Career StagesNational Associates Committee

California Region

Lauren Pasion, Associate AIA, currently works and resides in San Diego, CA. She graduated in June 2012 from the New School of Architecture and Design with a Bachelors of Architecture and a Minor in Art and Design. She is a strong advocate for mentorship and maintains active engagement with current students through the New School Mentor Program. She is also member of the New School Alumni Advisory Board and strives to increase dialog between students, professionals, and the community.

Lauren joined Lusardi Construction Company as a planner soon after graduation and has worked on a variety of projects since. Is wears several hats at the Company and assists with marketing and business development efforts. She is currently enrolled in IDP, studying for the ARE and is pursuing licensure in California.

As past AIAS Chapter President of the New School of Architecture and Design Chapter, Lauren first became involved with her local AIA San Diego Chapter during her term in 2009 - 2010. She helped pioneer several local programs including a sample library for students, a peer mentor program, and collaborated with other nonprofits to provide opportunities for students. She also sat on the national AIAS Civic Engagement committee and West Quad Communications Task Force.

After making an impact at her local level, Lauren then served statewide with the AIA California Council on the Academy of Emerging Professionals Council of Advisors. As the 2010 - 2012 Student Director for the Southern California region, Lauren conducted outreach to California students and AIAS chapters. She sat as a Mel-Ferris Scholarship juror and AIA San Diego YAYA Juror. She co-chaired the 2010 AIAS West Quad Conference and participated on the 2011 Architectural Education Summit committee, which she produced proceedings for both conferences.

Central States Region

April O. Trojniak, Assoc. AIA, is currently working as an intern at BCS Design, Inc. Throughout her career, she has had experience in the student sector. Designing universities, academic buildings, unions, dormitories, and master planning. Her job includes many diverse roles which has helped her in completing her IDP hours.

April studied at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. She had the privilege of learning in the historic Crown Hall. She took a year off to grow her family with the birth of her first child and finished her studies at the University of Kansas, where she graduated from the five year Bachelors of Architecture program.

April officially became a member of the American Institute of Architects in September 2005. Her involvement with the AIA started during her college studies where she served as her university’s AIAS Chapter president, vice-president, and secretary. April is involved in her local Construction Specifications Institute (CSI). She served on the board for two years; during her time on the board she helped organize many events which included the annual Design Expo. April is also involved in the Women in Design chapter in Kansas City. She enjoys serving the youth by being a Youth Friend and also volunteers her time teaching at the local schools.

Florida-Caribbean Region

Esteli Capote, Assoc. AIA is a young and talented professional committed to the architectural discipline and the good it serves to improve our environment. As the Executive Director for the Architectural Foundation (Fundación por la Arquitectura) she is in charge of business administration, coordinating events and programs and developing the strategic fundraising program.

As an advocate for the profession, she served as secretary on the Board of Directors of the Puerto Rico Component of the American Institute of Architects. In 2009, Estelí attended the AIA National Convention in San Francisco as recipient of a national program that provides free registration to promote participation by Associate members. At the same time Estelí was a Representative of the Associate members at the Puerto Rico Architect’s Guild Board of Directors.

From2003 thru 2006 Estelí volunteered as Editor of the AIA Puerto Rico newsletter. In 2002, as second year student of architecture, she recognized the need of an organization of students as a way to establish a link with architectural professionals. This led to the establishment of the AIAS Chapter at the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico. Estelí was instrumental in devising strategies and dealing with the certification process to establish this student organization at PUPR’s School of Architecture.

Gulf States Region

Jared Hueter, Assoc. AIA, is an intern architect with Mathes Brierre Architects in New Orleans Louisiana. He joined the team at MBA in 2011 to focus on educational design.

Jared has been an out spoken advocate for responsible design and a community volunteer since 2005. As Cofounder and President of Re_Vision he organized Design/Build projects for the homeless. As the Project Manager of Redeemer Relief Jared over saw the renovation of 60+ Katrina damaged structures in New Orleans. In 2008 he served as the Program Coordinator of The CITYbuild Consortium of Schools, facilitating 20+ Design/Build projects throughout New Orleans. Jared also served as the New Orleans Design Corps Fellow and board member of the Gertown Revival Initiative to rebuild Gertown. For three years Jared served as the Dean of Design at the Priestley Charter School of Architecture and Construction developing a design/build based high school curriculum for academically at-risk youth.

Jared completed his Bachelors of Architecture at the E. Fay Jones School of Architecture at the University of Arkansas. He is currently in the process of completing the IDP and is preparing for the Architect Registration Examination.

