New Member Meet-Up for January 2022

New Member Meet-Up for January 2022

This is a FREE virtual Zoom event.

Whether you’re a new, returning or longtime member, we’d love to have you join us for a fun and energetic way to get your day–and your year–off to a great start! Find out what’s happening at your Chapter and get some ideas on how to get involved and make the most of your membership with AIALA. Meet your AIALA 2022 President Mitra Memari, AIA of ZGF and AIALA Vice President & 2023 President-Elect Leslie Sydnor, AIA of Cumming, along with Membership Director Steve Tanner. We’ll talk with the leaders of the Professional Practice Committee — Chair Janvi Kanani, AIA from IBI Group; Vice Chair Lauren Coles, AIA from CO Architects; and Past Chair Naoko Miyano, AIA of AC Martin — about what they do and how you can participate. As always, please feel free to invite a friend or colleague to join us!

REGISTER HERE

Presenters:

Mitra Memari, AIA – ZGF, AIALA 2022 President
Born in Iran, Mitra emigrated to the U.S. as a teenager. With the last name Memari, which means architect in Farsi, one thing is clear: Mitra was born to be an architect. Through adapting to a new culture and language at a young age, she developed a passion for diversity, inclusion, and equity. In her practice and in her role as a partner, Mitra has made it her mission to create a more equitable profession that represents the communities where we live and work. Mitra’s ethics-driven approach also leverages a passion for sustainable design to create seamless, collaborative, lasting relationships across client and project teams.

Leslie Sydnor, AIA – Cumming, AIALA 2022 Vice President/2023 President-Elect
Leslie is a director at Cumming; currently working as a planning and development project manager for LAUSD. She has over 25 years of experience in the design of education, aviation, industrial and low-income housing projects. Leslie is co-chair of the Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion (J.E.D.I.) committee and has been a member of the Design Awards and Long Range Strategic Plan Committees. She has planned and/or moderated the Encompass Conference on Equity and Diversity for the past 3 years. Leslie has a B.A. in Architecture from Yale and an M.Arch from UCLA.

Steve Tanner, Hon. AIALA – Membership Director, AIA Los Angeles

Janvi Kanani, AIA – IBI Group, 2022 Chair, Professional Practice Committee
Janvi Kanani, AIA, LEED AP is an architect and BIM professional with over 15 years of architectural design and planning experience. She specializes in educating clients and consultants in the use of technology to address project issues, and brings her diverse experience in design, technology and sustainability expertise to deliver integrated design solutions for her clients. With a current focus on educational facilities, she has worked across all typologies for public institutions. Apart from her passion for design and technology, Janvi is very ardent about community engagement. She regularly volunteers with different agencies across the Los Angeles community, and actively participates in teaching/mentoring students about the architecture industry.

Lauren Coles, AIA – CO Architects, 2022 Vice Chair, Professional Practice Committee
Lauren Coles has more than 15 years of experience managing project design, planning, documentation and stakeholder coordination for top-tier institutional projects. She brings an entrepreneurial, take-ownership mindset to large-scale healthcare, academic and science & technology projects. As a licensed architect, Lauren is devoted to supporting young designers on their road to architecture licensure and provides mentorship and guidance as AXP/ARE licensing supervisor at CO Architects.

Naoko Miyano, AIA – AC Martin, 2021 Chair, Professional Practice Committee
Naoko Miyano is a licensed architect and Senior Associate at AC Martin. She has over 18 years of experience in a wide range of projects including higher education, mixed-use, residential, and hospitality. Her unique approach to design allows her to work across disciplines and at a variety of scales and programs. As a senior project designer, she has lead and worked on a number of award winning projects. At AC Martin, she also leads the social responsibility committee and advocates for community outreach as a part of our practice.