WASHINGTON, DC.- The American Institute of Architects (AIA) announced today the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) has been named the 2007 recipient of the Whitney M. Young Jr. Award, given to an architect or architecturally oriented organization exemplifying the profession’s responsibility toward current social issues.

The award honors civil rights leader Whitney M. Young Jr., proponent of social change and head of the Urban League from 1961 until his death in 1971. At the 1968 AIA Annual Convention, Young challenged architects to more actively increase participation in the profession by minorities and women. NOMA becomes the 36th recipient of the Whitney M. Young Jr. Award, which was established by the AIA in 1972. NOMA will receive the 2007 Whitney M. Young Jr. Award at the AIA 2007 Annual Convention in San Antonio in May.

NOMA’s nomination was submitted by the Boston Society of Architects and supported by six previous Whitney M. Young Jr. Award recipients. In her letter of nomination, Jane Weinzapfel, FAIA, partner of the 2007 AIA Firm Award recipient Leers Weinzapfel, writes, “Although we have repeatedly acknowledged the relative homogeneity of our profession and our commitment to diversify it, we have failed to [increase significantly the number of African-American architects].” Thirty-eight years after Young’s call for action and 35 years after its creation, NOMA was selected for its unfailing dedication to promoting the architecture profession with the goal of increasing diversity among practitioners.

NOMA was formed to address the existence and impact of racism during the late 1960s and ‘70s and acknowledge how socio-economic conditions negatively influence the built environment of poor and oppressed Americans. In 1971, at the AIA national convention, 12 African-American architects formed NOMA to voice dissatisfaction with the status quo and begin the task of equalizing the opportunities and design practices of black architects. Thirty-five years later, NOMA remains the preeminent voice for minority architects.

“NOMA has given greater visibility to African-American architects, provided ‘role-models’ for students, and informed the general public,” says J. Max Bond, FAIA, in his letter of support for NOMA.

The NOMA Conference provides students the opportunity to interact with professional architects for portfolio review, advice, internships, and career guidance. Conference seminars offer interns insight on the Architecture Registration Exam, Intern Development Program, portfolio development, interview skills, and resume writing. NOMA also has held a regional ARE preparation program for interns.

Additionally, NOMA has begun to make inroads in primary education to make minority youth, and their parents, aware of architecture as a career choice. NOMA has financially supported organizations like Chicago-based ADventure Program, which introduces minority disadvantaged students to architecture and the built environment. NOMA also partnered with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to support their National Afro-Academic Cultural Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) Competition for high school students interested in architecture.

“Architectural students of color gravitate to NOMA because of its sensitivity to their needs,” says Leon Bridges, FAIA, FNOMA, in his letter of support. “NOMA’s membership is small, but its striving for excellence for minority architects continues to increase in its intensity. NOMA’s mere presence provides hope to hundreds of graduating minority architects for their inclusion in an otherwise, still, white-dominated profession.”