BNIM Leaders Take the Stage at AIA Women’s Leadership Summit 2026
We’re proud to share that BNIM’s Laura Lesniewski is serving as Chair of this year’s AIA Women’s Leadership Summit, centered on expanding influence, visibility, and impact across the profession. Alongside Laura, additional BNIM leaders will help shape the conversation through three sessions exploring how we redistribute leadership, advance design excellence, and lead through listening.
AIA Women’s Leadership Summit 2026
Kansas City, MO | November 1 – 3, 2026
Loews Kansas City Hotel
Register Here
Redistributing Leadership for Abundance
Architecture firms are navigating an industry in transition, from emergent workforce dynamics to generational shifts in leadership. This panel discussion explores reimagining the practice model of an architecture firm to align operational strategy, workplace culture, and purpose-driven work to cultivate a future-ready practice. Drawing from experiences with their design firm’s transition to an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), panelists will share strategies and practical tools for becoming a practice reorganized for shared ownership and accountability. Attendees will gain insight and lessons learned from this group of employee-owners who played an instrumental role in envisioning and implementing a new model within their practice that thoughtfully distributed leadership and decision-making.
Date / Time
November 2, 2026
10:30am – 11:30am CST
Location
City Beautiful Ballroom B
Speakers
Katie Nichols, AIA LEED AP
Je’Nen M. Chastain, MBA, Associate AIA
Beena Ramaswami, NOMA, Associate AIA
Tina Wehrman, NCIDQ LEED AP
Leading Boldly from the Middle: Advancing the F4DE in Practice
The AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE) traces its origins to the 1989 AIA convention, where AIA Kansas City leaders introduced the Critical Planet Rescue (CPR) measure, calling for industry wide action on environmental issues. Since then, architects “from the middle of the country” have played a vital role in advancing sustainable design, integrating it as a core component of design excellence and driving meaningful climate action. This session highlights four leading firms from Missouri, Iowa, and Texas that continue this legacy by advancing the Framework for Design Excellence (F4DE) amid political, cultural, and economic headwinds.
Date / Time
November 2, 2026
10:30am – 11:30am CST
Location
Neptune Ballroom ABC
Speakers
Ellen M. Mitchell, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP
Heather Holdridge, LEED Fellow, EIT, Associate AIA
Joyce Raybuck, AIA LEED AP
Lyndley Kent, AIA, LFA
WLS Storytelling Stage
Listening – A Brief Story of Transformation
Historically, women have often been expected to listen more than speak. Yet listening can be one of the most powerful leadership tools we possess, helping us uncover challenges, build trust, and create meaningful change. In 2007, a group of friends attended a peace conference in East Africa and met a pastor working to broker peace among warring tribes in Kenya. Through conversations with community members, he discovered that access to water, not tribal differences, was the root cause of conflict. Inspired by this insight, the group funded ten water wells, helping create conditions for peace. When asked what came next, the community’s answer was education. That response led to the design of a high school campus and a nearly two-decade partnership focused on opportunity and growth. This session explores how intentional listening can uncover root causes, inspire action, and create lasting impact in communities and organizations alike.
Date / Time
November 2, 2026
4:00pm – 5:30pm CST
Location
City Beautiful Ballroom DE
Speaker
Laura Lesniewski, FAIA, LEED AP, WELL AP