Black Women in Architecture Network
for and by Black women in architecture.
Join us to connect and uplift Black Women in Architecture at the 2024 BWA Brunch.
Organized in 13 cities around the US, we will join simultaneously. Then break for in-person networking and brunch.
Participate in a location of your choice or join in the virtual program from wherever you are.
An important component of the Riding the Vortex conference sessions is presenting the data on the demographics of the architecture profession to inform and allow attendees to discuss this information.
The data presented at the 2023 NOMA conference can be downloaded. The raw data is from the Directory or African American Architects and NCARB’s By the Number publication.
Go to the main event page for information.
The NOMA Foundation, the fiscal manager of the Desiree Cooper ARE Scholarship, has launched a new online portal to accept donations. Help support professionals working to complete their licensure exams by donating.
Donate to the scholarship by going to the NOMA FOUNDATION site and selecting 07 Desiree V Cooper Memorial Fund.
The Desiree V. Cooper (DVC) Memorial Scholarship Foundation seeks to honor the life and legacy of Desiree V. Cooper by championing the things she was passionate about in her professional career and personal endeavors: providing continual service to her communities and encouraging minorities and women in the advancement of their careers in architecture. Learn more about the Desiree Cooper ARE Scholarship.
Riding the Vortex for the 2022 NOMA conference was presented at a 180 turn from the usual sessions and focused on highlighting men and their stories. This was largely because we see int he data that the growth of the numbers of Black men in the architecture profession is flattening.
An important component of the Riding the Vortex conference sessions is presenting the data on the demographics of the architecture profession to inform and allow attendees to discuss this information.
The data presented at the 2022 NOMA conference can be downloaded. The raw data is from the Directory or African American Architects and NCARB’s By the Number publication.
Riding the Vortex accepted the Whitney M Young Jr from the American Institute of Architects at A’22, the Conference on Architecture, in Chicago at the end of June.
Our time there involved presenting a panel session on Wednesday, June 22. We shared a brief history of Vortex and invited Sabrina Herrell to share her career path, as we would do in a traditional Vortex panel. Sabrina is local to Chicago. She has an architecture degree and is a practicing attorney. We had great audience questions and heard from attendees on their experiences being in previous Vortex sessions. We even received kudos from attendee and 2022 Edward C. Kemper Award, Bob Berkebile, FAIA, who was in attendance when Young spoke at the AIA conference in 1968.
The collaborators also had a panel on the Expo floor. This session also highlighted the 15 year history of Vortex and allowed the collaborators to do more Q&A with each other and take audience questons.
The WMYJ Award winners from the past three years were invited to receive their medals as part of the Thursday keynote session. This included WMJY 2020 winner Gabrielle Bullock, FAIA and 2021 Winner Pascale Sablan, FAIA. They previously accepted their award virtually since the 2021 and 2020 were not in-person because of COVID. It was a great moment to be recognized by thousands of our peers.
On Friday, Vortex attended the AIA awards reception at the Chicago Architecture Center and had the chance to meet the other 2022 award winners including Mr. Berkebile.
Last, Riding the Vortex had the opportunity to participate in a photo shoot with President Barack Obama, before he participated in the Friday keynote. This was a great way to cap off our time of celebration at A’22.
Save the Date
September 18, 2022
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Event proceeds benefit the
Desiree Cooper Memorial ARE Scholarship.
CONGRATULATIONS!
The Desiree Cooper ARE Scholarship Committee congratulates our scholarship recipients who have recently earned their architecture license.
THE Desiree Cooper ARE 2022 scholarship applications are due Due April 30, 2022.
http://bit.ly/DVC-ARE-SCHOL
The Riding The Vortex collaborators are honored to accept the 2022 The American Institute of Architects Whitney M Young Jr Award. This award recognizes our over 15 years of work to inspire, motivate and support Black women, those currently working in the profession and those on their way to becoming architects. We thank our nominators and we thank the organizations who have hosted Vortex sessions over these many years. We have tremendous gratitude for the women who have been panelists, the many attendees, and those willing to share their experiences with Vortex since 2007.
Press
Architect Magazine
Archinect
High Profile
Residential Design
The 2021 BWA Brunch was an amazing gathering of over 60+ Black women architects and supporters. We held a virtual program and had some wonderful firms and individuals that hosted in-person watch parties.
First-time BWA Brunch attendee, Linda Clark, wrote the following recap and perspective of the 2021 BWA Brunch.
Black Women in Architecture Brunch 2021
Linda Clark
Throughout my educational and professional career in the building industry, I have always been a minority, and in most cases one of two, but more commonly the only black woman in my architecture classes or firms. So being able to join a community of other black woman architects connecting over shared experiences and a common mission to help create more representation and exposure in the architectural community is an invaluable experience. I was honored to share this experience with so many black woman architects, locally in the DC area, but also nationally with the virtual platform that was used this year.
