How NOMA supported my professional journey

I would not be an architect if it were not for the support of other Black architects. 

As one of a few Black students at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y., in the late '80s and early '90s, most of my professors and instructors were practicing architects and firm principals. 

The AIAS chapter at the school had their own priorities and a few Black students, including myself, decided to form our own organization at the school, the Black Architecture Students Coalition, or BASC. Professor Sidney Shelov offered to become our faculty advisor. Shelov was a well-respected architect from Gwathmey Siegel and a respected academic at Pratt Institute. 

In my last year at Pratt, the president of BASC, Rodney Leon, set up a meeting with the New York Coalition of Black Architects (NYCOBA). NYCOBA was a group of practicing black architects who formed a group to seek out public work in the city of New York and its boroughs. We were the first group of students to attend one of their meetings. 

When I graduated, I became active with NYCOBA and assisted with the first conference held in New York by the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA). The year before the conference, NYCOBA officially became a charter of NOMA, forming the New York chapter of NOMA, NYCOBA-NOMA. The support from these professionals put me on the path to becoming an architect.

Becoming professionally active

A few years after the conference, I decided that I should join my local AIA chapter in Brooklyn. The NOMA members I had met at that point were all AIA members and had different levels of participation within AIA. I liked the AIA Brooklyn chapter; was a small group, but welcoming. The members always reached out and made sure I participated in their programs. 

AIA Brooklyn was different from NOMA as I was one of the first Black members in the chapter, while NOMA membership at the time was about 96% Black architects and students. Later, I joined the AIA New York chapter. Located near New York University in Manhattan, AIA New York had its own building, unlike AIA Brooklyn, where our members met in a nice restaurant in the borough's downtown. 

This being New York City, firms like SOM, KPF, and Perkins & Eastman had architects in attendance. AIA NY was more diverse than Brooklyn, due in part to a much larger membership. The programming at AIA NY was great and in addition to getting learning units, I also saw prominent architects present their projects at the meetings I attended. Rick Bell, the Executive Director, welcomed me, as did some of the staff, such as Suzanne Mecs, a friend to this day. AIA New York did assist NYCOBA-NOMA, however, when we needed space to meet, and through our president at the time, Heather O’Neal, we were given the library/meeting room once a month.  

When I became President of NYCOBA-NOMA in 2007, we collaborated with AIA New York on an MBE Workshop grant, in which AIA NY and NYCOBA-NOMA gave a presentation on MBEs doing business with city and state agencies in New York. Later NYCOBA-NOMA administrations partnering with AIA-NY led to programs such as the Max Bond series and the start of Say It Loud when Pascale Sablan, FAIA, was President of NYCOBA-NOMA.  

Reinforcing the goal of equity

I left AIA New York when I was appointed the County Architect for Passaic County, N.J. I joined the AIA Newark and Suburban (AIA-NS) section, which was a local section of AIA New Jersey (AIA-NJ). A a fairly new chapter of NOMA, New Jersey NOMA (NJ-NOMA) was only a few years old. It was unknown to most of the members of AIA-NJ. William Brown III, who was the second African American president of AIA-NS and AIA-NJ, was also the first President of NJ-NOMA. His father, William Brown Sr., was the first African American president of AIA-NS and AIA-NJ and was one of the founders of NOMA. 

I started to talk to AIA-NS members about NOMA when I became the third African American president of the section. Members in my section began to learn about NJ-NOMA and NOMA as an organization. At major functions I always wore my two pins, one for NOMA and one for AIA. I let members know I was always part of the two different organizations and that both were supportive of my professional career.  

During the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the AIA-NJ board members put together a virtual Equity and Diversity panel that was well received amongst the AIA-NJ membership. That panel started dialogue a dialogue about the importance of NOMA and revealed how many other members of AIA-NJ were also members of NOMA. 

In 2025 I became the third African American president of AIA-NJ, following behind Bill Brown III and his father. I was active in attending AIA conferences and attended other meetings in 2024 as President-Elect of my state chapter. I learned that were four other Black architects who would be AIA chapter presidents of their state. A couple of those members were also long-time NOMA members, and one had served on the NOMA board as a university liaison for her region. I spoke to a few of these presidents and said their time with NOMA helped to prepare them for Board leadership with AIA.  

NOMA was essential to my leadership, and it helped that when I joined my local and state section in New Jersey, Mr. Brown helped and advised me along the path to board leadership with AIA-NJ. There are quite a few NOMA members who have served in more significant capacities within AIA National and were trailblazers in their positions. Marshall Purnell, FAIA, NOMA, was the first Black president of the AIA while also being a former NOMA President. Kimberly Dowdell, AIA, NOMA, the first Black female president of the AIA, was also a former NOMA president and NOMA board member. NOMA gave these individuals the guidance and strength to go for these top leadership positions within AIA.  

There are more in the pipeline, and they will continue to reinforce the goal of equity, diversity, and inclusion within the AIA, as the core mission of NOMA has always been to make the profession  of architecture, open to all and accountable to all communities within this country. 

Andrew Thompson, AIA, NOMAC, is County Architect in Passaic County, New Jersey.