Career StagesYAF Advisory Committtee

Bradley Benjamin, AIA, is an architect and the founder of Radium Architecture, a firm in Greenville, SC, which works to bring purpose to the built environment by designing more sustainable & socially responsible places. He graduated from Clemson University with a Bachelor of Science in Design, a Bachelor of Science in Construction Science and Management, and a Masters of Architecture.

Brad has consistently demonstrated exceptional initiative, enthusiasm, and commitment on the local, state, regional, and national levels for the AIA. He has served on the National Associates Committee, the AIA Board Knowledge Committee, the Strategic Planning Advance, the Emerging Professionals Companion Advisory Committee, and the YAF 15 Summit committee. He currently serves as state IDP Coordinator and Past President for AIA Greenville. Brad is a previous recipient of the AIA’s Associate Member of the Year Award.

Keenly aware of the importance of architecture in his community’s growth and development, Brad has made a personal commitment to lend his creative talents and problem solving abilities to many local community boards and organizations to which he serves as an exceptional representative of his profession. He serves on the United Way, Leadership Greenville Board of Regents, Pecha Kucha Night Grenville, and Architecture for Humanity Greenville.

Jonathan Penndorf, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, is a Project Manager and the Sustainability Leader for the Washington, DC office of Perkins+Will.  Licensed in both DC and Virginia, he brings his sustainable design experience to a wide variety of project types – from portfolio-wide energy management plans to small interior renovations.  He has provided sustainability leadership on projects that have achieved LEED certification and is currently engaged in design for net zero energy facilities in the Washington DC area.  Jon received his Master of Architecture degree from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC and maintains NCARB certification.

Jon has been active in local and regional AIA programs for the past several years.  He has served the Washington DC Chapter on the board of directors since 2006, and in 2012 assumed the role of President.  In 2012 he also served on the Host Chapter Steering Committee for the AIA National Convention.  An advocate for emerging professionals, he chaired the AIA|DC Emerging Architects Committee and started successful mentoring and networking programs targeted at Associates and Young Architects.  He created the AIA|DC Emerging Architect Award in 2009, and has shepherded the chapter into increased digital presence through social media.  At the regional level, Jon was the Mid-Atlantic Regional Liaison for the YAF from 2008 to 2011 and was key to the region amending their bylaws to officially recognize the YAF representative.  He has spoken at regional and national events on both sustainable design topics and on professional development and education topics.  He participated in the YAF20 Summit in March of 2012, helping to map out the course of policy for the YAF over the next five years. 

Outside of his work with the AIA, Jon has served on the board of directors for DC Habitat for Humanity and has led that group’s public relations and outreach.  He is a regular contributor to his neighborhood’s website, authoring articles on green design as well as on social and current events.  In 2012 he was honored with the AIA Young Architect Award.

Jennifer Workman, AIA, is a licensed architect for Good Fulton & Farrell Architects in Dallas, Texas. Jennifer received a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Texas at Austin and focused her studies on various museums throughout the world. These early analysis assisted her when she was selected by GFF to work alongside Morphosis Architects on the design of the new Perot Museum of Nature & Science in their Los Angeles office. Following almost two years in California, she returned to Dallas, Texas to work on the construction site of the iconic museum.

Aside from the museum, Jennifer’s most important contributions to the profession have come in the form of her volunteer work for the AIA at the local, state, and national levels. In Dallas, Jennifer has devoted her time to the Dallas Tour of Homes, Publications Committee, Honors Committee, and Publicity Committee. She has served as a chair on the Associates Committee, the Young Architects Forum, and the Ken Roberts Delineation Competition which is one of the longest architectural drawing competitions in the world. At the Texas Society of Architects she served four straight years as a voting board member as the Dallas Director and the Texas Regional Associates Director to the National Associates Committee. She also served on the jury for the Texas Architectural Foundation and was involved with the Membership Services Committee, Honors Committee, the Continuing Education Committee, and served as a Publicity Committee Chair for the TSA Convention in Dallas in 2011. Nationally, Jennifer is serving as the 2012 Chair of the Young Architects Forum. She has been involved with the YAF since 2009 when she became the Communications Advisor acting as the editor for the bi-monthly publication which was sent to over 22,000 members.

Wyatt Frantom, AIA, is a Design Architect with Gensler Los Angeles. With 15 years in professional practice, Wyatt has designed and collaborated on numerous award-winning projects and a diverse range of project types; from the ambitious King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia and the eighty-level Capital Market Authority office tower in Riyadh to the intimately-considered Unity Church of Christianity in Houston. Wyatt is a Registered Architect in Texas and California and LEED-AP [BD+C]. Wyatt also pursues research-applied design independently under Wyatt Frantom architecture + design.