Illinois Region

Erin O’Keefe, Assoc. AIA, is an architectural intern with Rockford Architects in Rockford, Illinois. She is currently venturing through the Intern Development Program with the hopes of becoming licensed in Illinois. While with Rockford Associates Inc., Erin assisted with designing an addition to Rockford’s Discovery Center Children’s Museum; several retail, commercial, and restaurant build outs around the Rockford region; and a new community nutrition and food distribution center for the Northern Illinois Food Bank in Geneva, Illinois, including furnishings selection for the Food Bank’s offices and community areas.

After earning a BSAS from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Erin was an assistant interior project manager with Korte Interiors, a division of The Korte Company, in Highland, Illinois, providing Haworth contract furniture to a variety of clients including the American Association of Orthodontists’ St. Louis headquarters and a network television station in Las Vegas, Nevada. She has a passion for interiors and ensuring all areas have the necessary functional furnishings to allow all users to enjoy their experience within a space.

Erin moved to Northern Illinois in 2008, joined the AIA in 2009, and has been involved in the AIA Northern Illinois chapter’s student scholarship competition, golf play day, and Honor Awards. She has served on the chapter board since 2011.

Michigan Region

Amanda Harrell-Seyburn, Assoc. AIA, is a passionate designer dedicated to creating sustainable built environments. She has been working, for the past two years, with several Michigan based architecture and planning firms on a variety of projects from single-family home renovations to full-scale urban designs including most recently, the Green Lake Township Gateway Masterplan in Michigan’s Northwest Region with Gibbs Planning Group.

Amanda is a fulltime faculty member at Michigan State University’s School of Planning, Design and Construction where she teaches courses on the integrated sustainable built environment and computer modeling. Her research focuses on energy and high performance buildings in the Great Lakes Region including her role as a member of the team that is developing and implementing innovative retrofit technologies primarily for cold and mixed-humid climate regions in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building America Program.

Amanda joined the AIA to participate in the advancement of the profession and for mentorship. She has served on several committees and the sponsorship task force. She is involved in the Center for Emerging Professional Resources and the Emerging Professionals Committee. In addition she serves as a commissioner for the East Lansing Historic District Commission and alternative energy subcommittee. She also writes a weekly column on architecture and sustainability for the City Pulse Newspaper.

Amanda holds a Master of Architecture degree from Andrews University and a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from Kalamazoo College. She was a recipient of the Congress for the New Urbanism 2009 Charter Award for excellence in architecture and urban design for Planning Abaco: A Proposal to Restore a Sustainable Settlement Tradition in the Bahamas. She is accomplishing her IDP requirements and will begin taking the ARE in 2012.

Middle Atlantic Region

Joseph Lai, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP, currently works and resides in the Washington, DC metro area. Originally from Taiwan, he attended Tulane University in New Orleans where he received both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Architecture.

In 2007, Joseph joined Wiencek + Associates, an award-winning 50 person firm with offices in Washington, DC and Gaithersburg, Maryland. Joseph shares W+A’s passion for creating socially responsible and community oriented architecture, and has gotten the chance to work on several multi-family projects—including Wheeler Terrace and The Vista at Edgewood Terrace—that have transformed neighborhoods and communities in DC. In addition to affordable housing, he has also gotten the opportunity to collaborate with Adjaye Associates on the Francis Gregory and Lockridge Bellevue DC Public Libraries, both of which were opened in the summer of 2012. Most recently, Joseph served as project lead for The Avenue, managing the project from schematic design through construction administration. The 82 unit apartment building is the first phase of the masterplan to revitalize the Park Morton neighborhood of Washington, DC and was completed in October of 2012.

Joseph first became involved with the AIA through the Potomac Valley chapter as a member of the Programs Committee. He worked with other volunteers to plan, advertise, and execute various events for the chapter; many of which were centered on mentorship and licensure issues of fellow Associate members. With this interest in mind, Joseph joined the AIA-PV board in 2012 as Associate Director, where he established the chapter's first Committee for Emerging Professionals, focused on engaging more Associate members in the region to serve their needs. Working with the Committee, Joseph secured a grant from the College of Fellows to create a Lending Library for Associates studying for the Architectural Registration Exams, of which he is also in the process of completing.

New England Region

Derek Osterman, Assoc. AIA

New Jersey Region

Jason Peist, Assoc. AIA

New York Region

Nicolette Feldser, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP BD+C, received her Bachelor of Architecture from Syracuse University and LEED Credentials in 2008. She is deeply passionate about environmental & social sustainability and mentorship within the profession. Nicolette brings that same passion to her work in the K-12 and Higher Education markets through her involvement on LEED projects, through leading office BIM/3D modeling production processes, and promoting professional development across the architectural community. She also serves as a NCARB IDP Auxiliary Coordinator and AIA/CES Point of Contact where she has created programs to aid young professionals in navigating the road to licensure, organized office learning sessions, and promoted community involvement through organized volunteer activities.

