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AIA Leadership Institute

Architecture & Design Leadership Training — elevate practice, lead teams, transform the built environment

Develop the Leaders Our Cities Need

The AIA Leadership Institute equips emerging and established design professionals with the skills to lead projects, people, and practice. Through studio-style workshops, case studies, and coaching, you will build competence in strategy, communication, finance, equity, and climate action—core capabilities for today’s multidisciplinary design offices.

Learn from principals, civic partners, and client-side voices while expanding your network across firms, sectors, and regions.

Workshop board with post-its and strategy sketches

Practice Leadership

Set vision and strategy, read the firm P&L, and align delivery models with client value. Learn pricing, risk, and growth fundamentals for resilient practices.

Project & Team Leadership

Lead integrated teams with clarity. Improve scope definition, decision-making, and accountability while strengthening collaboration across disciplines.

Civic & Impact Leadership

Advance climate-responsive, equitable design. Build partnerships with communities and policy leaders to deliver measurable social and environmental outcomes.

Who It’s For

  • Emerging professionals (3–10 years) preparing for project lead roles.
  • Mid-career architects stepping into studio or market leadership.
  • Design managers, urban designers, landscape architects, and engineers seeking cross-disciplinary leadership skills.
  • Firm owners and principals ready to refine strategy and culture.

What You’ll Gain

  • Frameworks for vision, storytelling, and client influence.
  • Financial literacy: pricing, profitability, and risk.
  • Playbooks for equitable teams and psychologically safe studios.
  • Decarbonization & resilience strategies tied to project delivery.
  • A lifelong network of peers, mentors, and collaborators.

Curriculum Snapshot

Lead Self
Mindset, feedback, influence, time & attention design.
Lead Teams
Roles & rituals, conflict skills, inclusive facilitation.
Lead Work
Scope, fees, risk, QA/QC, delivery methods, PM tools.
Lead Change
ESG, decarbonization, civic partnerships, policy literacy.

“The Institute gave me the financial tools and the voice to lead complex civic projects. I left with a clearer strategy and a network I lean on weekly.”

— Studio Director, AIA

Roundtable discussion among architects

Program Format

  • Hybrid delivery: live online cohorts + in-person intensives.
  • Capstone project with mentor feedback and peer critique.
  • Optional firm on-site workshops tailored to your practice.
  • Eligible continuing education credits (HSW/LU).

Faculty & Mentors

Learn from award-winning practitioners, client representatives, and civic partners—leaders who have scaled studios, delivered complex programs, and advanced design for public good.