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Formed in 2020 after a worldwide and long overdue reckoning with racial injustice, IDSA's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council (DEIC) was established to hold IDSA, academia, and industry accountable for confronting the lack of DEI in industrial design with meaningful action.
The DEIC aims to:
- Significantly increase diversity and minority representation in IDSA's core programming, events, leadership teams, membership, publications, partnerships, awards, and scholarships
- Develop new pathways and partnerships that will extend IDSA’s ability to support minority and low-income communities, and to increase access to industrial design education and professional opportunities
- Be a catalyst in transforming the industrial design industry so that it better reflects our diverse country and world, and to dismantle the structural racism and inequities that permeate design and our communities
The DEIC also will partner with the repositioned Design Foundation on educational initiatives moving forward. Read IDSA's 2020 Design Foundation Year in Review.
Virtual DEIC meetings will be held at the discretion of the DEIC Leaders on a continual basis. If you would like to attend these meetings and/or get in touch with the DEIC, please email DEIC@idsa.org.
ClayVon Lowe, IDSA | Co-Chair
Raja Schaar, IDSA | Co-Chair
Ana Mengote Baluca, IDSA
Betsy Barnhart, IDSA
Anson Cheung, IDSA
Amanda Huynh, IDSA
Tracy Llewellyn, IDSA
Ayana Patterson, IDSA
Brian Skeet, IDSA
Thursday, Feb. 25, 1pm EST / 12pm CST / 11am MST / 10am PST: This panel discussion with DEIC leader Ayana Patterson, Jasmine Kent, and Donald Burlock Jr. will focus on the importance of diversity in industrial design and the experiences of Black industrial designers. Register here (FREE for IDSA members, $10 for non-members)
IDSA will be amplifying important conversations on this issue and will share details soon. Thanks to the DEIC leaders for your dedication, action, guidance, and development of this statement.
Caterina Rizzoni, IDSA and Ti Chang, IDSA have created an initiative called Design Allyship, with the mission "to encourage industrial designers of all backgrounds to embrace allyship as a method of creating meaningful change in the industry and raising the standard for inclusion in our spaces." Learn and more and download the Allyship Guide at DesignAllyship.com.
IDSA is excited to partner with Diversify by Design (DxD) and for DEIC Co-Chair Raja Schaar, IDSA to serve on their Advisory Council. DxD is a new coalition, formed in 2021 to catalyze racial equity and justice in the design profession. Learn more and see how you can get involved at dxd.design.
IDSA is creating a Women in Design Committee (WIDC) to guide a national network of chapters across the country for women-identifying (womxn) industrial designers. Learn more here. Applications to serve on the WIDC closed on Feb. 19; if you are interested in serving as a chapter officer, please contact Korie Twiggs, IDSA's Community Manager. The WIDC is expected to work closely with the DEIC on DEI goals.
IDSA has released the first version of a DEI Event Toolkit for IDSA Chapters and event content planning teams. Support in the development of this Toolkit came from Georgia Tech design students Jill Niland, Nandita Gupta, and Nikki Mehrjerdian, as well as leaders of the DEIC and Design Foundation.
Winter 2020 issue of INNOVATION
Interview with Qin Li, IDSA
by Ti Chang, IDSA
via Women in Industrial Design Chicago
"10 New Rules of Design"
by Dr. Lesley-Ann Noel
"Opening the Doors of Design"
"Decentering Whiteness in Design History"
Winter 2020 issue of INNOVATION
Fall 2020 issue of INNOVATION
IDSA-SF: Digital Talks
Fall 2020 issue of INNOVATION
Interview with Brian Skeet, IDSA
IDSA-NL: Racial Barriers & Breakthroughs
Event recap via Whipsaw
Women in ID via WIID Chicago
dscout interview with Antionette Carroll
McKayla Barber, IDSA & Mallory Evans, IDSA
From Marissa Louie:
The Inclusion & Diversity Compendium for Designers Compiled by Louie with recommendations from dozens of diverse designers and design leaders from Expedia Group, Designers Guild, and other members of the design community
From Women Talk Design:
A Reparative List for the Male-Dominated Conference: A crowd-sourced "list of designers that don’t represent the overrepresented, as recommended by their peers and admirers."
From Rachel Cargyle, drafted by Whitney Evans:
Template for Holding Your Employer Accountable for Racial Justice: A downloadable PDF template for direct and intentional communication from your employers
- Women Who Design | and more directories for not only womxn in diverse design fields but Black, Latinx, and queer designers, among others
- Black Folks In Design | "Connecting Black designers to ourselves, both within and across disciplines"
- Hire Black Female Creatives | "A growing list of Black female creatives spanning many disciplines"
- Black Designers of Canada | "The first-ever interactive Canadian index celebrating black excellence in design"
- 10 Steps to Non-Optical Allyship | by Mireille Charper
- Transform Allyship Into Action: A Toolkit for Non-Black People | Social Justice in Medicine Coalition at USC
Jacinda Walker is the founder of the Cleveland, OH-based nonprofit designExplorr, whose #1DesignGoal is to create opportunities that allow underrepresented youth to participate in design activities. Jacinda has generously provided a map of organizations in the U.S. that are already addressing the lack of diversity in design by working with underrepresented youth.
To get involved, reach out to the organization closest to you. Want to add to the map? Contact Jacinda.
- Creative Reaction Lab (based in St. Louis, MO)
- Black Artists + Designers Guild (based in Brooklyn, NY)
- Indige Design Collab (based in Phoenix, AZ)
- Hue Collective (based in Atlanta, GA with volunteers nationwide)
- Black Designers Ignite (worldwide)
- Where Are the Black Designers? (worldwide)
Disclaimer: IDSA is not affiliated with these organizations and recommends that individuals conduct their own research before donating or engaging.
Archived News & Events
UPDATE: The Trump administration has rescinded its policy that would bar international students who only take online courses from staying in the U.S., a federal judge announced Tuesday, July 14 in Boston.
The Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) stands with our international members, students, and community pushing back against ICE’s new policy.
On July 6, 2020, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced a modification to the current Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP). In short, the new policy would force international students currently enrolled at American colleges and universities offering exclusively online courses in the fall of 2020 to either transfer to a school offering in-person classes or depart the country.
The policy from ICE is in direct conflict to Article V of IDSA's Code of Ethics, which reads in part: "We will be responsible to design education by holding as one of our fundamental concerns the education of design students; by advocating implementation of sufficiently inclusive curricula and requiring satisfactory proficiency to enable students to enter the profession with adequate knowledge and skills..."
Actions you can take right now to protect international students:
- Sign and share petitions like these: "Allow International Students to Finish Their Degrees" and "Allow F-1 and M-1 students to remain in the U.S. with online-only classes."
- Call and email your state representatives and alma maters to express your stance. Find your state representatives here and check this list of colleges' plans of reopening in the fall. Danielle Chen, IDSA has created this email template for writing to your university in support of international students.
- Read and listen to international students' stories. Priyankaa Krishnan, IDSA recently spoke to CNN and NBC about the profound effect the announced policy change has had on her life and the lives of other international students in the U.S.
Thank you to Priyankaa, Danielle, Women in Industrial Design Chicago, IDSA-Northern Lakes, and the student IDSA chapter at the University of Houston for sharing these links and more.
IDSA will continue to share resources as needed, reach out to educators, and speak up for the international student community.