AIA Seattle

Name

AIA Seattle

Legal name

AIA Seattle

Website

https://aiaseattle.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1949

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Association Services

NAICS

Business Associations (813910)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Awarding Organizations & Credentialing Bodies (Certificates/Diplomas) (EDADAFAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

National/State Examination Boards & Testing Agencies (EDADAFAA), Arts & Culture Appreciation (Art History, Film Appreciation, Music Appreciation) (EDAAAGAO), Executive Summits & Invitation-Only Forums (MPAGAGAK)

Keywords

• Professional membership association
• Architectural advocacy
• Continuing education programs
• Design awards program
• Career services

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership fees from architects, associates, students, firms, and allied professionals. Multiple membership tiers available including Architect, Associate, Recent Graduate, Student, Architecture Firm, and Allied Professional categories.
2. Corporate Sponsorships: Corporate Allied Partners sponsor the organization at various levels. Sponsors include construction companies, engineering firms, architectural product manufacturers, and design practices.
3. Event and Program Fees: Revenue from educational events, programming, and the Seattle Design Festival. Some events are free while others may have attendance fees.
4. Awards Submissions: Honor Awards for Washington Architecture program accepts submissions with fees (with early bird pricing available).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

AIA Seattle provides tiered professional membership, continuing education, career services, advocacy, and recognition programs to architects, allied design professionals, students, and architecture firms across a 10-county region in Washington State. Its marquee offerings are the 76-year-old Honor Awards for Washington Architecture, the annual Seattle Design Festival, and more than 70 annual educational and networking programs delivered through over 15 member committees.

Product overview

AIA Seattle is a professional membership organization serving as the Seattle chapter of the American Institute of Architects, serving a 10-county region. The organization operates as a platform providing membership services, educational programming, awards recognition, community events, and advocacy. Core offerings include the Honor Awards for Washington Architecture (annual awards program), Seattle Design Festival (annual community event), education programs including on-demand learning partnerships, career services with job board and licensure support, and over 15 member committees covering climate/resilience, culture/identity, professional practice, and livable communities. The organization also runs advocacy programs through the Public Policy Board and specialized committees including Housing Advocacy, Urban Design Forum, and Committee on Homelessness. Partnerships include America ByDesign TV series showcasing award-winning projects.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Seattle Design Festival: Annual design festival hosted by AIA Seattle featuring exhibitions, panels, and community engagement around design topics.
• Honor Awards for Washington Architecture
• Center for Architecture and Design (CfAD)

Products and services

• AIA Seattle Membership Programs Tiered annual professional membership program with categories for Architect, Associate, Recent Graduate, Student, Architecture Firm, Allied Professional, and Corporate Allied Partner. Provides members with access to continuing education, advocacy representation, committee engagement, career services, and the Honor Awards and Seattle Design Festival programs across AIA Seattle's 10-county service region.
• Honor Awards for Washington Architecture Annual nationally-recognized awards program celebrating design excellence in Washington State architecture, with submission categories for Built, Conceptual, and Research & Innovation projects, an international jury, a live awards event, and the Young Voices Selection program for emerging designers.
• Seattle Design Festival Annual community design festival held in August featuring the SDF Block Party at Lake Union Park, Built Installations, Mainstage Programs, Pop-Up Experiences, Design Mixers, and a Closing Party. The 2026 edition is the 16th annual and themed IN[FLUX], exploring how design responds to uncertainty.
• Education Programs (including ARE Preparation and On-Demand Learning) Continuing education programming for architects and emerging professionals, including scheduled Education Programs, on-demand learning through partnerships with aecKnowledge and AIAU (AIA National), and dedicated Architect Registration Examination (ARE) preparation resources for licensure candidates.
• Career Services Career support services for architecture professionals, including a job board for posting and finding architecture jobs, resume posting, the Laddership mentorship program, and Path to Licensure resources for emerging professionals.
• Advocacy Programs Public policy advocacy program focused on housing, sustainable design, city design, homelessness, and transportation, delivered through AIA Seattle's Public Policy Board and member-led advocacy committees such as the Housing Advocacy Committee, Committee on Homelessness, and Urban Design Forum.
• Member Committees Over 15 volunteer member committees organized into themes including Climate and Resilience (Mass Timber, Committee on the Environment, Adaptation & Resilience), Culture/Identity and Belonging, Specializations, Professional Path and Practice, and Livable Communities, providing peer engagement and professional development opportunities.

