Meet the 2026–2027 SDA National Treasurer: Frances Carrillo

Three decades in operations. Two terms as a nonprofit treasurer. One clear conviction: SDA’s books and SDA’s membership are the same conversation.

We’re continuing our series introducing SDA’s 2026–2027 National Executive Committee with a leader who sees the Treasurer role as more than a ledger: Frances Carrillo, Project Accountant and Senior Project Administrator at MIG, Inc. in San Diego, and SDA’s incoming Treasurer.

Fran came to SDA through the Southern California chapter and has built her national presence through the Marketing & Communications committee, where her work on membership outreach has been hands-on rather than theoretical. She’s a two-time GEM Leadership Award recipient and a familiar face at EDSymposium, with recent attendance in Lexington, Rapid City, and Spokane. Inside MIG—a 260-person, 16-office firm doing more than $63 million in annual revenue—she runs the financial operations of the San Diego office, partners directly with project managers on project health, and contributes firmwide through the Proposal Review Team and large-project accounting. Before MIG, she spent 15 years as Associate Business Manager at M.W. Steele Group, where she was the operational backbone of a small architectural practice.

Her financial leadership experience also extends well beyond AEC. Fran currently serves as Treasurer for the League of Women Voters of California, a role she’s held since 2020, and previously served as Treasurer for the LWV San Diego board from 2018 to 2023. That’s six-plus consecutive years of nonprofit fiduciary oversight at the board level—exactly the kind of governance experience the SDA Treasurer role demands.

What makes Fran’s candidacy distinctive is the angle she brings to the role. She doesn’t think of finance and membership as separate problems. With years on the MarCom committee and active membership work, she sees revenue and visibility as two ends of the same lever—and she’s come to the Treasurer chair determined to pull on both.

“We have tools and programs but not the members or revenue to strengthen our position in the AEC industry. With my continued work on MarCom and on the membership committee, I hope to marry the objectives of the two and work with ExCom in tackling this ongoing issue.”

— Frances Carrillo, Incoming SDA National Treasurer

That’s the kind of clarity SDA needs in the Treasurer seat right now. Membership trends aren’t just a marketing concern—they show up directly in the financial statements—and Fran is one of the few candidates whose career has straddled both sides of that line long enough to speak to them as one issue.

Expect her term to be marked by collaborative, practical work: the kind of cross-committee coordination that turns strategy decks into actual outcomes. Her CliftonStrengths—Arranger, Relator, Maximizer, Individualization, Strategic—read like a job description for the role she’s about to take on.

Please join us in welcoming Fran to her role as SDA National Treasurer. Drop her a note in the SDA Discussion Hub, look for her at chapter and national events, and consider how your own committee work might connect to the membership and revenue conversation she’s ready to lead. It’s going to be a great year to build, grow, and lead together.