Center for Architecture & Design

What Center for Architecture & Design does

The Center for Architecture & Design is a Missouri-registered nonprofit collective founded in 2015 by six chartered professional design organizations — AIA Kansas City, AIGA KC, KC APA (American Planning Association, Kansas City chapter), IDSA KC (Industrial Designers Society of America, Kansas City chapter), IIDA Mid-America, and PGASLA (Prairie Gateway Chapter of ASLA). SEGD Kansas City joined as the seventh member organization in 2019. The Center serves the 2,436 aggregated members of these associations, who are architects, interior designers, graphic designers, landscape architects, industrial/product designers, urban planners, and experiential graphic designers in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

The Center's product surface is a portfolio of four programs rather than a technology platform: KC Design Week (an annual multi-event design celebration), Education Outreach (student engagement and pipeline-building), D7 Retreat Kansas City (a professional retreat for collaboration and discussion), and the Summer Intern & New Grad Event (early-career networking). The underlying infrastructure is a Wix-hosted website (cfadkc.org) supported by organic social channels (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn) and a single physical office at 1801 McGee St, Suite 100, Kansas City, MO, operating Monday through Thursday. There is no proprietary software, no mobile applications, and no disclosed technology stack beyond standard web and social media tools.

As a member-based nonprofit collective, the Center does not have a commercial pricing model. Its governance is distributed across a board comprising a President, President-elect, Past President, Treasurer, and Secretary, each representing one of the seven member organizations, with additional At-Large and Staff Contact positions. Members of any of the seven constituent professional associations receive event notifications and registration discounts automatically through their existing chapter membership. The organization publishes annual overview documents dating back to 2017 and operates on a regional Kansas City footprint with no disclosed revenue, funding rounds, headcount, or paid customer relationships.

Name

Center for Architecture & Design

Legal name

Center for Architecture and Design

Website

https://cfadkc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Short description

The Center for Architecture & Design is a Kansas City-based nonprofit collective of seven professional design associations serving 2,436 members through KC Design Week, Education Outreach, the D7 Retreat, and a Summer Intern & New Grad Event.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Design Association Services

akta.pro primary industry

Community Engagement & Participatory Planning (BPAHAKAO)

akta.pro secondary industry

Architecture, Planning & Surveying (AIA, Planning, Land Surveyor CE) (EDAAALAG)

Keywords

• Design advocacy programs
• Professional design community
• Architecture design events
• Design week programming
• Design education outreach

Headquarters

HQ city

North Kansas City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Center for Architecture & Design is a nonprofit collective that serves as a forum for design professionals to discuss, collaborate, and promote quality design through programs, lectures, education, and advocacy. It operates four core programs — KC Design Week (annual design celebration), Education Outreach, D7 Retreat Kansas City, and the Summer Intern & New Grad Event — delivered to 2,436 members across seven partner professional design associations in the Kansas City region.

Product overview

Center for Architecture & Design is a collective of design-minded individuals serving as a forum for discussion, collaboration, and promotion of quality design. The organization operates a portfolio of four core programs: KC Design Week (annual design celebration), Education Outreach (future designer engagement), D7 Retreat Kansas City (professional retreat), and Summer Intern & New Grad Event (career networking). Founded in 2015 by seven professional design organizations, the Center connects over 2,400 members through events, lectures, education, and advocacy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• KC Design Week
• Education Outreach
• D7 Retreat Kansas City
• Summer Intern & New Grad Event

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• SEGD Kansas CitycoreOthers · 1 January 2019Joined the Center for Architecture & Design as a member organization in 2019. Represents experiential graphic designers in the Kansas City chapter.
• AIA Kansas CitycoreOthersFounding member organization of the Center for Architecture & Design, established in 2015. Represents architects in the Kansas City area.
• AIGA KCcoreOthersFounding member organization of the Center for Architecture & Design, established in 2015. Represents graphic designers in the Kansas City area.
• KC APAcoreOthersFounding member organization of the Center for Architecture & Design, established in 2015. Represents urban planners in the Kansas City area.
• IDSA KCcoreOthersFounding member organization of the Center for Architecture & Design, established in 2015. Represents industrial/product designers in the Kansas City chapter.
• IIDA Mid-AmericacoreOthersFounding member organization of the Center for Architecture & Design, established in 2015. Represents interior designers in the Mid-America chapter.
• PGASLAcoreOthersFounding member organization of the Center for Architecture & Design, established in 2015. Represents landscape architects in the Prairie Gateway chapter.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Emerging players

• Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA): IDSA is the national professional association for industrial design, and the parent of IDSA KC, one of Center for Architecture & Design's member organizations. Comparable as a smaller design-discipline professional association focused on a specific niche (industrial/product design) and education.
• SEGD (Society for Experiential Graphic Design): SEGD is the global professional association for experiential graphic design and the parent body of SEGD Kansas City — Center for Architecture & Design's newest (2019) member organization. Comparable as a niche design-discipline association offering community, education, and advocacy for a focused subset of designers.

Broad incumbents

• American Institute of Architects (AIA): AIA is the national professional association for architects in the U.S. and the parent body of AIA Kansas City — one of Center for Architecture & Design's seven member organizations. Comparable as a broader design-professional advocacy body but operating at national scale rather than local convening.
• American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA): ASLA is the national professional association for landscape architects and parent body of PGASLA, one of Center for Architecture & Design's founding member organizations. Comparable as a design-discipline professional association with advocacy, education, and member programming at national scale.
• AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts): AIGA is the national professional association for design and graphic designers in the U.S. and the parent body of AIGA KC — one of Center for Architecture & Design's seven member organizations. Comparable in mission around design advocacy and education but at national scale with broader design-discipline scope.

Direct peers

• Chicago Architecture Center: The Chicago Architecture Center is a nonprofit that operates exhibits, public programs, and education about architecture and design in Chicago. It is the closest functional analog to Center for Architecture & Design, sharing the same nonprofit-center model that convenes design professionals and the public around design advocacy and education.
• Center for Architecture (NYC): Affiliated with AIA New York, the Center for Architecture Foundation operates exhibitions, public talks, and K-12 design education programs in NYC. Directly comparable to Center for Architecture & Design as a city-based, AIA-adjacent nonprofit providing cross-disciplinary design programming and advocacy.
• Boston Society for Architecture: The BSA is a 19th-century-old member-supported nonprofit providing design programming, advocacy, and public engagement around architecture and design in Boston. Comparable to Center for Architecture & Design as a regional nonprofit that combines professional membership with public-facing design programming and education.
• AIA Philadelphia / Center for Architecture: AIA Philadelphia (the Philadelphia Center for Architecture) hosts design exhibitions, tours, lectures, and community programs around design in the Philadelphia region. Directly comparable to Center for Architecture & Design as a single-city nonprofit hub combining AIA presence with multi-discipline design programming.

Regional players

• Architecture Foundation (UK): A London-based charity that runs public programs, talks, and education on architecture, planning, and design across the UK. Comparable to Center for Architecture & Design as a nonprofit design advocacy organization focused on public engagement with the built environment, though geographically distinct (Europe vs. Midwestern U.S.).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/center-for-architecture-design-kansas-city/about/?viewAsMember=true
• Instagraminstagram.com/cfadkc/?hl=en

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles18 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 Center for Architecture & Design