Member of the Month

September 2020

Honorary Member of the Month
Jennifer Jaques, LC, MIES
Owner, Lighting Application Sciences, LLC
IES Past-President 2019-2020

Q: How did you first get started in the lighting industry?
I joined the lighting industry, from the residential construction industry, in 1995 as an Application Engineer for Wide-Lite after graduating from Texas State University in San Marcos, TX. At Wide-Lite I was responsible for supporting the internal and external sales staff, as well as engineering in providing technical product calculations and training to promote the company’s technical knowledge and products.

Q: How did you first get involved in the IESNYC?
My first interaction with the IESNYC was as a really “bad spy” —in a way. In 2000, I became very active with my local Austin section and continued serving that section in most Board of Manager and Chair roles for many years. During that time, I was constantly listening, reading, and trying to learn from sections that were succeeding and figuring out if, and how, it could help my section. The IESNYC section was one of those sections that I asked about, searched online, and read their announcements and calendar. I sought to learn what they were doing, how were they doing it - what wasn’t working, and what worked really well. Section leaders want their section to succeed, and we reach out to others for that support to help us succeed. I think that IESNYC is that fount of ideas and support to many sections.

Q: How do you see your role as member of the IESNYC?
As a member of the IES Board of Directors and the 2019-2020 IES Society President, part of my service was to be a listener to our individual members and our sections. What are their successes? What are they struggling with? What systems or processes can the Society improve or implement to strengthen the sections? How do we cultivate future leaders for the Society through our sections – and then, take those ideas, concerns, and conversations and work to address them. If I were a member of the IESNYC I would work to develop as many future leaders as I could, which in my opinion is what ever section needs to do. For example, does the section have an active EP chair and committee? If so, what is the section doing to actively grow that segment? What is the section officer on-boarding like at the beginning of each fiscal year, and is that process improved every year? How do they find and cultivate new section officers? What systems do they have in place to identify those future leaders and actively help those future leaders develop the skills they need to lead the section? Our industry and our Society have a habit of repeatedly tapping the same group of people to present, serve on committees, as section leaders, etc. Every section should be actively working to grow new leaders to support their officers, chairs, and leadership succession and to keep the energy and expansion of their section alive.

Q: In your opinion, what are the best assets of the IESNYC?
As the largest section in the Society, the IESNYC section is perfectly positioned to be a leader among our sections in creating and inspiring innovative opportunities to support the Society’s Cause and Mission, thereby growing not just the local lighting community but, our global lighting community. A locally relevant and vibrant lighting community attracts other related professionals and potential partners to join the conversation and inspires even greater opportunities. The IESNYC reaches beyond its local members and partners by sponsoring IES Society programs like the Emerging Professionals, which financially supports Emerging Professionals to attend the IES EP Day and Annual Conference. It is like a huge lighting snowball of excitement, education, and inspiration that’s fed by sections like the IESNYC.