OMAHA, Neb (KMTV) — 17-year-old Noah Dogba was born in Omaha but spent a lot of his childhood with his grandparents in West Africa, where he discovered his love of architecture.
“It all just built up to me finding interest in architecture,” he said. “Designing new buildings, new areas, new spaces kind of inventing or innovating.”
Noah coupled his architectural interests with his love of service.
“I just like helping people,” he said. “All of that combined together basically is community development.”
Noah was able to contribute to his community thanks to an internship with the Omaha City Planning Department this past summer. There, he was able to help community planners and outreach groups work on projects in North and South Omaha.
His passion for community development even drew the attention of Erwin “Magic” Johnson, when he was in town at the Rebuilding the Village event in June.
“I asked him some questions, he gave me some good advice,” said Dogba. “He gave me a good opportunity to go to L.A. and intern for him after my second year of college.”
Community development isn’t Noah’s only interest, he also designs his own shoes, takes cooking classes, and is the director of production and lighting at his church.
His accomplishments qualified him to be part of Omaha's inaugural 20 under 20 event, highlighting young people going above and beyond in the community.
Deborah Dogba, Noah’s mom, beams with pride at her son’s success. As an entrepreneur and immigrant, she said raising Noah as a single mom wasn’t easy.
“As a black boy in this country, I was trying to do everything possible to give all the changes so he could stay out of statistics,” she said. “I probably did something good.”
Noah said he hopes to one day start his own architectural firm or become a radiologist. The recognition was unexpected but welcomed.
“I didn’t expect to get an award and getting recognized for some of the little things I do,” he said. “It’s motivated me to keep going.”
Noah’s advice for young students his age is to go for their passions, he is studying architecture at UNL and is also pre-med.
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