At AIA Convention 2004, AIA Seattle Member Grace H. Kim AIA, whose extensive roster of professional service includes a remarkably effective term as Washington State IDP Coordinator 2000-02, will receive the 2004 Emerging Professionals Mentorship Award – among AIA Emerging Professionals Awards presented by the AIA Associates Committee and Young Architects Forum.

The Awards jury cited Grace Kim's "exemplary contributions to our profession as a mentor." Among her many cited accomplishments, the jury particularly commended Grace's forthcoming book, Survival Guide to Architectural Internship, as "an invaluable guide for navigating the formative years of an architect's career," in addition to her work with the AIA national Mentoring Task Group resulting in production of Mentorship, a Journey in Collaborative Learning, now on the AIA web site," and "outstanding efforts at the local, state, national, and community levels in promoting a culture of mentoring and life-long learning [showing] dedication to the advancement of the profession."

In placing the nomination, AIA Seattle President Kristen M. Scott AIA wrote:
"With great pleasure and gratitude, AIA Seattle presents and supports the nomination of Grace H. Kim AIA, a most deserving candidate for the Emerging Professionals Mentorship Award.

"With her special energy and savvy about the nature of design practice, Grace Kim became a force on the Seattle design professional scene beginning some five years ago. A graduate of architectural studies at Washington State University, she had served the early years of her internship in Chicago, where she actively engaged in the issues of interns and emerging professionals. Her work soon gained a national dimension, with her appointment to the national AIA Collateral Internship Task Group in 2000. In that endeavor, she helped lay groundwork for a nation-wide and profound 'revolution' in the agenda, intention, perception, and management of the intern experience, that continues to affect the experience of emerging professionals - as does Grace herself.

"The same energy and thoughtfulness informed her as she assumed the breadth of responsibilities of the Washington State IDP Coordinator in 2000, and her direction of the AIA Seattle twice-yearly Architecture Registration Examination Prep Series. In her management of the IDP portfolio, she made sure to keep her colleagues informed and in command of their professional destinies - and also engaged the full meaning and spectrum of mentoring: not only did she activate senior practitioners in firms throughout Washington as mentors, but she also mobilized young architects as mentors to interns. Her program of enthusiastic and frequent presentations included large and small firms, educators and students, and anyone who needed to hear the 'mentoring message.'

"We at AIA Seattle can attest to her special effectiveness in the work, at both the local and the national level. On behalf of many who have benefited and will continue to benefit from her powerful efforts, we heartily endorse her nomination."

Among others, AIA Seattle past President Rena M. Klein AIA, AIA national Board member Norman Strong FAIA, and AIA Education Director Catherine Roussel AIA supported the nomination.

Reference: 'Young Seattle architects making their mark in tough times,' Sheri Olson FAIA in the Seattle P-I 10/13/03