Hi, my name is Elizabeth Godbold. I’m an architect and associate at WJW Architects in Chicago. I’m currently an AIA member here in Chicago. I also served on the National Associates Committee in the early 2000s.
I met Evelyn at the National Associates Committee. I believe it was the Grassroots Conference. I was an Associate representing Michigan and got to know her more on a national level. I was very excited to be exposed to the AIA at a national level. That was quite eye-opening for me at the time, and great to meet Evelyn both as a leader and a colleague and, frankly, someone that I could look up to as a young woman in the profession.
I believe Evelyn would make a great candidate for AIA President for a number of reasons. I’ve been following her through the years after meeting in person through her Practice of Architecture Newsletter and Practice Disrupted podcast. Both as a professional and I appreciate her vulnerability as a woman and as a parent. You don’t see that a whole lot in our field, unfortunately.
I feel that she’s exposed many different ways that architects can make all different kinds of spaces better, whether that’s the built environment, office culture, or other design fields, even fields that are not related to design.
I think she’s done a great job of advocating for how architects or those trained as architects can make the world a better place. She’s broadened the definition of what practice is instead of looking through a very narrow lens of what culturally might be defined as an architect. And I really believe she’s made it more accessible to those who don’t feel that they fit into the cultural norm of what an architect is.
And I think she’s done a great job of doing that through like I said, both the newsletter and her podcast and just general outreach. Thank you.
