Agreement brings expanded services to AES with collaborative leadership
NEW YORK—The Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) announces a new shared resource agreement with the Audio Engineering Society (AES), expanding IES’s collaborative support to include the global audio engineering community. The partnership leverages IES’s proven association management expertise to strengthen AES’s leadership, operational capacity, and long-term growth and stability while providing IES with an innovative new revenue stream. The management services agreement between IES and AES will begin on December 16, 2025.
Like the IES, the AES is a membership organization with a focus on standards and education. This agreement marks a significant milestone in enhancing both organizations’ ability to operate effectively and achieve sustained expansion and resilience.
As part of this collaboration, Colleen Harper will serve as Executive Director in a shared role between IES and AES. Harper previously served as AES Executive Director from 2019-2022, and her proven leadership helped guide the Society through significant growth and development. Graham Kirk will also serve in a shared role as Director of Business Operations for both organizations, bringing his successful track record of industry partnerships and revenue growth.
In this new relationship, some current IES staff will support both IES and AES initiatives, and IES will hire three additional staff members to accommodate the increased workload. “This partnership represents IES’s commitment to supporting technical and professional societies,” said IES President Wilson Dau. “By sharing our resources and expertise, we can help AES continue its important mission while leveraging the operational efficiencies that benefit both organizations.”
“We are very excited about this next chapter,” said AES President Gary Gottlieb. “The last time we had this winning staff combination, AES saw measurable gains in membership and event attendance. We believe this shared arrangement brings us back to that successful formula, while also giving AES access to the depth and flexibility of a larger team.”
AES leadership emphasized that this transition provides all the benefits of working with an association management company, including the ability to pivot staff resources to where they are most needed in an open collaboration between like-minded organizations.
“This arrangement empowers AES to focus squarely on serving its members and advancing audio innovation,” stated Colleen Harper. “At the same time, it generates a critical and reliable revenue stream for IES. It allows both Societies’ members and volunteers to focus on what they do best: connecting their respective global communities, supporting education and research, and creating world-class events. Most importantly, it ensures that serving members to the best of our ability remains at the heart of every decision we make and every initiative we pursue.”
Graham Kirk echoes Harper’s thoughts. “This partnership with the AES is a significant milestone for the IES. This collaboration creates a powerful opportunity to diversify IES’s revenue while combining our resources to reach new markets, deepen engagement with our communities, and develop more innovative and comprehensive events. We’re confident this collaboration will drive growth for both organizations.”
The Illuminating Engineering Society remains committed to advancing its mission to improve life through quality of light. This arrangement with AES represents IES’s broader vision of fostering collaboration among engineering societies and leveraging shared resources to better serve the technical community. The partnership ensures both IES and AES are strategically positioned to expand their influence, enhance member services, and continue hosting world-class events.
About the IES
Established in 1906, the Illuminating Engineering Society is the recognized technical and educational authority on illumination. Our mission is to improve the lighted environment by bringing together those with lighting knowledge and by translating that knowledge into actions that benefit the public. We provide a variety of professional development, publications, networking and educational opportunities to our membership of engineers, architects, designers, educators, students, contractors, distributors, utility personnel, manufacturers and scientists in nearly 60 countries. Through our American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accredited process, we publish and maintain the Lighting Library®, with over 100 standards written by subject matter experts in our technical committees. In all our efforts, we strive to improve life through quality of light. To learn more about us, visit www.ies.org .
About the AES
Founded in 1948, the Audio Engineering Society draws its membership from over 75 countries worldwide, uniting audio engineers, creative artists, scientists, and students. The AES fosters the advancement of audio technology and professional development through conventions, conferences, and the publication of technical papers, standards, and resources. To learn more, visit www.aes.org .
