Message from 2025 Board President
Dear Fellow AIA Peconic Members and Friends,
It is with great pleasure that I write this message. 2025 was a banner year for our chapter and it is in great thanks to you – our Members, Volunteers, Sponsors, Partners, and Friends. Thank you for being a part of this special community. As we wrap up the year, I’d like to highlight a few of our accomplishments:
- Operations: Broadly speaking, AIA Peconic is in a strong financial position – meeting budget expectations and ending the year in the black. Our base of Members is strong at 152 architect members, 26 of whom are Associate AIA. In addition, we have a roster of about 50 Allied Professionals including two Sustaining Sponsors this year: OrderPlans and Klar.
- Initiatives: In addition to establishing a new website and improving mechanisms for communication within the Chapter, our Board and Committees have been busy engaging in meaningful conversations with AIA National, New York and other local chapters, as well as local organizations and local leaders about issues important to architects, the built environment, and our community.
- Member Engagement and Committees: The work of AIA Peconic is conducted by a volunteer Board and active Committees composed of dedicated Members, giving of their time and talents. Presently, we have the following committees and task forces:
- Finance Committee (Board Committee)
- Design Awards Task Force (Board Committee)
- Scholarship Committee
- Golf Event Committee
- Emerging Professionals Committee
- Women in Architecture Committee – shout out to the WIA Committee for another year of innovative programming. The film screening in March, Puzzle Pieces networking event in June, and the Greenport scavenger hunt in September are all terrific examples of creative and engaging ways to serve and educate our Members and the community at large.
- I’d also like to highlight a few additional events that AIA Peconic hosted this year.
- The Emerging Professionals Committee partnered with the Sag Harbor Cinema to increase access to a special screening of The Brutalist in January
- The EP Committee also hosted a Design Charrette for the Hampton Bays High School Art Club as part of their efforts to engage the next generation of architects and designers.
- We hosted a talk on Restoration Renovations with Lipsky Construction at the Bridgehampton Museum and we partnered with James Merrell, providing CEU credit for his talk on the Reinterpretation of the Architecture of Maycroft Estate
- Our Design Awards Celebration took on a new look and feel at Bay Street Theater, complete with a two-week exhibition of all entries.
- We partnered with Lutron, Home Technology Experts, Westlake, Plesser’s, Qoldfusion, Crescendo, Southampton Arts Center, Perfect Earth Project, and Timber Trading to offer Members learning opportunities. Notably partnered with Riverhead Building Supply for our third-annual Procrastinator’s Delight which featured a lineup of six engaging CEU presentations.
- And finally, AIA Peconic brought back our annual holiday party at the Rogers Mansion, Southampton Village.
This is a long list of great things, but we know our chapter is more than events and programs. It truly is a community. In 2026, I can expect this community to do more good for architects and affiliated professionals, as well as the general public. Congratulations and best wishes to incoming President Pamela Glazer and to the entire Board.
And a very special thank you and acknowledgement to our Executive Director, Maria Fumai Dietrich, without whom, none of this would be possible. She continues to guide our organization with great enthusiasm and skill to new benchmarks and impressive accomplishments. I’m looking forward to seeing what exciting new initiatives she brings for 2026. Thank you, Ria!
In the meantime, Happy New Year to all. May 2026 be a year filled with interesting projects, kept deadlines, good relationships, and good health.
With gratitude,
Ben Chaleff
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