On Wednesday, December 17, 2025, AIA New York welcomed its 2026 Board of Directors at the annual Board Inaugural and Holiday Gathering, and passed the gavel to 2026 AIANY President Mark Gardner, AIA, NOMA.

Executive Director Jesse Lazar, Assoc. AIA, and 2025 AIANY President Ben Gilmartin, AIA, began the evening by reflecting on and celebrating this year's achievements, reviewing highlights across programs, advocacy, exhibitions, and more. The evening celebrated all the members involved for their contributions to our community, and welcomed the following members and industry leaders to new board positions: Hana Kassem, FAIA (First VP/President-Elect); Julia Murphy, AIA (Treasurer); Jessica Sheridan, AIA, LEED AP BD+C (Director); Arthi Krishnamoorthy, AIA, LEED AP (Director); Alison Landry, AIA (Director, Public Outreach); Gianni Grieco (Student Director); Quilian Riano (Public Director, Education). Explore our Governance page to see who was appointed to AIANY's Elective Committees for 2026.

Each year during the board inaugural, AIANY's Vice Presidents recognize the Chapter's program committees with Vice Presidential Citations for contributions in each of the organization's mission areas: design excellence, public outreach, and professional development. Congratulations to the following awardees:

AIANY Citation for Design Excellence:
Recipe for a Room: Places of Food and Culture, organized by the AIANY Interiors Committee

AIANY Citation for Professional Development:
Fallingwater Retreat: A Friends and Family Architectural Symposium, organized by the AIANY Committee on Residential Architecture

AIANY Citation for Public Outreach:
Modes of Practice, organized by the AIANY Planning and Urban Design Committee

Following the passing of the gavel, Gardner shared thoughts on his presidential theme, Repair: Democracy and Urban Space. Gardner's 2026 theme is a call to action for architects and allied professionals to serve as design citizens, advocates, connectors, and environmentalists. In architecture and public space, repair is an act of care, restoration, and renewal; it addresses social, ecological, and spatial inequities that heal communities and strengthen the civic fabric.

His theme arrives at a pivotal moment-next year, the United States will celebrate its 250th anniversary as a nation, and New York City will have just commemorated its 400th anniversary. The 2026 presidential theme prompts us to reflect on this occasion, guided by the notion that our cities, particularly New York, are living examples of our civic ideals. How can we better listen, collaborate, and mend existing fractures to reconfigure a sustainable, resilient, and inclusive future?

In conjunction with this theme, Gardner's focus this year is on examining the American Experiment and elevating underrepresented voices. The topic of repair will guide the Center for Architecture Lab program, a multidisciplinary residency that empowers emerging voices in architecture and design. This spring, two Lab projects-Energies of Repair: Visualizing Community Power in NYC by Andrea Johnson and Ashley Dawson, and DEPAVE: An Ecological Repair of the Ground by Friend Making Work (Christine Giorgio, Amelyn Ng, and Gabriel Vergara)-will be granted creative authorship across the Center for Architecture's exhibition spaces and digital platforms. The two cohorts will address the urgent need to repair not only the physical infrastructure of our environments but also the political and social inequities embedded within them.

Please join us in welcoming Gardner to his position as AIANY President, as well as all incoming members of the AIANY Board of Directors!