By Christopher Holt, AIA
2020 AIACV Chapter President
As we begin this new decade it is a time of change and evolution for the AIA Central Valley. Last year during my vice-presidency I was charged with developing the third iteration of our Strategic Plan. The Strategic plan is the document that guides our Chapter along an ideological pathway, informing our programmatic and business decisions based on the governing body and our membership input. The first version of this plan was created by Matthew Shigihara (2009) and the second by Michael Parrott (2015). In collaboration with our fearless executive director Kim Anderson, we convened a committee consisting of future presidents, allied members, and the author of our current plan. Beginning in February 2019 we worked through several steps including precedent review, stakeholder engagement, brainstorming, and refining. The similarity to our architectural project process is not without coincidence, or intention.
We also engaged the 2019 Board of Directors in a first of its kind analysis of ongoing chapter events and programs. This event analysis helped the committee form and refine the four strategic goals and eventually led to a Chapter-wide organization chart to make visible the underlying structure of our dynamic Chapter. Both exercises were positive and will continue to grow and evolve as we move forward into 2020 and beyond.
By the middle of the year, the Strategic Plan committee had created a draft plan, defining our (4) strategic goals and we began working on tactics/actions to help us achieve these goals in earnest. Our first fully fledged ‘2020-2025 Draft Strategic Plan’ was shared with the Board of Directors in October, after generous graphic design support was offered by Will Smith (Dreyfuss + Blackford Architecture) . By November, the plan was ready for a final review and vote of the AIACV Board of Directors.
Some may think that is the end of it, but that is where the AIACV is evolving. We are adding another piece to the strategic plan process: an implementation plan. This document will supplement the strategic plan and provide definitions of success, metrics for measurement, and timelines to achieve each of the tactics/actions defined in the strategic plan, within the 5-year plan window. At the Chapter’s annual leadership retreat, we engaged the Board of Directors, Past Presidents and Committee Leaders to brainstorm the contents of the implementation plan and are currently coordinating/completing the work with a plan to release it by the end of the first quarter of 2020.
I encourage you to take a look at our new strategic plan resulting from the time, effort and feedback generously given by our members and stakeholders: https://aiacv.org/strategic-plan/ And, if you are interested in getting involved, please contact me or Kim Anderson to be put in contact with the committee or group that can use your help!