AIA California’s sponsored bill, AB 342 by Assemblymember Avelino Valencia, has been signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom. This bill will allow the California Architect Board (Board) to ask licensees to provide demographic information to the Board for the purposes of aiding in our Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) efforts.

AIA California has made it a priority to champion a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion to create an equitable community for everyone within the architectural profession. This is founded on a number of principles:

1. A diverse profession is key to the long-term success of the profession and industry. AIA California believes that when our members’ cultural, demographic, and ethnographic makeup mirrors the communities our members serve, the profession will be better suited for long-term growth.
2. The pipeline to enter the profession must be as diverse as the communities we serve. When designing livable communities, it is essential that there is cultural competencies of the communities that are being served by our designs.
3. The architectural profession must address the systemic, cultural barriers to entry and advancement, and prosperity. AIA California is focused on providing resources necessary for firms and practitioners to make significant and lasting change.
4. As the professional organization for architects in California, we must model the behavior we wish to see and move beyond the status quo.

The collection of this demographic information is essential to these EDI efforts, as it allows for research to be done to understand attrition and recruitment patterns impacting the profession. From there we can better develop strategies to address any patterns that create barriers to entry within the profession.

We are so thankful for the work of all those who were involved in getting this bill to the Governor’s desk, particularly Assemblyman Valencia and Kobi Grossman who staffed this bill on his behalf.

For curated resources for individuals, firms, and AIA chapters to build a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion in California’s architectural profession click here.