Report on Our 2014 Annual Business Meeting by Allison Kinst The annual business meeting of the Organization of Women Architects and Design Professionals was held on October 21st at Preservation Park in Oakland. We conducted our annual business at the meeting including hearing some updates from our Book Circle and "Pod" groups, passing the budget for 2015 and electing our new Steering Committee members. Our newly elected Steering Committee members for 2015-2016 are Gloria Kim Woo (Public Relations Coordinator), Sharon Chio (Membership Coordinator) and Naomi Horowitz (Information Coordinator). Attendance at the business meeting was lower than usual this year but we still had a productive evening full of interesting and lively discussions. There were a lot of good ideas mentioned for possible meeting topics for 2015, and one theme that kept coming up was holding joint meetings or events with other groups such as the AIA, the National Organization of Minority Architects, or Architects/Designers/ Planners for Social Responsibility. Other ideas for 2015 events included; - Alternative ways to approach architecture, especially focusing on what women have to contribute to make architecture a voice in shaping the future of the built environment. - Members perspectives on how to handle new or challenging professional situations - more social/informal events A key issue that was on everyone’s mind is membership. Over the last year we have seen a decrease in our membership. The Steering Committee has been talking about this trend and we are in the process of identifying the possible causes and implementing solutions. We received a lot of valuable input from our members at the business meeting and heard some excellent ideas about ways to address this issue. The annual business meeting is a very important part of our organization as it gives members the opportunity to discuss and debate the direction and activities of the Organization of Women Architects and Design Professionals. As a member of the Steering Committee, it is always helpful to hear from our members as we try to make decisions on behalf of the membership. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me or any other Steering Committee member if your have any ideas or feedback you would like to contribute. You can contact us individually or at email@owa-usa.org. Thank you to everyone who attended and I hope to see you all again next year at the 2015 meeting. Happy Holidays! Allison Kinst Policies and Procedures Coordinator OWADP Steering Committee |
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Newsletter | Nov/Dec 2014