Wyatt received his Master of Architecture degree with distinction from Rice University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture from The Ohio State University and has taught as a Lecturer and Research Assistant Professor at The University of Houston’s Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture. Wyatt has lectured at The University of Texas in Denton, exhibited and lectured at the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture at The University of Houston; and has served as guest critic at the Rice University’s College of Architecture in Houston, the Art Institute of Houston, Washington University’s Sam Fox School of Design in St Louis, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Wyatt, and his projects, have been published in book and journals, including ‘The Wall Street Journal’, ‘The New York Times’, ‘Architectural Record’, ‘Sustainable’ magazine, ‘Design Intelligence’, ‘Metropolis’, ‘Cite’, ‘The HOME House Project’ by MIT Press, and the AIA YAF Connection among others.

Wyatt has actively participated in a number of organizations, including the AIA as Texas Young Architects Regional Director, YAF Houston Chairman, presenter on ‘Mentorship’ at AIA Grassroots, Houston Design Awards and IDEAS Competition Committee member; the Texas Society of Architects; Rice Design Alliance; Houston Mod as a Co-founder and Master Mod. Wyatt was the 2007 recipient of the ‘Young Architect of the Year Award’ by the Houston Chapter of the AIA.

Virginia E. Marquardt, AIA, LEED AP, CDT, is an architect at DLR Group’s Santa Monica, California office with 14 years of experience leading educational, justice, and municipality teams as a project manager and project architect. Throughout Virginia’s career she has felt it important to give back to the profession by serving on numerous AIA boards and committees, at a local, state, regional, and national level. She has held leadership positions at the local level as AIA-Phoenix Metro’s Associate Director, Emerging Professional Director, YAF Committee Chair, Board of Director, Secretary and Treasurer and has been a member of Architecture Week, Membership and Advocates committees. At the regional level, she was AIA-Western Mountain Region’s Young Architect Regional Director from August 2007-2011. In 2009, Virginia was asked to serve on the sub-committee for the 2010 AIA-National Convention Education Committee reviewing abstracts and in 2010 as the Emerging Professional representative for AIA’s Center for Integrated Practice Leadership. Currently, she is serving as the 2012-2013 Community Director for AIA National Young Architects Forum’s Advisory Committee and sits on the AIA-National’s Education Committee.

Virginia strives to share her passion for architecture with others and will always be an advocate for future architects and our profession. In Arizona she was a mentor to Scottsdale high school students through Students: by Design (2010) and is currently mentoring Santa Monica area high school students through the ACE mentoring program (2011). She has been a guest lector for Arizona State University’s School of Architecture + Landscape Architecture’s “Summer Internship” seminar (2010) and a presenter / moderator for the Young Architects’ presentations at the Western Mountain Region’s Conferences (2008-2011)

She holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the Louisiana Tech University (cum laude) and is a licensed professional in Arizona as well as a LEED accredited professional and Construction Document Technologist (CDT).

Virginia is the recipient of AIA-Arizona’s Young Architects Citation Award (2009) and AIA-Western Mountain Regions’ Jason Pettigrew Associate AIA Memorial Leadership Scholarship, (2005).

Josh Flowers, AIA, LEED AP, is a registered architect and licensed attorney and is General Counsel of Hnedak Bobo Group (HBG), a nationally-recognized leader in hospitality, entertainment and mixed-use design, based in Memphis, Tennessee. HBG is a three-time recipient of the Zweig White Best Firms to Work For ranking, based on comprehensive evaluations of architecture firm culture and workplace practices. Josh oversees legal, insurance and compliance matters for HBG and is a member of the firm’s Management Team.

He was the 2011-2012 Young Architect Regional Director for the AIA Gulf States Region where he launched “Redefining Design: Emerging Gulf States” a regional symposium for emerging professionals. Josh served as the 2012 President of AIA Memphis and is a member of the AIA Tennessee Government Advocacy Committee. He received the 2012 AIA Tennessee President’s Award for his work with advocacy and emerging professionals.

Josh received Bachelor of Architecture and Juris Doctor Degrees from the University of Tennessee where he served as editor of the Tennessee Law Review. He is a member of the American Bar Association Forum on the Construction Industry as well as the Memphis and Tennessee Bar Associations and the Urban Land Institute. He is listed as a Rule 31 mediator in the State of Tennessee, and is a national speaker and writer on legal issues related to architectural practice.

Joseph R. Benesh, AIA, NCARB, CDT, LEED AP, is currently a K-12 Focus Market Leader and Project Manager for RDG Planning + Design in Des Moines, Iowa. In this role, Joe is responsible for the design, documentation, and overall project management of buildings spanning a variety of sizes and complexities. He actively participates in marketing and project leads, develops presentations, fosters and nurtures client relationships, facilitates project scheduling and budgeting, as well as bidding and construction administration.

