AIA elects first black female president

HOK marketing principal Kimberley Dowdell has been elected to serve as president of the American Institue of Architects in 2024 – when she will make history as its first black female president.

Dowdell will work as the organisation’s first vice-president next year. She ran for the AIA presidency on a platform of ensuring minority architects have space in the architecture profession at every level of AIA.

During her campaign for the presidency, she said her intentions were to “create access to opportunities”, “foster greater opportunities for leadership”, “build upon the legacy of long-time members”.

“As the 295th living black woman to earn an architectural license in the US, I am keen to help young women and people of colour,” she said.

Her campaign also pledged initiatives to support the business of design, making architecture more accessible, meeting climate-action obligations, and navigating the future of design work with advances in technology.

Dowdell graduated from Cornell University with a bachelor of architecture degree in 2006. She was 2019-20 president of the National Organization of Minority Architects. She will be the AIA’s 100^th president.