Noura P. Bishay is recognized for her outstanding leadership and for raising awareness about social impact and social equity design. Her work speaks for itself such as Park-to-Bay Project, 14th Street Promenade, AIA Housing the Next 1 Million (AIA-HN1M), and Kearny Mesa city. She is an extraordinary urban designer with not only outstanding skills but a heart to serve unprivileged communities. She adds empathy to urban design putting the community's needs as her priority. The type of urban design that She does makes people feel safer, freer, and happier and promotes healthy inclusive living styles. It is the type that cares about community history, tradition, culture, and authenticity. The urban design includes everybody and reflects the community. In fact, it is the type that fights on behalf of the community's needs rather than being commissioned to do the minimum. The urban design builds resilient communities and provides a prototype for democracy. It is a way to add flexibility and unveil the community's identity.

 

Inspired by Jane Jacobs, Miss Bishay is a dedicated community activist and a change maker. She received a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition for outstanding and invaluable service to the community California Legislature, Assembly Certificate of Recognition (2022), Jose Medina, Assembly Member- 61st District, California Legislature Assembly Certificate of Recognition (2022) Sabrina Cervantes, Assembly Member- 60th District, California Legislature Assembly Certificate of Recognition (2022) Eloise Gomez Reyes, Assembly Member- 47th District.
The community nominated Ms. Bishay for the AIA Film Challenge for her Park to Bay Project, 2021 Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize, 2019 Inclusive and Diverse Leadership in Action Award, J.M.K Innovative Award (round 1), Irvine Leadership Award.

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Ms. Bishay received her master’s degree in Architecture from the NewSchool of Architecture and Design. Her thesis “The Green Network” has received the SDAPA Academic Award. Ms. Bishay combines compassion with art to design and create spaces that matter. She was nominated for the AIA Student Award. She also got qualified for the AIA Film Challenge for her Park to Bay Project.

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Ms. Bishay completed her bachelor’s degree in architecture from the Arab Academy for Science, Technology, and Maritime Transport. She worked for six years in two of the top architecture firms in Egypt. She worked on more than 90 projects in Egypt and the USA in a wide spectrum of typologies such as residential, retail, commercial and industrial. Also, she trained her coworkers and supported them. She was awarded five scholarships; AIA Scholarship, International Student Scholarship, Merit Scholarship, Presidential Scholarship, and the AAUW International Fellowship. The University of San Diego chose Ms. Bishay as a changemaker and offered her a $20,000 Scholarship to study for a master’s in social innovation.

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Ms. Bishay along with her mother Samia Khair founded a social enterprise called NPB Design Studio. Her firm aims to solve the housing problems one granny flat/ ADU at a time. NPB Design Studio helps homeowners add value to their properties through social impact design. Her company was selected to go on the second round of the J.M.K Innovation Prize. The second round is the top scoring 10% out of almost 3000 applicants. Along with her design business, Ms. Bishay founded the Tables of Hope, a food giving and sharing table for the community during the pandemic. The Table of Hope was the only food distribution that was open 24/7 for anyone and no questions asked. It also rescued tons of food from more than 10 nonprofit organizations and churches. In response to the Table of Hope needs, Ms. Bishay designed and managed the Gardens of Hope, community gardens that plant the food needed at the table. 

Ms. Bishay also volunteered in developing and improving slum areas for the garbage collectors in Egypt as well as volunteering with AIA- HN1M (Housing the Next One Million). Her passions are helping the homeless and supporting women's rights. She believes that we can change the world through our small actions, and she puts her heart and soul into everything she does. 

Ms. Bishay is one of the founders of the first eco-village in Sinai, Egypt. She, along with her family, transformed several the desert by planting almost 30,000 olive trees and 5,000 palm trees into an oasis.