Joe has been actively involved in AIA member groups and initiatives for more than twelve years, serving in a variety of leadership positions at the local, state, and regional levels. He will serve as the 2012 AIA Iowa Director of Public Relations and the Young Architects Forum Public Relations Advisor. In 2010 Joe promoted the addition of a large subsection of the AIA Miami website redesign to Emerging Professionals. Joe has also held leadership positions with the AIA National Associates Committee.

Joe received his Bachelor of Architecture from Iowa State University. He holds an NCARB certificate and is currently licensed in Illinois and Florida.

The Advocacy Director position is currently vacant. Applications for the position are due on Monday, February 4, 2013. For more information on how to apply, please e-mail yaf@aia.org.

John R. Sorrenti, FAIA is the founder and president of JRS Architect, P.C., a full service architectural and interior design firm. Since its inception in 1986, the firm continues to thrive and has received numerous design awards under his leadership. JRS has developed a design expertise in the corporate, education, financial, healthcare, hospitality, retail and residential markets. John is recognized as a pioneer of alternative project delivery methods and marketing strategies. In 2008, John received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the AIA Long Island Chapter.

Lobbying for legislative issues, John has achieved a reputation for quality in leadership. Over the past twenty five years, he has held such positions as the President of the New York State AIA and Vice President of the National AIA. Currently, John serves as National Chair for AIA College of Fellows Regional Representatives. Appointed Chair of the NY State Education Board of Architecture, he is also Director on the National Board for NCARB. He has also been elected to serve on the National AIA College of Fellows Executive Committee as Bursar for 2013-2014.

In 1991 John on behalf of the AIA helped to form the guidelines for the Americans with Disabilities Act, and in 1993 assisted with the New York City ADA Code. As a result JRS Architect has successfully completed over 3,000 audits. John has also served on the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) committee for college accreditation programs; has performed reviews of his peers for the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) and is a Commissioner on the Town of North Hempstead’s Historical Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Wendy Ornelas, FAIA, is associate dean and professor at the college of architecture, planning anddesign at Kansas State University. She and her husband, Robert Condia –a professor in the department of architecture at Kansas State – also have a firm, Condia+ Ornelas Architects, with offices in Manhattan, Kans., and San Diego. The firm does small commercial projects, limiting themselves to one a year. The list of Kansas projects includes della Voce, remodeling a Manhattan retail space into a restaurant (2007); Gaia Hair SalonSpa, a design-build project in Manhattan with Acropolis Modern (2004); renovation of a 1901 building in Marysville for the Sunflower U.P. Credit Union (2002); and Mercado, a gourmet grocery store in Manhattan in collaboration with Dale Wunderlick and Chris Fila (2000).

Wendy earned a bachelor‘s of science in architecture from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California, before moving to Stillwater, Okla., to earn a BArch and MArch from Oklahoma State University.

She has been a member of the AIA since 1984; for the past five years, she has participated on the AIA Kansas, AIA Flint Hills, and the Central States region‘s emerging professionals committees. She was president of AIA Kansas (2001), after having been elected its secretary (1999), treasurer (1998), and director (1997). In 2006, she received the Henry W. Schirmer Distinguished Service Award from AIA Kansas.

Wendy is also active with the AIA‘s collateral organization, the National Architectural

Accrediting Board (NAAB), as its president (2009-2010; board member 2007-2010). She participated in the 2008 NAAB Accreditation Review Conference, and chaired its Assessment and Evaluation Committee (2008-2009). Wendy was on the writing team for the 2009 NAAB Conditions for Accreditation (2008-2009), and served as chair or was a member of eight accreditation, nomenclature change, or focused evaluation teams for the NAAB. In 2008, she was appointed by her state‘s governor to serve as one of the three architecture representatives on the Kansas State Board of Technical Professions. Wendy served the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) as West Central Regional Director (2003-2006).

Erin Murphy, AIA, LEED AP, is a Director for the AIA Center for Emerging Professionals. Erin is a staff liaison to the AIA National Associates Committee (NAC) and the AIA Young Architects Forum (YAF). She also identifies and researches trends regarding the path to licensure and integrates this knowledge into programs, initiatives, and advocacy efforts for emerging professionals.

Erin previously worked as a Project Architect at Bowie Gridley Architects in Washington, DC, and as a Project Manager and Staff Architect for Robert A.M. Stern Architects, LLP in New York City. Erin earned a Bachelor of Architecture from Syracuse University’s School of Architecture.