Board of Directors
The AIA Chicago Board of Directors is the representative leadership body elected by the local membership each year. All members in good standing are eligible to be nominated or self-nominate for an open position on the Board of Directors. Open positions and calls for nominations are sent to members in September of each year, with elections held in December at the Annual Meeting.
You can view the approved Board of Directors Meeting Minutes HERE.
To view a list of Past Presidents through 1995, click HERE.
President
Drew Deering, AIA
Associate Principal, Moody Nolan
Drawing from two decades of his architecture experience across a diverse spectrum of architectural projects, Drew approaches management to ensure the skilled execution of project within Moody Nolan. His in-depth construction administration and project management experience have driven the successful completion of projects from schools, arenas, and recreational centers. Drew served as the chair of the National Regional and Urban Design KC. He served on the National Associate Committee, as the Central States Regional Associate Director, and the Missouri Associate Director.
First Vice President/President-Elect
Mindy Viamontes, AIA
Partner/Owner, M Viamontes Architects
Mindy Viamontes, AIA is a partner at M Viamontes Architects. Her firm specializes in architecture and interior design including luxury home renovations, new construction houses and hospitality design. Prior to starting her own practice, Mindy spent 16 years in the commercial and public sectors where she led many high-profile civic projects including the award-winning CTA Washington/Wabash Station and the CTA 95th Terminal. She was recognized in 2019 as “40 Under 40” by Building Design + Construction. Mindy is a past president of Chicago Women in Architecture. She has served AIA Chicago in various capacities including Sponsorship, Membership and 150th Anniversary Committees.
Past-President
Jessica Figenholtz, AIA
Higher Education Practice Leader, Associate Principal
As a respected leader and higher education practice leader for the Perkins&Will Chicago studio, Jessica is focused on enhancing learning experiences and outcomes in the rapidly evolving education landscape. Jessica’s curiosity constantly drives her to ask how things are done and the reasoning behind specific decisions, allowing her to critically think through the approach from multiple lenses. Known also for her agility in operating within multiple practice areas, including education, retail, and commercial interiors, she is deeply involved in inclusive engagement, holistic planning, redevelopment, and sustainability.
Vice President, Advocacy
Arathi Gowda, AIA
Senior Associate Principal and Global Sustainability Leader, SOM
Arathi Gowda, AIA, AICP, LEED AP BD+C, is a global leader for SOM's High Performance Design Group which oversees the firm's Sustainability practice in Master Planning, Architecture and Interiors. As an educator she is committed to training the next generation of practitioners having taught coursework on sustainable urbanism at multiple universities, currently she is adjunct faculty at IIT. She is an advocate for collective climate action and is one of 11 Steering committee members for US Architects Declare and the co-chair of AIA Chicago's 2030 Commitment Working Group. Additional civic commitments include the Global Philanthropy Partnership Board and the USGBC IL Green Carbon Drawdown Advisory Board. Gowda was honored with the individual Chapter Mission Award from Illinois Green (2016) and named one of ten recipients of Green Building & Design's Women in Sustainability Leadership Award (2019). Recently she was appointed to Mayor Lightfoot’s Chicago Building Decarbonization task force (2021).
Vice President, Sponsorship
Julie Hacker, FAIA
Partner, Stuart Cohen & Julie Hacker Architects LLC
Julie Hacker FAIA, is a partner in the firm of Stuart Cohen & Julie Hacker Architects LLC where she has worked since 1986. She and her partner are the recent recipients of the SAH Award for Excellence in Design, Academics and Scholarship. Her residential work has been published nationally and internationally and is the subject of the book Transforming the Traditional. She currently sits on the CRAN Chicago steering committee and the CRAN National AIA Advisory Board. She has been responsible for the programming of the CRAN Virtual Symposium 2020 and 2021 as well as the upcoming live CRAN Symposium taking place in Chicago 2022. As a previous Evanston Preservation Commissioner, she is responsible for rewriting the Preservation Guidelines and the Solar Panel Preservation Guidelines for the City of Evanston.
Vice President, Honors & Awards
Lynda Dossey, AIA
Principal, JAHN
Lynda Dossey, AIA, is a Director at JAHN leading teams with a focus high-rise, community buildings and urban streetscapes. In addition to managing projects at JAHN she has been an adjunct professor at IIT and serves as AXP mentor for JAHN staff. Lynda frequently volunteers her time and has been an architectural tour guide, a reviewer of code revisions, a juror for architectural students and professionals, a lecturer/presenter both scheduled and unscheduled and will never turn down a request to present the field of architecture to young students on career day.
Vice President, Membership
Jason Golub, AIA
Vice President, CannonDesign
Jason Golub, AIA, is a Studio Operations Leader at CannonDesign. His career has included a vast array of project types and scales, from large scale planned developments to custom single family residential. He has a strong understanding of best practices, risk management, and continues to lead teams with his focused project management abilities. Jason has a deep passion for mentorship and helping develop the next generation of future leaders. His dedication to the profession through his volunteer work in his community, involvement in AIA Chicago’s Architects in Schools program as well as teaching in local underprivileged junior highs and high schools.
