Moving Forward Boldly
by Jennifer Christiaansen, AIA, AIA Minnesota President
s I close out my year as president of AIA Minnesota, I find myself reflecting on the themes that shaped our work together in 2025 — Advocacy, Connection, and Value — and on what they reveal about the future of our profession. Advocacy is imperative at this time; as Tom Fisher reminded us in his speech at the AIA Minnesota annual meeting, we are strong in numbers and must not remain silent.
Our value is something we cannot take for granted; the need for innovative research into sustainable solutions in our cities — as demonstrated by Doris Sung’s incredible work — illustrates the value of our profession for communities around the globe. We must continue to educate all on how architects bring value to communities to ensure we receive the funding, support, and leverage needed to deliver design that improves lives.
Connection is the third theme and a thread that weaves AIA Minnesota from year to year; our Next Gen work in 2025 will be foundational to our future as an organization — connecting between generations for mentorship, sponsorship, learning, and growth.
I was deeply inspired by Molly Kawahata’s speech on hope, and reflecting on our three themes above, I would like to offer that at the heart of each is a simple truth: organizations move forward when we pair hope with being bold. Hope gives us the clarity to imagine a more equitable, sustainable, and connected built environment; being bold is what turns that vision into action.
This year we turned hope into action through rigor and bold service to the AIA Minnesota members: we pushed lease negotiations forward, continued the efforts on licensure pathways, engaged in legislative affairs despite the fallout from federal uncertainty, made progress on the website redesign, supported the MAF rebrand, continued work on NILP, NSSM, and COPEDAH, and of course created space for the Next Gen leaders in our community to create their own vision — we accomplished an incredible amount in twelve months with fewer meetings! The organization is in stable financial condition, with exceptionally strong leadership, and with much important work continuing into next year. I would like to celebrate this and recognize the efforts of the AIA Minnesota staff and our newest honorary AIA member, Mary Margaret Zindren. This work is truly their doing, thank you for all you do!
And as we look ahead, I am especially inspired by the vision of the Next Gen initiative, which is elevating emerging voices who are ready to get to work. Their bold passion — alongside the dedicated team at AIA Minnesota, the local chapters, numerous committees, and the board of directors led by president Phillip Koski, AIA — will continue carrying innovative and critical AIA Minnesota initiatives forward with fresh ideas, conviction, and courage. They are the next chapter of AIA Minnesota — and a wonderful reason for hope.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to serve.
Jennifer