Co-founders:
Sharyn Thompson FIDSA

Nancy Perkins FIDSA

Our section was founded in 1992. It was IDSA's first section. Organized by Sharyn Thompson FIDSA and Nancy Perkins FIDSA as the Women's Section, our purpose was to increase the visibility of women in industrial design and to hold discussion forums at annual conferences. Our objective today is to continue to foster visibility of women as well as cultural and racial minorities. Providing this visibility showcases our uniqueness as a profession and encourages students to pursue careers in industrial design.

Students are always looking for role models. They look to people in the field as mentors and for example. In the early 1990's there were few publications focused on the work of women and minorities in the industrial design field. Student inquires identified the need to document and highlight work done by women, racial and cultural minorities in the profession. In the beginning, identifying role models, preserving their history and connecting them with students became our primary mission. Since the numbers of women and minorities in ID has increased, today our mission is to document progress, celebrate achievements, to be the 'core of knowledge' on our subject and continue to be 'change agents'.

We invite you to become a section member, send us articles, links, information on books (or books you are writing) and project images to build our knowledge base. We look forward to hearing from you.