Valarie Franklin

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT VALARIE FRANKLIN

Valarie Franklin, AIA, NOMA, is an architect and Associate Principal at the 2021 Firm of the Year, Moody Nolan. Valarie is founding past chapter President of the Nashville Chapter of the National Organization for Minority Architects (NOMAnash) and she is also President of the Tennessee Architects’ Political Action Committee (TAPAC). Valarie also serves her native city of Nashville by serving on Metro Development and Housing Agency’s (MDHA) Design Review Committee as well as the Plumbing Board of Appeals. She is deeply attuned to the political, social and cultural pulse of Nashville and works to find the time to make impactful contributions to her industry and community while being an integral team member at Moody Nolan. Valarie championed the charter of NOMAnash) in 2017. It is a non-profit professional service organization whose goals include effectively motivating and inspiring minority youth, maintaining active roles in their education, and promoting the design and development of high-quality living, working, and recreational environments for all people regardless of race. As President of NOMA Nashville, Valarie strives lead the chapter in creating and promoting programs that have a positive impact within the Nashville community. Creating racial diversity and relevance in the architectural field and demonstrating an ability to obtain an architectural career path among minority youth are chief among NOMA’s goals. Valarie believes that supporting these ideals through programming will generate positive changes in the economic and social fiber of our communities. Valarie strives to continually be an asset to the Nashville community and to be both a voice for and a sounding board for minorities in our city. Nashville’s rapid growth has brought many challenges related to equitable developments and affordable housing. Valarie often has had one-one-one conversations with people who have been affected by these challenges. In 2019, Valarie won Gresham Smith’s Community Impact Award. She is Chair of NOMAnash’s Affordable Housing and Gentrification Task Force and was recently elected to Nashville’s own Civic Design Center Board of Directors. On a national level, Valarie served as jurist for the 2020 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Housing / HUD Secretary’s Awards and she has been recognized by AIA National as a Citizen Architect. She pushes herself, her teammates, her colleagues, and her industry to find solutions that benefit the entire community, not just those with the most financial assets and afforded opportunity.