The Young Architects Forum (YAF), a program of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the College of Fellows (COF), is organized to address issues of particular importance to recently licensed architects.
FAQ: What is a young architect and what is an emerging professional? Young architects are architects licensed up to ten years of initial licensure, and the name does not have any relationship to age. Emerging professionals are professionals who have completed their academic studies up to the point of licensure or up to 10 years after completion of their academic studies. Although young architects are now defined as distinct from emerging professionals, many components refer to these groups similarly. For example, a local YAF group may include emerging professionals and a local Emerging Professionals Committee may include young architects.
The Emerging Professional Friendly Firm initiative is an award-based program aimed at celebrating architecture firms that create nurturing environments and professional development opportunities for emerging professionals. Through continuing research, YAF's Community Focus Group has put together a toolkit that contains information on successful practices from case studies in various regions and states with suggestions to tailor the program to your specific needs when facilitating your own EP Friendly Firm Program.