The 2nd Annual AIA|LA Immigration Summit: Workforce Leadership and the Future of Architectural Practice
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EVENT DETAILS
Workforce Leadership and the Future of Architectural Practice
Building on the success of the inaugural 2025 AIA|LA Immigration Summit, this second convening deepens the profession’s engagement with immigration as a force shaping workforce resilience, firm leadership, and the future of architectural practice in Los Angeles. Amid a shifting federal policy landscape, the 2026 Summit equips architects, educators, and emerging professionals with actionable strategies — while amplifying the voices driving change.
SUMMIT THEMES & STRATEGIC INTENT
The 2026 Summit synthesizes four interconnected themes that carry the conversation from the 2025 inaugural event into actionable territory:
- Economic Impact → Firm Strategy The 2025 Summit documented immigrants’ outsized contribution to California’s AEC economy. In 2026, we translate that data into firm-level practice: how should leaders recruit, retain, and advance this talent?
- Policy Landscape → Professional Response New federal rules threaten to remove architecture from recognized professional degree classifications, cutting off the international student pipeline. The Summit equips professionals to respond and advocate.
- Educational Pipeline → Licensure Access. From an international student to a licensed architect is a complex journey. The Summit maps barriers, highlights successful pathways, and connects students with mentors.
- Workforce Resilience → Leadership Development Post-wildfire Los Angeles is rebuilding. The AEC industry depends on a diverse, skilled workforce. The Summit strengthens the profession’s capacity to lead through disruption.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
• Architecture firm principals and managers seeking workforce strategies
• Emerging professionals navigating licensure as first-generation or international graduates
• Architecture students exploring careers in the U.S. context
• Educators designing inclusive curricula and student support programs
• AIA Fellows, senior practitioners, and JEDI advocates
• Allied AEC professionals in engineering, construction, planning, and landscape architecture
Click here to sponsor this event!
Financial Sponsors will be recognized through promotional materials, event signage, printed program, and verbal acknowledgment. Sponsorship opportunities are available — contact will@aialosangeles.org.
AIA CES: 4 LU Approved
Learning Objectives
Participants will review data-driven perspectives on immigration, the AEC pipeline, and Los Angeles’s role on the global stage
Participants will be able to describe how recent federal policy changes—including threats to remove architecture from recognized professional degree lists—affect the pathway from international student to licensed architect
Participants will discuss the themes of foreign credential recognition, ARE access for international graduates, visa pathways for architecture students, and ways to design inclusive academic pipelines
Participants will be able to outline how firm principals can actively recruit, mentor, and advance immigrant professionals — and why it’s a competitive advantage
Participants will explore how the AEC industry depends on a diverse, skilled workforce as post-wildfire Los Angeles is rebuilding.
PROGRAM & AGENDA:
WELCOME, COFFEE & BREAKFAST = (8:00 am – 8:20 am)
OPENING REMARKS = (8:20 am – 8:30 am)
Toni Lewis, AIA — President, AIA Los Angeles
KEYNOTE ADDRESSES — Designing the Workforce of Tomorrow = (8:30 am – 9:30 am)
Data-driven perspectives on immigration, the AEC pipeline, and Los Angeles’s role on the global stage
Cecilia V. Estolano – CEO & Founder, Estolano Advisors Workforce equity, economic development, and design in underserved communities
Miguel A. Santana – President & CEO, California Community Foundation Philanthropy, immigrant talent, and investment in the profession’s future
COFFEE BREAK (9:30 am – 9:45 am)
Coffee Break & Networking Light refreshments | Connect with speakers, sponsors, and fellow attendees
PANEL #1 – (9:45 am – 10:45 am) – From Classroom to Career: Navigating the Educational Pipeline
How recent federal policy changes—including threats to remove architecture from recognized professional degree lists—affect the pathway from international student to licensed architect.
Discussion themes: Foreign credential recognition | ARE access for international graduates | Visa pathways for architecture students | Designing inclusive academic pipelines
Heather Flood, Assoc. AIA – Dean, Woodbury School of Architecture
Mohamed Sharif, AIA – Director, Undergraduate Program, UCLA Architecture and Urban Design
Myisha Arellano – LACCD Student & Public Artist
Monique – LACCD Student
Cristian I. Benoit, NOMAS, AIAS – Inaugural BSBP Cohort, College of the Canyons & National Student Leadership Committee, NOMAS
NETWORKING BREAK (10:45 am – 11:00 am)
Light refreshments | Connect with speakers, sponsors, and fellow attendees
PANEL #2 – (11:00 am – 12:00 pm) – Building from Within: Immigrant Leadership in Architecture Firms
How firm principals can actively recruit, mentor, and advance immigrant professionals — and why it’s a competitive advantage
Discussion themes: Mentorship and sponsorship across cultural contexts | Visa sponsorship and firm obligations | Retention strategies for international talent | Building inclusive firm cultures
Jennifer Horn, PLA, ASLA, ISA – Founding Director, Design Demands Labor
Yu-Ngok Lo, FAIA – Principal, YNL Architects | President, Immigrant Architect Coalition
Flora Chou, LEED AP – Associate Principal & Cultural Resources Planner, Page & Turnbull
Speaker TBD — HR / Workforce Leader | AEC Firm or Workforce Organization: Retention, mentorship structures, and building resilient professional cultures
CLOSING REMARKS: (12:00pm) –
Mitra Memari, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP B+C – Community Regional Director, HKS
Check her recent Q&A here!
RESOURCES:
- NAFSA International Student Economic Value Tool
- More to be added
