Principal Architect/Owner | J Kretschmer Architect
Jennifer Kretschmer, FAIA, NCARB, LEED Green Associate, Certified Passive House Designer, founded J. Kretschmer Architect in 2003, specializing in single family and multi-family residential projects under 10,000 square feet.
Her firm has been a virtual office since 2008 which she has operated primarily from her home in the Silicon Valley area of California with workers located all over the United States.
Jennifer was a speaker at the AIA’19 Conference on Architecture and 2019 CRAN Symposium bringing valued information, inspiration and training to architects on operating a virtual office with remote workers. She continues this work with a course on virtual practice at the Practice of Architecture and speaking engagements through 2020 and 2021.
Awarded AIA National Associate Member of the Year, 2002. She is the founding CRAN chairperson of the AIA Silicon Valley (2016-2019, 2022-present) and the 2020 AIASVC Vice President, 2021 AIASVC President. Involved with AIACA in the Housing Steering Committee and the Practice Management Committee was the 2024 Chair of the AIA Practice Management Knowledge Community. She was elevated to the College of Fellows in 2026.
Courses
The Flexible Firm: Staffing Independent Contractors to Navigate Risk and Workload
Wednesday, August 12, 2026 | 2-3pm ET
Architecture firms often face unpredictable workloads and resulting staffing challenges. New projects come and go , specialized expertise may be needed temporarily, and future staffing demand is uncertain. Used strategically, independent contractors can help firms create a more resilient practice capable of adapting its capacity, skills, and geographic reach without resorting to cycles of frantic hiring, overwork, and layoffs. When independent contractors can achieve the life-balance they are seeking, everybody wins.
Through examples from sole practitioners, a small remote firm, and a large architecture practice, this course examines how firms use independent contractors to expand capacity, access specialized skills, respond to workload surges, and accommodate different ways of working. Panelists will share several approaches, including direct contracting, staffing agencies, project-based collaboration, and contractor-to-employee transitions. Participants will also explore worker-classification requirements, jurisdictional differences, cultural and operational challenges, and lessons learned from models that did, and did not, work as intended. Attendees will leave with a practical framework for determining when independent contractors are an appropriate staffing strategy and how to use them to strengthen practice resilience while reducing business and compliance risks.