She first became an AIA member in 2009 as the Central New York Chapter IDP Coordinator. With her involvement, she spearheaded the creation of the EP Development Series. This series, which recently received a YAF/COF 2012 Emerging Professionals Component Grant, includes IDP Sign Up Days, local ARE Study Groups, and a YAF Lecture Series for Emerging Professionals who do not have access to these resources within their own firms.

In 2010, Nicolette was elected as the 2011-2012 AIANYS Associate Director where she authored the first statewide ARE Scholarship and created outreach efforts to increase awareness on the issue of unpaid internships. During this time, she also led the State Emerging Professionals Committee to draft the Roles & Responsibilities Guidelines for the Associate and Regional Associate Directors, create an annual Welcome Packet for New Associate Members, and expand the Committee to represent IDP, YAF, AIAS, and Associate Member leaders throughout the State. She has served on a number of other AIANYS committees including the State Convention Committee, Student Awards Committee, Strategic Planning Sessions, and the State Executive Director Search Committee.

Nicolette completed the IDP in 2012 and is currently pursuing licensure within New York State.

North Central Region

Devin Little, Assoc. AIA

Northwest & Pacific Region

Joseph Mayo, Assoc. AIA, has been with Mahlum since 2008. In his work, he is developing expertise in student housing, focusing on greening student life and low-carbon construction methods. A LEED Accredited Professional, Joe also supports Mahlum in design efforts with daylighting studies, climatic analysis and LEED tracking, as well as research on environmental issues such as passive ventilation and alternative material selection.

Joe has traveled throughout Europe to investigate new architecture and construction methods using local and sustainable resources, supported in part by an AIA Seattle Emerging Professionals Travel Scholarship. He continues to share and expand upon this research, lecturing on contemporary technologies and building systems in wood construction as a way to connect and re-imagine the building culture of the Northwest. While interested in a sustainable regionalism, Joe’s research also focuses on the practicalities of fire safety and code challenges.

Joe has an M.Arch from the University of Oregon, and a B.A from the School of Communications at the University of Washington. While at the University of Oregon, Mayo volunteered at the Ecological Design Center and also served as the Editor for the School of Architecture and Allied Arts’ (AAA) bi-annual “AAA Bulletin” and annual “AAA Review” publications. Mayo looks forward to focusing on the importance of communication, spreading ideas and serving the Pacific region and Northwest.

Ohio Valley Region

Gregory Spon, AIA, joined Phillips/Sekanick Architects in August of 2006 as an intern and has become the leader of the Focus Studio, concentrating on quick service and fast casual restaurant design. Overall, Gregory has 13 years of experience working for engineering and architecture firms that concentrated on designing bridges, waste water treatment facilities, educational facilities, retail design centers and local municipality projects. He also served in the United States Army Corp of Engineers.

Gregory joined the AIA in 2007 and has become an active member, first serving as an associate director for the local Eastern Ohio component and then being elected as Ohio Associate Director and board member. The Ohio Valley Regional Council selected Gregory so serve a two year term as the Regional Associate Director. Recently he served on the Regional Convention Committee and helped organize the "UnConvention" and selective programming for Emerging Professionals.

He studied at the Pittsburgh Technical Institute in Pittsburgh, PA majoring in architectural drafting and design. Then moved to San Diego, California to study architecture at the NewSchool of Architecture and Design. He has recently completed the ARE and is now a registered architect. He is currently preparing to take the LEED AP BD+C Exam.

Gregory was born near Pittsburgh, PA and currently resides in the Warren/ Youngstown, Ohio area with his beautiful wife, 3 year old son and 2 dogs. His leisure and free-time consist of spending time with his family, sketching, playing basketball, and serving on the Warren G.R.O.W.S. Design Committee.

Pennsylvania Region

Safiya Hodari, Assoc. AIA

South Atlantic Region

Michael Atkinson, Assoc. AIA

Texas Region

Melina Cannon, Assoc. AIA was employed at several local architecture firms, doing mostly residential work before beginning work in 2007 at Rhotenberry Wellen Architects in her hometown of Midland, Texas. At RWA, Melina does primarily Construction Administration on commercial and educational projects. She attended the School of Architecture at the University of Texas in Austin, and graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture. She jointed AIA right out of school, at the urging of her first employer, but did not continue her involvement until 2008. She served as an associate director for one term, and just completed a three-year turn as the Chapter Director for the West Texas Chapter. She also just completed one term on Texas Society of Architects’ Continuing Education Committee.

The Virginias Region

JW Blanchard, Assoc. AIA

Western Mountain Region

Jennifer Penner, Assoc. AIA

NCARB Liaison

Susan Schaefer Kliman, AIA