Vice President, Finance
Tim Tracey, AIA
Office Director and Principal, SmithGroup
Tim Tracey, AIA, is the director of SmithGroup’s Chicago office. He leads a multi-disciplinary office with a focus on design quality achieved through a holistic and integrated design process, building relationships with clients and partners, and furthering SmithGroup’s reputation as an award-winning firm. Always with a goal of design excellence, Tim builds teams, studies process improvement, and embraces interdisciplinary design for optimized design outcomes. Tim received a Bachelor of Architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Vice President, Education
Chey Taylor, AIA
Associate, SMNG A Ltd.
Chey Taylor, AIA, LEED AP, is an Associate at SMNG A Ltd with over 20 years of experience. Her project experience includes K-12 public school modernization and new construction projects, community health care clinics, early childhood facilities and affordable housing facilities. As the sustainability lead at SMNG A, she is the LEED project administrator for projects pursuing certification. She is a past co-chair of the AIA Chicago Community Interface Committee (now Community Engagement) and helped develop the Architect in Schools program. She has previously chaired the Community Outreach Committee for the United Way Young Leaders Society.
Director
Natalie Hicks, AIA
Technical Leader & Senior Project Manager, HPZS
Natalie Hicks, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C is the Technical Leader & a Senior Project Manager at HPZS. She completed her undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, earning an MBA and Master of Architecture, Structures Option. In 2018, Natalie was in the first cohort of graduates from the AIA Chicago transFORM program. Natalie began her career in structural engineering, working on multiple higher education and civic projects. After a few years, she transitioned to project architecture and eventually project management of major commercial renovations and ground-up projects. Her career project experience varies and includes healthcare, commercial office, religious buildings, institutional, and K-12. Natalie is a former Co-Chair of the AIA Chicago EDI Committee and President of Chicago Women in Architecture. Volunteering and giving back to the profession and her community continues to be one of her passions.
Director
Josh Mings, AIA
Senior Associate, Practice Leader, Canopy Architecture + Design
A Senior Associate at Canopy, Josh Mings, AIA focuses on affordable housing, neighborhood planning, and civic projects on a variety of scales. Josh’s experience in all phases of projects allows for teams to create the best possible projects through teamwork, critical engagement, and consensus-building. Josh strives to give back, serving as Co-Chair of the AIA Chicago Design Knowledge Community, and with involvement in mentoring the next generation of architects through serving on design juries, leading the NEXUS mentorship program, and previously with Black Spectacles’ ARE group Coaching Program.
Director
Kelly Moynihan, AIA
Principal, HPZS
Kelly Moynihan serves as a Principal at HPZS, a design leader that pursues the preservation and creation of carbon-free, equitable, high-performance projects. A graduate of IIT, Kelly is a multi-faceted architect, with diverse experience across affordable housing, education, historic preservation/reuse, and interiors. As a Certified Passive House Consultant and WELL AP, Kelly prioritizes maximizing energy efficiency within building assemblies and systems while creating beautiful, healthy places for humans. She is actively involved as Co-Chair of the AIA Chicago COTE Knowledge Community, Board Member of the Passive House Alliance Chicago Chapter, and Illinois Green Alliance, developing educational programming focused on strategies for decarbonizing the built environment.
Director
Enrique Suarez, AIA
Principal, HED
In his tenure at HED, Enrique Suarez, AIA, has held various roles and responsibilities from leading a design team to Studio Leader, to the firm’s national studio leader for the corporate market sector. Eventually, he moved into leading the Chicago office as managing principal and became a board member of the HED. Currently Suarez serves on firm’s executive leadership team as Corporate Marketing Leader. Enrique is active in civic activities in Chicago and is trustee of the Children at the Crossroads Foundation and is the chair of the board of trustees at the Frances Xavier Warde School.
Director
Calli Verkamp, AIA
Architect, Wheeler Kearns
Calli received her Bachelor of Architecture from the Fay Jones School of Architecture at the University of Arkansas. Since joining WKA in 2013 Calli has worked on a mix of project types, from single-family residential to adaptive reuse institutional projects. Her experience includes the award-winning Wicker Park Residence, Intelligentsia Monadnock, and The Momentary, the adaptive reuse of a decommissioned Kraft plant into a facility for innovative art. Calli serves as a Director at Large for the Roscoe Village Neighbors and actively mentors young professionals through ACE, Chicago AIA, and Girl Forward.
Director
Ashlen Williams, AIA
Architect, KOO LLC
Ashlen is a gifted designer whose approach is informed by a passion for enriching architectural experiences, particularly within urban communities. Her philosophy is that every new encounter offers critical insight into the human experience, and as a designer, it is her goal to translate this knowledge into architecture that inspires communities. Ashlen is the 2021 President-Elect of I-NOMA.
