Amy Ress
Deputy Director
AIA San Francisco and the Center for Architecture + Design
I’m inspired by our Dream Team, Aidlin Darling Design and BCCI, and the 70+ firms that have given back professionally and so generously to the Center’s project. It truly is a barn-raising effort to create a venue for the community to learn about how design can create a positive impact on our quality of life and the environment.
I help lead the Shape Your City capital campaign to raise funds for building the new Center for Architecture + Design and to raise an endowment to support expanding public programs. I work with AIASF’s and the Center’s board of directors and committees to strategize and outreach to donors.
I’m excited for the Center to provide youth programs. These programs will inspire and educate the next generation to become designers or activists in their community to help solve challenges from climate change to exclusionary land-use policies.
I hope the Center will become a beloved cultural institution for architects and professionals. A place for the public to see an exhibition, take a tour, or attend a lecture or social gathering. I hope it will be on everyone’s list to take visitors and become a place for people to meet downtown for something inspiring to do together.
It’s exciting and overwhelming as AIASF gets closer to start construction. I see opening the Center in late 2022 on the horizon.
As the Deputy Director of AIA San Francisco, Amy is at her best managing operations to empower staff and inspire architects and allied professionals to expand the impact of their work. Prior to AIASF, she was the Executive Director at AIA Silicon Valley and Program Director of Resilient by Design during the challenge’s launch phase. She also served as the Director of the internationally recognized 1+ program at Public Architecture, a nonprofit that engages architects and designers, nonprofits, and manufacturers to commit to design for the public good. Amy advanced the reach and scale of this program to provide $56M in pro bono design services annually for nonprofits that collectively serve millions of beneficiaries.