Registration is open at the bottom of this page; sign up for Session 1 here.
If you would like to request to have registration fees waived due to financial hardship, please contact info@aiasf.org.

The mentorship committee’s 2021 Mentorship Exchange Program has begun with the Spring Season.  The Mentorship Exchange program is a combination of our historical speedmatch event and the discussion series we hosted last year. It aims to create networking opportunities, promote collaborative learning environments and provide professional + personal support.  There are 4 seasons this year. Each season will be led by different group leaders and will contain 2 sessions. Session 1 is an introduction event where group leaders talk briefly about their topic of interest and meet other attendees. Session 2 is more conversational and a deeper dive into the topics. All participant’s email contacts will be distributed within each event. Come and join us!

About the Group Leaders

Thomas Braham relocated to San Francisco from Chicago in 2018. He has worked with Gensler for 15 years and is a studio director in the San Francisco office. His current studio includes diverse talent focused on projects for hospitality, but he is a proud generalist having led several different studios at Gensler, focused on a wide range of complex corporate, institutional, and civic projects. Tom has served as a project director for many significant projects including 1 Hotel & Residences Mission Bay, Millennium M-Social Hotel Sunnyvale, Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital in Lake Forest, Illinois, and the redevelopment of Navy Pier in Chicago. Other projects include a new global headquarters for Goodyear in Akron, Ohio and The Genevieve and Wayne Gratz Center at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago. These projects have been highly recognized with a variety of AIA and other industry awards. Tom holds a March degree from the Tulane University School of Architecture. He has been actively involved in leadership of the profession throughout his career. His professional service includes past President of AIA Illinois and past Region Director on the AIA National Board of Directors. He’s the recipient of the Dubin Family Young Architect award and was elevated to the AIA College of Fellows in 2015.Tom lives in Bernal Heights with his husband, Greg Zinkl, their greyhound, Kai and two cats. His quick observational humor led him to study improv at The Second City in Chicago. He’s currently taking voice lessons but isn’t ready for musical improv just yet.

As Steinberg Hart’s Managing Principal for San Jose, Katia plays a major role in the success of many for the firm’s largest and most complex projects. With close to three decades of experience leading large-scale projects for civic and education client, she is a recognized thought leader and is well known for her innovative and highly sustainable projects across California. Katia has worked with clients and diverse communities designing complex civic, hospitality and commercial projects in the US and Mexico. By emphasizing collaboration among key design team partners, she creates powerful environments that have a positive impact to the people who use them. Katia is active in Design-Build Institute of America, SJDA Downtown Design Committee and is a founding member of the AIA SV Women in Architecture Committee.

Born in Mexico City and as an avid traveler, Katia embraces an international outlook in her work. Her trips underscore her approach to design and her belief that architecture respects the language of the past while inspiring innovative future development.

Andrew is an optimistic advocate for building regeneration, urban architecture, and place-making and its power to advance responsible development. In his 25 years of practice, he has promoted the value of historically-significant sites and their role in providing cultural vitality to our cities and neighborhoods. He led the transformation of some of the Bay Area’s most significant historic landmarks into vibrant and relevant new uses. Cases in point: the Ferry Building, the Presidio Landmark, the Presidio Officers’ Club, and 140 New Montgomery Street.

His passion and expertise around preservation, renewal and waterfront development is reflected in his post to the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) Design Review Board. He is a Trustee of the California Preservation Foundation, past President of the San Francisco Historic Preservation Commission, past President of DOCOMOMO, Vice President of the Golden Gate Chapter of Lambda Alpha International, and long time member of San Francisco Architectural Heritage, ULI and SPUR.

Eager to share his knowledge with others, Andrew speaks regularly at conferences and workshops He studied architecture at Columbia College in New York and earned his Master of Architecture, Planning and Preservation from Columbia University, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.