Quantifiable outcome

• 76 years of Honor Awards program celebrating design excellence
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• America ByDesign: ArchitecturecoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2024Partnership with TV series to feature projects awarded through AIA Seattle's Honor Awards program. The show showcases exceptional design principles, projects, materials and products. Featured projects include Seattle Aquarium Ocean Pavilion by LMN Architects, Seattle Convention Center by LMN Architects, Northlake Commons by Weber Thompson, and others. The series airs on CBS and streams on aia.org and YouTube.
• Center for Architecture and Design (CfAD)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerShared space partner at 1010 Western Ave that has been decommissioning. AIA Seattle plus Seattle Design Festival share aligned vision for culture of design fostering equitable, resilient, thriving communities.
• AIA Northwest WashingtonminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerA section of AIA Seattle serving members in North Puget Sound, supporting and promoting the design profession through educational programs and activities.
• University of Washington Integrated Design Lab (IDL)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner on Energy in Design Award, providing technical support for Common App submissions and office hours for submitters.
• BetterBricksminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsor of Energy in Design Award and sustainability initiatives.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• AIA Chicago: AIA Chicago operates the same chapter model as AIA Seattle — membership tiers, Design Excellence Awards, continuing education, advocacy committees, and a public design festival (Chicago Architecture Biennial-style programming) — making it a structurally identical peer in a different regional market.
• Boston Society for Architecture (BSA): BSA is a regional architecture association serving Greater Boston architects with membership, design awards (BSA Design Awards), advocacy, and public programming — directly comparable in mission, scale, and chapter-style operating model to AIA Seattle.
• AIA New York: AIA New York is one of the largest AIA chapters in the U.S., running parallel programs: Design Awards, member committees, continuing education, advocacy, and a major public-facing architecture festival — directly comparable in operating model, though materially larger in scale.
• AIA DC (AIA|DC): AIA DC serves the Washington D.C. architecture community with parallel programming: design awards, continuing education, advocacy, committees, and a public architecture festival — comparable structurally and in mission to AIA Seattle despite serving a different metro market.
• AIA Los Angeles: AIA LA is a fellow large West Coast chapter running parallel programs: Design Awards, member committees, advocacy on housing/urban design, and continuing education. Comparable to AIA Seattle in chapter structure, professional community focus, and Pacific Coast market dynamics.
• AIA San Francisco: AIA San Francisco is a fellow West Coast AIA chapter serving the Bay Area architecture community with parallel membership tiers, Honor Awards, design festival programming, and advocacy infrastructure — making it the closest structural and geographic comparable to AIA Seattle.

Emerging players

• Center for Architecture (New York): The Center for Architecture in NYC operates public-facing exhibitions, K-12 education, and design programming for the architecture community — overlapping with AIA Seattle's Seattle Design Festival and former CfAD partnership, though structured as a foundation rather than a membership chapter.

Others

• American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA): ASLA is the national professional association for landscape architects, with parallel chapter structure, awards programs, advocacy, and continuing education. It's a sibling professional association serving an allied design discipline — comparable model, adjacent profession.

Broad incumbents

• The American Institute of Architects (AIA National): AIA National is the parent organization of AIA Seattle and the broader professional body representing U.S. architects. It operates overlapping programs in continuing education (AIAU), national awards, advocacy, and career services — making AIA Seattle a chapter within, and partially overlapping with, this broader incumbent.

Regional players

• Urban Land Institute (ULI) Northwest: ULI Northwest is the Pacific Northwest district council of ULI, a real estate and land use organization that overlaps with AIA Seattle's Urban Design Forum and Housing Advocacy Committee on issues like density, TOD, and mixed-use development — comparable in regional advocacy scope but with a real estate (vs. architecture) lens.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xthreads.net/@aiaseattle
• Facebookfacebook.com/AIASeattle
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/aia-seattle
• Instagraminstagram.com/aiaseattle

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about AIA Seattle