2021 Virtual Advocacy Summit
Feb 8-12
General Information
Meet & Greets
During the week of the Summit, you also can request a Virtual Meet and Greet time with your legislators. AIA Kansas will coordinate the meeting(s), provide background information, and speaking points, and will have a brief training session before meet and greets begin.
4 CEU's
Four learning credits are pending. We have intentionally restructured the format to have sessions during the lunch hour to make engagement easier.
Cost
The virtual AIA Kansas Advocacy Summit 2021 will take place on February 8- 12, 12 pm - 1 pm via Zoom. Speakers from the national, state, and local levels will be presenting during the conference to provide a comprehensive look into how to effectively engage with policymakers and advocate for policies at all levels.
This year, it is critical that our profession stays engaged with the legislative session as important issues are being discussed at the statehouse regularly. For example, licensure deregulation, economic development, and infrastructure adjustments continue to be at the forefront. We need your help to communicate our positions and be a voice for our profession.
Individual sessions: $25 each
Four-session package: $50
Speakers/Schedule
We have secured excellent speakers and will begin our presentations on:
February 9th: Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes and Senate Majority Leader Gene Suellentrop will speak on issues that are prevalent in the Senate and will provide information on how to effectively engage with policies and politicians at the state level.
On February 10th: Sarah Dodge, Senior Vice President of Advocacy for AIA National will present on national issues, and how the new US administration will impact the AIA's advocacy agenda and shed light on the current national trend of special interest groups to eliminate licensure across the country and in Kansas.
On February 11th: Senator Carolyn McGinn, R-Sedgwick, chair of the Senate Local Government Committee will participate in a panel alongside Kansas architects who have been involved in local politics: former mayors Joel Marquardt and Vince Haines.
SENATOR SYKES
Senator Dinah Sykes, D-Lenexa, is serving her second term in the Kansas Senate and her first as Senate Minority Leader. She is the vice-chair of the Confirmation Oversight Committee and the ranking minority member on the Education Committee, as well as a member of the Legislative Coordinating Council. Prior to her election in 2016, she ran her own business as a personal chef and worked as a development officer in higher education. Dinah lives in Lenexa with her husband, Jeffrey, and their sons, William and Tyler.
SENATOR SUELLENTROP
Senator Gene Suellentrop, R-Wichita, is the Senate Majority Leader, representing the 27th district since January 11, 2017. He was previously a member of the Kansas House of Representatives from 2009 to 2013. He chairs the Labor Subcommittee, Ways and Means, and is a member of the Legislative Coordinating Council, the Joint Committee on State Building Construction, and Ways and Means Committees. He was born and raised in the 27th, and lives there with his wife Christine, and operates a multi-state food service business.
SARAH DODGE
Sarah Dodge is the Senior Vice President of Advocacy for AIA National. Her department within AIA leads member engagement programs to support AIA members in legislative and political advocacy initiatives. Her department is also responsible for advancing AIA’s federal policy agenda. She has served in this role for three years and is an expert on the impact of federal policy on architects and how to understand, navigate, and advocate at the national level.
SENATOR MCGINN
Senator Carolyn McGinn, R-Sedgwick, is an agriculture producer and has served in the Senate since 2005. She currently chairs the Local Government Committee and is a member of the Ways and Means committee. She has served on the Joint Committee of Building. She was a Sedgwick County Commission prior to becoming a Senator. She raised two sons and currently lives with her husband in Sedgwick on their farm.
VINCE HAINES, AIA, NCARB
Vince Haines is an architect and the former mayor of El Dorado, a position he held for two terms from 2015-2019. He is originally from El Dorado and received his degree from the University of Kansas.
He is the President of Gravity::Works Architecture in El Dorado, Kansas, and is licensed in Kansas, Iowa, and Michigan.
JOEL MARQUARDT
Joel Marquardt is an architect and the former Mayor of Roeland Park from 2014-2019. He is the owner of ArchETexture, and previously worked for Gastinger Walker Harden. He recently began a new position as the Senior Architect for the Army at Fort Leavenworth. He is originally from Topeka and received his degree in architectural engineering from Kansas State University and his master's in architectural management from the University of Kansas.