This year, the Austin Foundation for Architecture and the AIA Austin Women in Architecture committee established their first annual scholarship awarded to a minority female identifying student attending the University of Texas School of Architecture. The scholarship was a direct result of the Call to Action subcommittee, formed by WiA Austin in 2021, whose goal is to identify and remove barriers for minority women in architecture. After an intense review process of all the applications, the AFA and WiA Austin awarded scholarships to two incredible students, Temi Osanyintolu and Narsis Holmes. Please enjoy these videos of Temi Osanyintolu and Narsis Holmes describing what it means for them to be one of this year’s scholarship recipients.
In addition to the scholarship, WiA has paired each student with a mentor from the Austin architecture community. We would also like to take a moment to recognize our two mentors, Donna Carter and Nkiru Gelles. Thank you to all of this years donors including Donna Carter, Mckinney York Architects, MMD Architects, Gus Bernal, Restructure Studio, Page, Ruben Martinez, Martinez Moore Engineers, Artisan Hardwood Floors, Faye and Walker, ATX Architects, BGK Architects, Nicole Blair, Rogers-O’Brien, Alterstudio, Thoughtbarn, Michael Hsu Office of Architecture, Storybuilt, Randy Davis, Julien Brown, Makayla Ponce, Den Properties, Jeanne Schultz Design Studio, and Lemmo Architecture and Design. Thank you also to Nichole Wiedemann for being a great resource at UTSOA and for assisting us with setting up this scholarship.