NOMA Utah is Here to Amplify the Voices of the Underrepresented BY EMAN SIDDIQUI, AIA, NCARB, NOMA ARCHITECTURE The Utah Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) officially became the 37th chapter of the organization in the summer of 2022. The mission of NOMA Utah is to support and highlight underrepresented communities in the design and construction industry. Through mentorship, outreach and education, we promote increased diversity, helping individuals in the development of their professional careers. To accomplish this, NOMA Utah provides resources for licensing exams and exam preparation, provides mentors to students and young professionals and engages with under-represented communities to build a future pipeline. NOMA Utah also provides resources to the professional community to increase diversity at local design firms and support their hiring and promotion. Since our inception a little over a year ago, we have given away 10 ARE exam fees as a way to increase the number of minority licensed architects since many minority and first-generation candidates may face financial barriers in their journey towards licensure. We have hosted mentoring sessions for students and emerging professionals with an esteemed panel of minority leadership from across the valley — this led to many open and honest conversations about what it means to be a visible minority in client or consultant meetings, how being a nonnative English speaker may impact your licensing exam taking capabilities and about non-traditional pathways to licensure. We have attended the last two Career Fairs at the University of Utah to act as a resource for students and hope to take this to Salt Lake Community College and Utah Valley University in the years to come. We have partnered with Women in Architecture for a New Year Social and with the Young Architects’ Forum on a building tour as we continue to build bridges with allied organizations. We have participated in professional panels hosted by the WIA at the University of Utah and presented a panel on Creating an Inclusive Workplace Culture at the AIA Utah conference as the broader design community starts to look to us to lead the necessary conversations around equity in our profession. This summer, we partnered with Glendale Middle School to host a two-week summer camp as part of NOMA’s signature Project Pipeline initiative. The mission of Project Pipeline is to empower young people to affect change in their community through design. Project Pipeline serves a diverse population of students, all of whom are underrepresented in the design field — this is why we chose to partner with Glendale Middle School, which serves a student population of 67% Hispanic/Latino and 19% Asian/Pacific Islander students. We worked with students through all stages of design using thought-provoking and fun exercises. By the end of the twoweek program, 65+ students had participated in NOMA Utah’s inaugural summer camp. NOMA Utah Summer Social — Celebrating a Year of Inspiration at AIA Utah, July 2023 NOMA Utah Executive Committee (l to r): Tang Yang, Eman Siddiqui, Kambaja Tarr, Zahra Hassanipour, Jessica Batty, Dwight Yee 22 REFLEXION
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