2020 Election Slate
Candidates For AIA East Bay Board Director - 2020
Voting takes place online. Only members in good standing may vote. All members have received an email with a unique link to the ballot.
Please check your inboxes if you have not received it yet. It may be in your Trash or Spam folders. If not please contact info@aiaeb.org.
ELECTION CLOSES AT 5:30pm Wednesday, Dec. 9th. The winner will be announced shortly thereafter during the Member Appreciation Party.
Jaime Matheron
Dahlin Group
LinkedIn Profile
Jaime is a licensed architect with 15 years of experience. Born and raised in the East Bay, she is the fifth generation of her family with roots in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties.
She graduated with a B.Arch from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 2006, began working in K-12 educational architecture, and now in residential architecture of varying densities. Recently promoted to lead the DAHLIN Oakland studio, she would be proud to represent one of the largest firms in the AIA East Bay’s membership.
Jaime has a passion for community involvement and volunteering. She is a founder and leader of DAHLIN Barkitecture, an annual design build fundraiser that has supported several animal-related non-profit organizations. And she has especially enjoyed volunteering at an annual Youth Architecture camp, sharing insight on the profession with aspiring young designers.
AIA ENGAGEMENT:
AIA East Bay Home Tours, House Captain volunteer, 2017 & 2018
AIA/Fam 1st Youth Architecture Camp volunteer, 2017, 2018, 2019
AIA East Bay Young Architects Forum, participant
Kenneth Lin
Dreyfuss + Blackford Architecture
LinkedIn Profile
I have lived in Berkeley for last 7 years and work in several SF Bay Area firms. I have attended many events in San Francisco chapter since I graduated from California College of the Arts.
I feel like SF chapter is so big and strong. East Bay chapter is always under the shadow of SF chapter. I think there are many unique characters / activities East Bay chapter can provide to differentiate itself from SF chapter (Such as disaster prevention/relief, minority outreach/mentorships,..,etc).
There are many east bay residents who work in the city like me and belong to SF chapter instead of East Bay chapter. I would like to provide the perspective how to recruit these people who live in East Bay but work in San Francisco.
I have the statistical background prior to becoming a licensed architect. I am very good with numbers and finance/budgeting issues.
I just obtained my architectural license with last 3 years. I can relate a lot of architects in training and their struggles.
AIA ENGAGEMENT:
AIA San Francisco – Architectural Licensing Committee – Core member/ Documentation officer – 4 years
AIA San Francisco – Bay Area Young Architect – member
AIA mentorship committee – member
Rob Zirkle
brick
LinkedIn Profile
Having built a firm from scratch starting from the depths of the great recession, I have forged an understanding of balancing the risks, rewards and responsibilities of being in practice. I have used an entrepreneurial spirit to grow our business and the careers of our staff with a central focus on the power that design has to benefit our communities, clients, discourse and our profession . Thinking about how to give back to the design community makes me feel like my greatest contribution should be grounded in the mentorship programs for young architects to help give them the tools, awareness and confidence they need to continue to advance the market place for our profession and using design to strengthen our built environment.
AIA ENGAGEMENT:
i am a newcomer to the AIA, but look forward to getting involved in a meaningful way. i have enjoyed past visits to the m.d.c. and have participated on a panel focusing on entrepreneurship as part of an AIASF’s architecture & the city program. i look forward to getting involved in AIAEB.
Ali Rafieetari
Oakland’s Housing Department
LinkedIn Profile
Thank you all for your trust and for the opportunity to serve on your Board for the past two years. I am reluctant to speak about the achievements we have collectively accomplished as a dedicated Board that I have had the privilege and distinct pleasure to work with. These successes shall all speak for themselves. Rather, I will share my vision and proposal for the future:
1/3 A continuous multi-generational matter: Despite the wider demographics of the communities covered by our chapter, we have seen lately a strong shift towards a younger leadership. Almost half of the current Directors on our chapter’s Board are Emerging Professionals. In 2020, for the most part, all five seats occupied by our Chapter’s representatives on the AIA California Board of Directors have been by Emerging Professionals, including myself. This not only demonstrates the energy and enthusiasm, but also proves the huge potentials of the younger generations of design professionals. The era that we are experiencing right now can justify I hope if I said though that I am a little bit concerned about disconnects and imbalances. I wished for example that we could observe a similar trend while looking at our events’ and programs’ participants. We need to plan for knowledge and expertise transfer opportunities. There are many members who would love to give back to the profession and we must facilitate that. Speaking about the Board, I would like to work on restoring a missing tradition, Past Presidents’ luncheon, which can enable a multi-generational dialogue at the leadership level. On the other side of the spectrum, I will contribute to a new program that we are about to launch that will provide a platform for a mentee and mentor relationship for participants beyond the classical career path.
2/3 Climate Action: East Bay is the home for many of the most innovative and leading firms and practitioners in the field of sustainable design. We have seen that many East Bay municipalities have taken courageous steps that have made us among the first adapters not just nationwide but worldwide. Looking at AIA’s voluntary commitments and plans of the built environment, East Bay firms have proportionally demonstrated one of the highest achievements nationwide across their portfolio so far. With these being said, our chapter can be a national model for fostering conversation and exchange in this field. As part of our chapter’s Committee on the Environment, I look forward to arranging further interdisciplinary and trans-regional dialogues and events in this field.
3/3 Programs, staff, and operations: In my opinion, Committees and Forums are the core of our chapter. Their role and importance are not less significant than the Board of Directors. We are an organization that highly relies on members and volunteers. This is one of the areas that all of us need to work on and contribute more to help the growth of our chapter. There are several areas that relate to the operation of the chapter and its programs and events that need further ongoing attention. Let me give you some examples: The 2019 Board had finalized the revisions to our over a decade old Bylaws that had been approved last year by the membership vote. This has been enormous but just a starting point. What we need is a series of established policies or amendments to the current Bylaws to ensure that potential new and upcoming circumstances are foreseen and covered. We have been fortunate to have had both exceptional staff and exceptional leadership lately. But what if things go into other directions? In the past few years, I have been involved in two different committees and regardless of this election’s outcome, I will continue. I would be also happy to spearhead a new committee for the purpose of assisting the Board with the aspects mentioned above. And, I would like to cordially invite you all to join the committees and forums or organize new ones with novel thoughts and ideas. This is all from us for us.
Thank you.
AIA ENGAGEMENT:
Current AIA East Bay Board member
AIA California Board of Directors
Co-chair of East Bay’s Emerging Professionals Committee
East Bay’s Committee on the Environment (COTE) – committee member
Past Home Tours – volunteer
ADA Day – volunteer
