When The PNC Financial Services Group created a central enterprise architecture (EA) program nearly three years ago, it sought to build the team's success from the inside out, creating a small, central team as well as a formal structure of distributed architects to enhance collaboration. With around 1,200 IT employees in its organization, PNC was able to select highly skilled architects from each domain to be part of its distributed EA team. By leveraging these individuals to build local support, forming partnerships with senior IT management, and creating consumable EA artifacts, PNC's EA group has shown how to start and maintain an effective EA function.