Continuing our Legacy Film Series this week we celebrate one of SDAF’s all-time legends, Maxine Ward.
It’s been 16 years since Maxine joined the San Diego Architectural Foundation and 2021 has been her final year on our board. Her list of accomplishments for SDAF is mind-blowing, check this out…
Along with David McCullough, Maxine led the effort to reinvent & relaunch the Orchids & Onions Awards in 2006, paving the way for the fun & energetic program that is today.
From 2010-2011 Maxine was SDAF’s Vice President, supporting Larry Hoeksema who was President at the time. In 2012 Maxine stepped up to the role of President and guided SDAF through it’s most challenging financial times. Keeping the foundations doors open was the priority and can be attributed to Maxine’s leadership for the three years (2012, 2013 & 2014) we were fortunate to have her as our President. Being her VP during these years gave me a personal insight into her passion for SDAF and her no-nonsense, dedicated leadership style.
As if that wasn’t enough, in 2015 Maxine led a new committee to launch OH! San Diego as part of the internationally successful Open House community. As only the second city in the United States at the time to join in the Open House effort, it was a giant commitment to showcasing San Diego’s built environment as a free program to the public. A team of volunteers set up around town and property owners generously shared their spaces. It was an enormous success, a program that we proudly curate annually since, and it was all due to Maxine’s dedication & leadership.
Honestly I could go on for days about how much I appreciate & respect Maxine, so I’ll just leave it with the fact that I am thrilled to celebrate Max for ALL of her contributions to San Diego’s built environment. And to formally acknowledge her efforts, we are awarding her this ORCHID for finally recognizing that 16 years is one heck of a run. Love you Max.
Pauly
P.S. check out this great post from AIA San Diego on Maxine from when she was recognized with AIA San Diego’s 2015 Young Architect of the Year Award.