Emerging Leaders in Architecture

An Honors Academy of AIA Virginia, develops future leaders in architecture firms, in communities & in the profession.

04/10/2026

Day out in Charlottesville with Ela 26’

UVA strolls, big questions, and even bigger takeaways. They’re heading home with a clearer sense of how architects show up for their communities and how powerful it is to start conversations that bring people together. More connection, more understanding, more impact.

02/24/2026

Registration NOW OPEN for Design Forum XVII!

AIA Virginia is thrilled to announce that registration is now open for the much-anticipated AIA Virginia – 2026 Design Forum XVII, set to take place on May 1-2 at the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech. This year's theme, "Against the Grain," looks to the vanguards of change, risk takers whose means of practice challenge the standards of what it means to be an architect.
Purchase Your Tickets>>https://www.aiava.org/virginia-design-forum-xvii/

09/26/2025

We are volunteering with Wetlands Watch, a local nonprofit, this year in their annual Catch the King Event!! This record holding program invites volunteers into the field to collect data during king tide flooding, helping communities build capacity for flood risk and awareness.

We will be at the Historic West Freemason District on October 10th, but we encourage anyone who is interested in volunteering to check out for more information.

05/08/2025

🚨Calling all Norfolk Residents🚨We want to hear from you!

ELA 25’ has been hard at work and we want to hear from you. If you live, work, or play in the Norfolk area, please take a quick second to fill out the survey.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfD8hJgUSLdM3XidPWHKdBDkQBc3sy2qbGd3bQxX5v5lnguiw/viewform

Photos from Emerging Leaders in Architecture's post

04/02/2025

Here are some pictures of the beautiful architecture the group saw during our tour of downtown Alexandria.

Although our site is in Norfolk, Virginia, this year, the group has been gathering some great ideas using precedent cities such as Alexandria to move forward in holistically solving our problem of flooding. A special thanks to Al Cox for presenting his wealth of knowledge on this city as well as solutions for flooding!!

02/18/2025

The 2025 ELA Cohort opened February and hit the ground running in Norfolk for their project kickoff! The weekend began with their first site visit, and finished with an impressive organization of an assignment of roles, and plans on how to tackle the project in the next 8 months. We learned through our Strength Finders Quiz with and Mrs. Kahtra Kayton that this is a group of strategists. We are excited to see where the year takes us! Stay tuned!