Our new interim Executive Director, Matt Halpin, PSI staff, and our chapter leaders worked well together to keep our organization strong and moving forward.

I want to thank my AIA NJ executive committee, board trustee, and committee leaders for their engagement this year, which was vital to delivering AIA core member services to our 2,100+ members. Also, the high level of collaboration between our state chapter and six regional section components in 2023 was fantastic to see. Working together, we ended up offering a very wide range of events, continuing education, and networking opportunities to our members across the state.

We have launched the AIA NJ 2024 Strategic Plan Task Force this fall. With stakeholder and member input, our task force will prepare a new multi-year Strategic Plan. The direction of AIA NJ will not be known until we complete our process; however, we do expect to consider the following AIA National 2021 to 2025 imperatives (i.e. goals) to achieve alignment.

o Emphasize climate action
o Catalyze equity
o Optimize the role of the architect
o Revolutionize research and technology
o Revolutionize architectural education

All members should consider getting involved and volunteering with AIA in some capacity when your career and life schedule allows – it can extend your professional network and be rewarding in many ways.

I look forward to continuing to serve on the AIA NJ executive committee and board of trustees in 2024, and I extend my best wishes for a productive year to incoming chapter president, Brian Penschow, AIA.

Season’s Greetings to all!

Ronald C. Weston, AIA, LEED AP, PP

By Stacey Ruhle Kliesch, AIA, AIA NJ Advocacy Consultant | Posted in AIA-NJ News, Uncategorized | Tagged: #2023endofyearmessage, #Presidentsmessage, #RonaldCWestonAIA, #strategicplan | Comments (0)