“As I reflect on our time together in Kansas City for the 2025 NOMA Conference: Future Unfolding, I am filled with immense gratitude and pride. What we accomplished together—what you made possible—was nothing short of historic.

WE SHOWED UP WITH WILL

Over 1,400 professional and student members gathered in Kansas City—a record that speaks not just to our numbers, but to our collective commitment. In a moment when external pressures seek to diminish diversity programs and silence voices advocating for justice in the built environment, you showed up. You brought your creativity, your imagination, and most importantly, your will.

As I shared in my keynote, NOMA was founded to address the specific challenges facing Black architects and all architects of culture in America. That mission remains vital and urgent. As we grow, we must create unapologetic, non-judgmental space for all marginalized voices in our profession. Together, we must continue to dream radically, to build liberatory spaces and places, to create the just world we want to see in the future. We have the skill. We have the creativity. We have the imagination. What we demonstrated in Kansas City is that we also have the will.”

<< read the full message from President Lee >>