April 2025 Chapter Leader of the Month: Tala Dababna

Tala Dababna is a senior at the University of Michigan studying architecture and minoring in Real Estate Development. She is also Chapter Co-President at the Univeristy of Michigan. Together with her chapter leadership, she has hosted over 50 events, supported their school’s Beaux Arts Ball, sent 16 students to conferences, welcomed 10 guest speakers, launched six committees, and even started a podcast.

“For the past two years, I have been serving as a co-president alongside Aaron Comstock—an experience that has been incredibly meaningful to me. Together, we’ve grown our chapter to over 100 members, fostering a vibrant and supportive community that I’m so happy to call my second family. Our mission has always been to bridge the gap between education and the professional world. […] And of course, due to the dedication and hardwork of our members, committees, and board, our chapter was honored with the 2024 Chapter of the Year award.”

Aaron Comstock, who nominated Tala for this feature, highlighted her impact on their community:

“Tala has worked tirelessly to continue to growth the Chapter to over 95 students strong in only its second year of its existence. Not only did she help start the chapter from constitution to marketing to recruiting to market, but she remains dedicated to the chapter and its success while helping our University’s community as a peer mentor, orientation leader, and community manager for Studio Reassembled.
Tala continuously works to provide the best experience she can to students. She ensures students are getting unique experiences from our guest speakers, our chapter programming, and strives to provide a platform for students to influence the world of architecture at every level. She is the heart and soul of our chapter. Our chapter would not be what it is today without her.”