The Texas Society of Architects introduces its 2026 president, Krystyn Haecker, AIA. As the Society’s 85th president, Krystyn is the youngest individual to lead TxA to date.

“My focus as president will be on prioritizing the needs of the organization’s members by fostering belonging, strengthening connection, and advancing a model of collective leadership that recognizes progress happens best when we move forward together,” said Krystyn. “I believe architects have the ability and responsibility to bring people together—through design, through purpose, through the spaces we shape.” That belief is central to how Krystyn approaches both her work as an architect and her service to the profession. 

Based in Houston, Krystyn is a partner at Mirador Group, where she works as the firm’s multifamily practice leader, serves on the leadership team as the company integrator, and manages programs for recruitment, professional development, and employee engagement. In both the projects she delivers as an architect and the team she helps build at Mirador Group, Krystyn focuses on building communities. She is also a partner with Mirador Group’s sister companies—Vedetta Design and Vedetta Atelier—which focus on interior design and interior procurement respectively. Krystyn has been recognized as a leader in her community as one of the Houston Business Journal’s 2024 Women Who Mean Business and Bisnow’s 2025 Houston Women Leading Real Estate Leader of the Year.

Krystyn’s leadership within AIA began when she co-founded AIA Houston’s Women in Architecture (WiA) Committee in 2016. Serving as committee chair in 2018, she worked to establish legacy programming, expand mentorship opportunities, and advance meaningful conversations around equity, representation, and leadership. Under her leadership, WiA Houston received the 2018 TxA Mentorship Award. At AIA Houston, Krystyn also served on the board of directors in 2024, was selected as a scholar for the inaugural Houston class of the Christopher Kelley Leadership Development Program (2018–19), and received the 2025 AIA Houston Ben Brewer Young Architect Award. 

At the state level, Krystyn has been deeply engaged with TxA for many years. Prior to becoming president in 2026, she served as president-elect in 2025, Conference Committee co-chair in 2024, and vice president of professional development in 2021–2022. She has also served on the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Committee, Conference Futures Committee, Design Awards Committee, and Professional Development Taskforce. In 2019, she founded the Texas Women in Architecture Roundtable at the TxA Conference, creating a space for women across the state to gather annually, build relationships, and support one another through shared experiences. Krystyn was recognized for her contributions to TxA and the profession as a recipient of the Society’s 2025 Award for Early Career Professional Achievement and as a member of the 2025 Building Design+Construction 40 Under 40 Class. 

As TxA president, Krystyn will focus on creating a more connected and inclusive architecture community in Texas. At a time when the world has become increasingly divided and the profession faces growing complexity, she believes the Society should serve as a place of connection: a space to GATHER, learn from one another, and collectively shape the future of architecture in Texas. “As I look toward the year ahead, I would like us to challenge ourselves—to design with intention, foster connection in our communities, and build a profession that creates belonging,” she said. 

Krystyn is a proud seventh-generation Texan and second-generation Aggie who grew up in Austin. She graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Environmental Design from Texas A&M University and received a Master of Architecture from Virginia Tech at the Washington Alexandria Architecture Center. Krystyn currently lives in Houston with her partner, Justin, their two rescue dogs, two rescue cats, and a continually growing collection of plants.