Sklarek co-founded Siegel, Sklarek, Diamond in 1985, then the largest women-owned architecture firm in the United States.
In 1985, Norma Merrick Sklarek co-founded the firm Siegel, Sklarek, Diamond alongside architects Margot Siegel and Katherine Diamond. At the time of its founding, it was recognized as the largest architecture firm in the United States owned and operated entirely by women, a historic achievement in a profession still dominated by men.
The formation of this firm represented Sklarek's commitment not only to practicing architecture at the highest level but to creating institutional spaces where women could lead and thrive without the barriers she herself had faced throughout her career. It provided a visible model demonstrating that women-led firms could compete successfully for major commissions and operate at scale within a competitive industry.
The founding of Siegel, Sklarek, Diamond is remembered as a milestone in the broader movement toward gender equity in architecture and design professions. It complemented Sklarek's long-standing advocacy for mentorship and opportunity for women and people of color in the field, and it remains cited in histories of women in architecture as evidence of the structural change that determined individuals could achieve even within a resistant professional culture.