Director
Peter Wojtowicz, AIA
Associate, Valerio Dewalt Train
Peter Wojtowicz, AIA, is an Associate at Valerio Dewalt Train who enjoys exploring the “why” and “how” of projects with clients and colleagues. As a project manager and project architect, he values collaboration to foster positive relationships throughout the design process. His experience includes high-rise, multi-family, affordable housing, hospitality, commercial, and industrial architecture. Peter performs regularly on bass with jazz, rock, and bluegrass groups, and credits his music training for his approach to architecture -- balancing the order and precision of the craft with the ability to improvise when necessary.
Associate Director
Justin Banda, Assoc. AIA
Associate, Legat Architects
Justin Banda, Assoc. AIA, WELL AP, is an emerging professional working in the field of sustainable architecture. He currently works as the director of the annual Think Tank at Legat Architects, where he is also a project associate for diverse education and transit clients such as CPS and Metra, and serves on the company’s Creatives Committee. He received his Master of Architecture (M.Arch) with a concentration in Sustainable Design from Judson University in 2017. He is the 2020 co-chair of the AIA Chicago Young Architects Forum, and serves as the Chicago Delegate to the AIA Illinois Emerging Professionals Network.
Associate Director
Richie Hands, Assoc. AIA
Senior Associate, Lamar Johnson Collaborative
Richie has a multidisciplinary background in design, having worked on both interiors and exterior projects worldwide. He is incredibly passionate about mentoring, running multiple mentorship internship programs, and engaging with middle school students through grad school. He was recently selected to be apart of AIA Chicago’s Bridge Mentorship program and continues to work with expanding the architectural profession’s diversity.
Affiliate Director
Chris Carpenter, Affil. AIA
Architectural Consultant, Pella Corporation
Chris Carpenter, Affil. AIA Chicago, is an architectural consultant with Pella Windows & Doors. Chris was awarded the 2018 Architects-in-Action Service Award by the AIA Northeast Illinois chapter for his leadership and service to the profession and is a former Affiliate Director. He is past secretary of the Chicago chapter of the Construction Specifications Institute and is a Certified Construction Products Representative. Chris also serves as president of Open Door Rehabilitation Center, a 501c3 providing person-driven services to adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Chris received a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Affiliate Director
Bob Magruder, Affil. AIA
Owner, Goodfriend Magruder Structure LLC
Mr. Magruder has practiced structural engineering with architects in Chicago since 1984, from initial conception through construction phase. Prior to starting his own practice, Mr. Magruder served in senior positions at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Perkins & Will, and Thornton Tomasetti. In 2008, Bob formed Goodfriend Magruder Structure LLC, a boutique structural design firm offering creative and innovative solutions to engineering challenges. The work has been recognized numerous times with national and local awards. Bob also teaches structures to students of architecture at UIC, participates in student design reviews, and collaborates in design competitions.
Student Director
Forthcoming
Each year, the AIA Chicago Student Director is a rotating, one-year term between the three schools of Architecture within the city. This year, a student will be elected in the new year by the AIAS Chapters at either the School of the Art Institute of Chicago or Illinois Institute of Technology.
AIA Illinois Delegate
Molly Rademacher, AIA
Molly is an Architect at Lamar Johnson Collaborative specializing in interior environments. She is a creative designer with a strong background in material exploration with aptitude for team, client and community collaboration allowing holistic solutions which address brand, function and environment of space. Molly has been an advocate for emerging professionals in the architectural profession serving in many roles including AIA Illinois Student Director, Regional Associate Director on the National Associates Committee and a founding member and Chair of the AIA Illinois Emerging Professionals Network.
AIA Illinois Delegate
Terran Wilson, AIA
Since joining Landon Bone Baker Architects (LBBA) in 2011, Terran has worked on a variety of projects from standardized plan sets for tiny homes to neighborhood planning and high rises; community engagement; moderate rehabs, adaptive reuse, and new construction. Pursuant to her belief that it is an architect’s civic and social responsibility to pursue good design for all, Terran joined the AIA’s Center for Civic Leadership and participates in AIA Chicago’s Prairie Grassroots.
AIA Illinois Delegate
Wei Yu, AIA
Wei Yu, AIA, LEED AP BD+C is the owner and principal architect at Yu & Associates Collaborative in Chicago, IL. Born in China, Wei moved to the United States at a young age. With his multi-cultural background, Wei believes that a well-crafted design has the power to uplift the spirit of individuals and communities. He enjoys dialogue with clients, and is involved with all projects at the studio. Wei earned his Master of Architecture from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He worked for high-profile design firms in Chicago and Minneapolis prior to establishing his own studio with a design philosophy that revolves around sensory, value, and sustainability. Wei is an active member of his local community, serving on the board for a non-profit organization, Blessings in a Backpack.
