by Yvette Morris
AIA Diversity Manager

Summary: The AIA is proud to announce the 12 honorees of its Diversity Recognition Program, which celebrates contributions of AIA members toward the goal of a more diverse profession. The honorees, whose work constitutes Best Practices in encouraging diversity, represent the gamut of the profession. “As jurors, we were as impressed by the range of submissions as we were by the innovative ways in which diversity can and should be addressed nationwide,” wrote juror Renee Kemp-Rotan. “We look forward to the continuation of this program annually and strongly recommend that many of these practices be replicated throughout this great profession and this great nation, wherever and whenever applicable,”

The honorees for AIA Diversity Best Practices for 2008 are:

• AIA Denver Women in Design, Denver
• AIA Kansas City Women in Design Committee, Kansas City, Mo.
• BRR Architecture, Diversity Committee, Support Programs, Leadership Opportunities, and Community Caring Program, Merriam, Kans.
• Boston Society of Architects, Youth Programs, Boston
• Boston Society of Architects, Inclusive Networks, Boston
• HOK, Diversity Awareness and Inclusion Initiative, offices nationwide
• KKE Architects, Architectural Youth Program, Minneapolis
• Lori A. Brown, AIA, Gendered Landscapes, Syracuse, N.Y. (Honorable Mention)
• Mehrnoosh Mojallali, AIA, The Association of Women in Architecture Group Exhibit, Venice Beach, Calif.
• Oscar L. Harris, FAIA, mentor in diversity, Atlanta
• PBS&J, diverse practice, offices nationwide
• David Goldstein, AIA, Santa Barbara County High School Architectural Design Competition, Santa Barbara, Calif.

The Diversity Recognition Program seeks to recognize architects working in firms, schools, and other areas, as well as AIA components. There was a total of 33 submissions for the award program in 2008, its inaugural year.

“The American Institute of Architects should be proud that we jurors received such a wide range of diversity initiatives—from education programs to development of curriculum about minority contributions to the field; from exhibitions about designers of color to scholarship funds and internships for women; from shadow exercises where young people track an architect's life for a day, to tours of cities with buildings designed by minority architects,” continued Kemp-Rotan.

Submissions by this year’s award recipients will be displayed at the 2009 AIA National Convention and Design Exposition in San Francisco and will be accessible on the AIA Web site’s diversity page in January 2009.

The AIA commends all of the applicants who submitted projects or programs. Their submissions will be added to the collection of Best Practices currently being developed on the AIA’s diversity Web site.