Continuing to not only champion but provide pathways to academic and professional advancement, the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) celebrates another fellowship cohort of young designers. 

The NOMA Future Faces (NFF), formerly known as the NOMA Foundation Fellowship, recognizes 13 architecture students and graduates for this 2023 cohort as they engage in a two-month-long summer fellowship. 

These fellowships are "hosted at leading architecture firms across the country where fellows engage in design research and benefit from firm mentorship," explains NOMA. "In an industry where only two percent of licensed architects in the United States identify as Black, the NFF plays a crucial role in providing valuable professional experience to underrepresented students."

The team at NOMA shared insight as to the fellowship's rebranding in 2023, explaining that the new name better highlights the program's mission and purpose to "develop and propel forward the next generation of Black and minority architects who will be designing for the future." NOMA Executive Director Tiffany Brown adds that the rebrand has a dual meaning. "It embodies the development of young designers to professionally grow and secure their licensureship but also to foster the future leadership committed to ensuring there is representation in the field. NOMA’s mission is based on the lack of equal representation of Black and minority faces in the profession, and this work continues indefinitely."

2022 NFF Cohort alumn Shakori Carpenter, who is an architecture student at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, discussed her fellowship experience by sharing, "I got more insight into what to expect within the field and was able to better define what I’m interested in regarding architecture."

Since the organization's inaugural cohort in 2020, the group has worked with 96 fellows and has helped place them at 88 firms for mentorship. What's even more impressive is the number of colleges and universities represented throughout the fellowship's existence. To date, there have been a total of 77 architecture schools represented from the U.S. and nearly 100 total fellowships offered. 

The 2023 summer fellowship cohort included the following architecture students and graduates placed at design firms:

• Cameron Mack, Howard University at Cooper Carry

• Kaelyn Bowers, Columbia University at DLR Group

• Ashlea Hume, University of Arizona at Ennead Architects LLP

• Gabrielle Billingslea, Savannah College of Art and Design at Flad Architects

• Liliana Hunt Amezquita, California State University, San Luis Obispo at KTGY

• Caleb Kwok, Illinois Institute of Technology at Little Diversified Architectural Consulting

• Jordano Hernandez, South Dakota State University at Little Diversified Architectural Consulting

• Louis Roa, California Baptist University at LPA

• Nke Adwowa Opoku, New York Institute of Technology at NAC

• Alexander Thomas, Yale University at NBBJ

• Jerund Jai-Neal Sanders, Louisiana State University at Solomon Cordwell Buenz

• Rosario Elisabeth Rojas, California Baptist University at SmithGroup

• Elise Yumin Park, New York Institute of Technology at Page

2023-2024 NOMA President, Pascale Sablan shared, "Professional experience through fellowship is one of the most impactful ways to address diversification in the field of architecture and design, helping develop and expose young designers to the industry through first-hand experience and professional relationship-building. NFF is one initiative that gets us closer to achieving equal representation in the field and eliminating the barriers to enter the profession."

Participating fellows will receive a $2,000 travel reimbursement in addition to a $1,000 licensure stipend once they become licensed architects. The NFF summer program started on June 5, 2023, and will run through July 28, 2023. Learn more about the fellowship program and how to participate in upcoming cohorts here.

Explore more Archinect coverage on NOMA news here.