(March 20, 2026. Sacramento, California) California Senate Majority Leader, Angelique Ashby (D-Sacramento), who recently stood on the California Senate floor to recognize Architecture Week in the State of California for the first time, has been named the AIA California 2026 Legislator of the Year.
AIA California is grateful for State Senator Ashby’s understanding and recognition of the power of the profession, and her actions to further empower it, a track record that led AIA California’s Board of Directors to vote earlier this year to recognize her with this award.
“Architects are national leaders in climate resilience, in energy efficiency, wildfire safety and innovative housing solutions. Through this work, they advance accessibility, sustainability and quality of life in all of our districts,” she said on the State Senate floor as she asked her colleagues to “recognize the essential public service and innovation of […] architects, while encouraging the next generation to enter this vital profession.”
To support the latter, in 2025, Ashby was instrumental in helping AIA California pass the “Architecture-In-Training” bill, legislation—years in the making–which will allow emerging professionals who are formally pursuing licensure to be officially recognized as such.
“I am profoundly indebted to State Senator Ashby for her commitment to those that will be the future of our organization,” said AIA California President Ginger Thompson, AIA, who, herself, pursued an alternative path to the profession. “And for her work in the legislature to support a diverse and vibrant profession.” In making her Architecture Week presentation Ashby noted the challenge women have within the profession and recognized Ida Clair, FAIA, California’s first female State Architect.
In 2025, as the Chair of the Senate Business and Professions Committee, one of Ashby’s responses to the disastrous fires in Southern California, was protecting consumers and licensed professionals affected by wildfires or natural disasters by allowing the latter to maintain their licensure status, safeguarding their ability to work without facing administrative burdens.
Senator Ashby is the first woman elected to represent Sacramento in the California State Senate in more than 20 years. Prior to joining the legislature, she was elected to the Sacramento City Council, where she served for 12 years. She was the sole woman for more than half of her tenure, and is the only member in city history to serve as Vice Mayor or Mayor Pro Tem for 8 years.
After becoming a single mom at 20 years old, Senator Ashby worked full-time and attended the University of California at Davis. After completing her undergrad, she went on to the University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law, where she earned her Juris Doctorate. While in school, she worked with foster youth, at a labor law firm, and in the office of the public defender in Sacramento County. She went on to use her legal training and educational foundation rooted in law and society to create a consulting firm with her father, which created opportunities for people who needed a chance to succeed—helping build best practice model programs to serve foster youth, parolees, incarcerated women, and transition-age youth.
About the American Institute of Architects California (AIA CA)
AIA California is dedicated to serving its members, and uniting all architecture professionals in the design of a more just, equitable, and resilient future through advocacy, education, and political action. The organization represents the interests of more than 11,000 architects and allied professionals in California. Founded in 1944, the AIA CA is the largest component of the national AIA organization. For more information, visit www.aiacalifornia.org.
