Evelyn M. Lee, FAIA

Keynote presented as a conversation with Evelyn M. Lee, FAIA, 2024 AIA President-elect, and Mike Chapman, Executive Producer at ByDesign, at the GENERATE 2024 Practice + Design Conference.

Article by Kaylyn Kirby, AIA, Associate Principal at Semple Brown Design.

As someone who already greatly respects and appreciates Evelyn – her work within the Institute, Practice Disrupted podcast, and beyond – I was excited for her session at this year’s AIA Colorado Practice + Design Conference. She did not disappoint. 

After a day of design-focused, inspirational keynotes, the 2025 AIA President-Elect’s Q&A session provided a refreshing shift to the narrative. The conversation centered around a few topics: how the profession evolves to meet future issues, around attracting and retaining talent as we face competition from adjacent professions, and how we and shift practice models in order to provide greater benefits and pay.

With a Q&A format of presentation, some of the topics of discussion are bundled below.

Competition with tech 

Evelyn started her career in traditional practice before shifting to tech and is now serving as consultant to tech companies, along with her other pursuits. When realizing her passion and skills lied in Project Management and CA, she realized her skills were highly transferrable to other industries that would provide greater pay and flexibility, especially as she grew in her career and family. 

The starting salary for an entry level UX (User Experience) designer is $120,000; the starting salary for a recent architecture grad is … not that. Tech and other adjacent fields also offer expanded benefits such as unlimited PTO, longer maternity and paternity leave, more holidays, and more. This is something that the current business model of architecture cannot support. If we want to attract and retain our talent, we have to change how we do business. We must stop the race to the bottom to get the job, but rather shift conversations both externally and internally to expand our services and thus bolster our ability to provide better pay and benefits.  

She noted it’s hard for architects to advocate for higher fees on projects when clients know what we get paid (thanks google). It seems a change in conversation is required – architects are doing more than ever to deliver projects today. There are expanded documentation, coordination, entitlements, building code and energy code compliance requirements that require additional time, effort, and expertise. Architects are seemingly absorbing, rather than addressing, the greater scope with clients. 

Onboarding 

Evelyn noted that people determine if they will stay at a job long term, rather than a few years or as a career stepping stone, within the first 90 days on the job. This time pressure places great importance on the onboarding process, integrating talent into the culture, and making sure they feel equipped to do their job. This goes beyond onboarding in the first week but requires check-ins at 30 and 90 days to see how that person is acclimating into the new position.

Personally, I also think onboarding is a great time to understand how the firm is operating from fresh perspectives. For example, does our file structure make sense? Is it easy to find the resources you need throughout your day, week, etc.? 

Management

Evelyn also discussed a very interesting approach to managing teams – a “personal manual.” The idea is that different managers (i.e. Project Managers) have different styles and preferred communication styles.

She proposed managers should create a manual for themselves that contains how they prefer to be communicated with, such as method (phone, in person, message, etc.), time of day or specific days that work best, and when to elevate an issue to them for additional insight. This allows staff that may be working with different managers to better understand why a communication method that works with one manager may be less effective for another.

I think this is also an exercise that allows people to really think through and understand their own working and communication styles. 

Mentoring

There have been many conversations over the years and at AIA Colorado’s annual conference about how we mentor in architecture and what that looks like in a flexible/hybrid environment. Evelyn noted the idea of “osmosis learning” is not happening and is not as effective as some believe.

As someone who personally struggles with retaining focus in a loud open-office setting, I could relate to her opinion around this topic. Most people in the office have their headphones on to help filter out the noise of the open office, people on meetings, chatting, etc. The antiquated idea that everyone is simply overhearing their co-workers navigating phone calls and coordination issues as a form of learning, is not really working. We have too many distractions and too many working styles for that to be effective.

Evelyn also noted that the profession likes to simply “throw people in the deep end” rather than actively training and mentoring them. We have to be more intentional in how we mentor and teach, this is even more critical in a hybrid and flexible work environment. Evelyn suggested cataloging resources and making sure they were easy to find for all employees. Things such as a video tutorial for common questions or tasks, or a slack channel dedicated to detailing or code questions. The benefit of a channel is that it is then a resource that can be searched by people in the future that may have the same question. These types of activities cut down on siloed or repeated email questions back and forth. 

How we work  – flexibility, remote/hybrid work

In 2024, it’s easy to forget the state of the world and work in 2020. However, the pandemic forced us to shift how, and where, we work and how we communicated and collaborated on projects. There are many opinions on what architecture practice looks like today, but I would urge us to not let the lessons we learned during the pandemic be lost. There are times of day that different people work most effectively, which may or may not align with standard business hours. As long as this is communicated and understood by project teams, it should not be an issue. The profession needs to evolve and embrace the flexibility, remote and hybrid work that we proved could work during the pandemic, and that competing industries are providing. The younger workforce will demand it or look for alternative options outside of the field.

With general declining college acceptance rates due to a lull in birth rates following the Great Recession, we’re already going to be seeing declining numbers of architectural graduates in the coming years. Pair this with a high cost of investment (higher education costs / student loans) and a low return on investment (low pay and benefits), the profession could face a challenging future. We are a creative and problem-solving profession, let’s approach a change in practice models and the future of work with this perspective. 

About Evelyn

Evelyn M. Lee, FAIA, is a multi-faceted professional who uniquely blends her architectural background with a tech-driven focus. As an architect now immersed in the tech industry, she serves as an angel investor, startup advisor, and fractional COO for SMB Architecture firms, playing a pivotal role in their growth and success. Despite her career transition, Evelyn’s passion for architecture remains unshaken, fueled by a deep admiration for the professionals in the field, their dedication to serving clients, and the indelible impact they imprint on communities.

A sought-after speaker, Evelyn regularly shares her insights on the evolution of architecture practice, leadership and team development, the integration of technology in practice operations, and the exploration of alternative careers. Outside of her architectural pursuits, she is a founding advisor for Women Defining AI, championing a more inclusive and diverse landscape in artificial intelligence. Evelyn Lee’s leadership and forward-thinking approach are not just about innovation and progress, they’re about guiding the architectural profession towards new, uncharted directions.