President, Valentina Puppione-Cochran, AIA, called the 2023 Annual Business Meeting to order at 11:30 am/Central on October 25. Treasurer P. Jeanne Myers, AIA, gave the Treasurer’s report, noting the 2022 year-end financials were in good standing with a balanced budget and abiding by the reserves investment policy.
The 2023 Presidential Award recipients were announced at this time as well as the recipients of the McKissack & McKissack Endowment Fund:
- Nicholas Strong, Assoc. AIA
- Carmen Fluellen, Assoc AIA, NOMA
- Colby Mitchell, Assoc. AIA, NOMA
- Hector Carrera Miranda, Assoc. AIA
- Isaac Barrantes, Assoc. AIA
President’s Remarks
“As one of my last duties as President of AIA TN, I want to thank all of you for the honor and privilege to serve. Giving back to AIA TN has been a rewarding experience and I will always be grateful for the opportunity.
We started off the year with great events, the Speak Up series and Architect’s Day on the Hill, and architect’s from across the state gathered in Nashville to meet with our representatives and talk about the issues. And thank them for the great budget!Â
I give a special thank you to Lindsay Spain and Bill Nolan our lobbyists for keeping up with everything in Nashville and beyond. And to Matt Lyle and Trey Wheeler the long-standing chairs of our Government Relations Committee. This team’s leadership is the reason for AIA TN’s years of successful political advocacy.
I had a great leader in Linda Marzialo as immediate past president to model my presidential year after. Her dedication to the JEDI committee and that committee’s commitment to statewide programming such as the Juneteeth Trivia Challenge and McKissack and McKissack Endowment are an inspiration to us all.
It was a stroke of scheduling luck to have the AIATN Conference on Architecture in my hometown. I was so happy to share Memphis with the rest of the state and I hope those of you that could make the trip had as good a time as I did, thank you Will Randolph and committee for all your hard work.
We have reinstated the in-person State of the State meetings (also now called member meet ups) with each chapter and I have enjoyed being in person at each chapter meeting. Nashville and Knoxville members – I will see you all in the next few weeks.
I am especially grateful to the board of directors that I had the pleasure of serving with, I could not have made it through this year without their support. The committee chairs across this long state keeping all the programs and events we all enjoy going are a testament to the devotion our members have to this organization. And then the staff of association partners. There would be no way I could have accomplished any of this without Ashley, Molly, Lisa, PA, and Michelle doing all the work! Thank you all.
Although I kind of feel like I am just now figuring some things out I am happy to hand over the presidency to Matt Lyle next year. I am honored to have been your 2023 president.Â
Thank you.”
– Valentina Puppione-Cochran, AIA
Updates
State Representatives provided updates on the activities at the National level. See presentation here for the complete overview.
Thank you to SESSCO Lighting for presenting a continuing education session that earned attendees 1 HSW. The session was Lighting WELL – Lighting and the Well Building Standard.