Baltimore, MD (August 23, 2018) – AIA Baltimore and the Neighborhood Design Center are proud to announce the jury for the 2018 Social Equity Design Award, a new award for the AIA Baltimore Excellence in Design Awards that recognizes community-driven projects that promote social equity.
The jury represents local leaders in the design, education and nonprofit fields.
Leon Bridges, FAIA, Morgan State University
Leon Bridges was the founder and president of The Leon Bridges Company Incorporated in Baltimore, an architectural and planning firm, following starting his practice in l963 in Seattle, Washington. He relocated his firm to Baltimore in l970 and became the first licensed African American architect in the State of Maryland and owner of a downtown office in Baltimore. He is the recipient of more than 20 national, regional, and local awards for design excellence in Seattle, Boston, Baltimore and Washington D.C.
Leon has served on the National Planned Parenthood Federation Executive Board, both Greater Seattle and Greater Baltimore YMCA Boards, Baltimore Urban League Board, NAACP as a Life Member, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Baltimore ACTSO Program, Club of Baltimore and the Swags of Baltimore. Professional honors include receiving the National American Institute of Architects (AIA) Whitney M. Young, Jr. Award. He served as the 1st elected Black Director of a Regional AIA Board of Directors, as an elected National Vice President of the AIA, President of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA), Co-Founder and Chairman of the AIA Minority Scholarship Fund, and Organizing member of the AIA Task Force on Social Responsibility. Leon semi-retired from active practice in 2005 to become an Assistant Professor in the Morgan State University School of Architecture and Planning. His major interest is in preparing African American students for the practice of architecture.
Jennifer Goold, Neighborhood Design Center
Jennifer Goold joined the Neighborhood Design Center in 2012 after more than a decade of work in cultural resources management, historic preservation, development and planning. At NDC, she directs all aspects of the center’s operations and strategy including staff, programs, outreach, and fundraising. She focuses her program work on real estate development consulting, transportation planning, public space design, and equity in access to public space. A Baltimore resident since 1993, she has been involved in many of the city’s largest historic building rehabilitations, including the American Can Company, Silo Point and Tide Point. She received a BS in Interior Design from Indiana University and an MS in Historic Preservation from Columbia University.
Jessica Solomon, Robert W. Deutsch Foundation
A strategist, facilitator, and cultural worker, Jessica Solomon loves working with people and organizations to build their capacity for creativity and deeper impact. As the Principal at Art in Praxis (AiP), a national organizational development consultancy and cultural think tank, she tailored hundreds of capacity building initiatives to the needs of startups, cultural institutions, municipalities, networks, and community based groups. Jessica’s creative practice is collaborative, interdisciplinary and evolving. It includes interactive gallery exhibitions, creative placekeeping projects, and devised theater. She is a member of RoadMap Consulting and serves as faculty for the National Arts Strategies Creative Community Fellowship.
Currently, as the Senior Program Officer at the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, Jessica is sharpening Foundation’s existing grant making strategies, developing new programmatic initiatives, and deepening institutional knowledge to ensure maximum impact in Baltimore.
Interested in submitting a project? See submission criteria. All built projects are eligible for the Social Equity Design Award. There is no additional cost for submitting a project. AIA Baltimore architect members and AIA members from other chapters submitting projects located in the Baltimore region are eligible to enter a project. Projects can be submitted through the Excellence in Design Awards portal. The deadline is September 4, 2018.
