Friends,

I am honored to be your new President, and I would like to thank Colleen Peach and last year's board, who steered and powered our section through arguably its most challenging time in history. I would also like to welcome new board member Travis Fritson and Officers, Treasurer Derick Sheehan, Secretary Jess Baker, and Vice-President Sabra White.

The IES mission is to improve the lighted environment by bringing together lighting knowledge and translating that knowledge into actions. I think that sums up our section pretty well. Amid a pandemic, our community adapted to the virtual environment, propelled ourselves forward, and produced 17 events last year. Virtual events eliminated Los Angeles' notorious travel times, and our attendance doubled and even tripled. We explored topics such as The Well Building Standard, LM-80 & TM21, Daylighting, TM30, Power Over Ethernet, discussing What To Do After the Spec is Written, and enjoyed a behind-the-scenes view of the new Star Wars exhibition at Disneyland.

The Emerging Professionals Mentorship Series gives insight into local lighting design firms' design processes and team philosophies. This past year five of SoCal best shared their knowledge and experience to help the next generation grow. They included Carrie Hawley of HLB, Debra Fox of LPA, Lisa Passamonte Green of Visual Terrain, Scott Hatton of Oculus Light Studio, and Tina Aghassian of HLB.

The collaboration between IES LA, IALD LA, and WILD LA produced the most critical accomplishment in creating the Los Angeles Lighting Speakers Bureau. Trusting that a diversity of voices can only elevate our profession, The Speaker's Bureau serves high-schoolers and universities that do not currently have a lighting component in their curricula. Sharing our passion for architectural lighting with the youth of Southern California will ensure the advancement of our profession in the future.

This year's Lumen West Award Show included acceptance speeches from the winners for the first time, putting the spotlight on the Lighting Designers where it belongs. The global locations of the award-winning projects highlight the impact our community has worldwide. A month after the first airing, the total views of the show on our YouTube channel are double our past live event numbers.

This year's IESLA Russell Cole Memorial Student Lighting Design Competition Awarded $20,000.00 to seven southern California college students pursuing lighting studies who have shown an understanding of light and its effect on architecture. In another first, you can now view the winners, download their winning projects, and listen to an audio description of the work by visiting the Lumen West 2021 link in the main menu of this website.

The Los Angeles Section is in a strong position, but we can continue to do more and expand our mission amongst our community. If you are not a member, please join us. If you are a member, consider joining a committee or organizing an event. Remember, "Many hands make light work."

I genuinely appreciate your support and encourage you to share any ideas you may have as we work together in the upcoming year.

Sincerely.
Fitz FitzGerald