Greetings Academy of Architecture for Justice Members,
Welcome to 2023! It was great seeing so many of our members at our 2022 Fall Conference in Austin. We appreciate all who helped to make the conference a success and we especially want to recognize the efforts of the NextGen members that led panels, social events, and facilitated our breakout sessions. The inspiration you provide is critical for our future success!
At the conclusion of the conference, we had some open discussions to evaluate where we are as a Knowledge Community (KC) and where we want to go in the future. The feedback we received was that the membership is energized around the social aspects of our KC, the expanded focus on facility types as well as social justice topics, and the momentum of the NextGen community. In general, areas where the membership would like to see improvement include:
- Access to continuing education during the year;
- Opportunities to collaborate outside of committees and conferences;
- More frequent communication;
- Clarity about the AAJ mission, and;
- Support and engagement from AIA.
In response to this feedback, the Leadership Group (LG) committed to addressing some of these topics in 2023. We recognize the tremendous contributions of our membership and past and present sub-committee leaders. AAJ would not be what it is without the decades of dedication from this membership. However, we are in a season of change and our Knowledge Community (KC) has a responsibility to turn our thoughts into action so we continue to fulfill our mission within the justice community. It is up to our community to drive the vision for the future of justice architecture and, in light of discussions during the Fall Conference, the LG is implementing these changes:
Organizational Structure
Beginning in 2023 the LG will be comprised of a four-person leadership team. Kristine Johnson will serve as LG chair, Marayca Lopez will serve as conference chair, Julian Jaffary will lead the JFR Awards, and Carol Lanham will support the LG initiatives. Erica Loynd, outgoing LG member will continue to represent our interests on the AIA Government Advisory Committee. Each new LG member fulfills a four-year term, with one new person joining each year, and one retiring. We would like to identify members who may be interested in joining the LG next year to better on-board individuals and relay the expectations of service.
Initiatives Based Approach
Based on the feedback received at the conference we have decided to pivot to an initiatives-based approach for 2023. In lieu of sub-committees focused on broad interest areas, this revised structure is intended to focus on specific, actionable, schedule-driven initiatives, allowing for open discussions across the membership, as well as enhanced information sharing and participation.
This new approach is not that different from the intentions of our previous sub-committee structure. For example, the Research and Technology Committee consisted of several working groups. If a working group was interested in developing a database of re-entry or alternative justice facility project examples, they would propose an initiative around this effort and outline their objectives, schedule, and assistance needed from the LG, greater membership, or AIA staff to complete the effort. The difference in this approach is sub-committees are no longer meeting with a focus on one specific area with a limited number of members that are aware of, interested in, or invited to the meetings. The initiatives will be posted on our AAJ home-page and meeting times, champions, and other calls to action will be shared on the events calendar for our KC. This will provide greater visibility and access to the incredible work that we all contribute, and hopefully will reach a broader membership base.
The (LG) has suggested a few focus areas and initiatives to kick-off 2023 based on feedback from the conference. Initiatives may have varying degrees of complexity, and some may have multi-year execution strategies. Proposed initiatives will be reviewed by the LG/ AIA Staff to ensure they have adequate commitment as well as an actionable strategy for implementation.
We encourage members to volunteer to support or champion any of these initiatives for 2023 and invite everyone to propose a new idea you believe should be implemented. The process and call for proposal of initiatives can be found here.
Commitment to Communication
During the conference, we heard a lot of feedback on clarity of message and communication. Moving forward we will strive to be more intentional in our communication through virtual bi-monthly all-member meetings, and quarterly messages from the LG. These bi-monthly meetings are envisioned as an opportunity for disseminating information regarding general AAJ business, events, updates or feedback on initiative progress, and general networking.
Forward Thinking
Our first bi-monthly all-members meeting will take place on March 27, 2023 at 4 pm ET, register via this link, where we can further address your questions and solicit volunteers and champions for the outlined initiatives. In the interim, we hope you will continue to meet in your former sub-committee groups and discuss how you can shift your agendas to proposed initiatives.
We understand that this structure is a change from how AAJ has been organized and operated in the past. We do hope that you will keep an open mind about these changes and look for ways that you can contribute to moving initiatives forward to further the mission of our KC. Please be patient as we continue to work through this organizational change. We very much welcome your feedback on how we can support this transition and continue to promote cross-collaboration and engagement from a broader membership base.
Thank you again for your support and continued contributions to the AAJ!
Sincerely,
2023 AIA AAJ Leadership Group