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.
If you would like to help, please email DEIC@idsa.org. Virtual DEIC meetings will be held at the discretion of the DEIC Leaders on a continual basis.
DEIC LEADERSHIP
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
LATEST NEWS
- IDSA is creating a nationwide program offering to foster a heightened level of opportunity and connection for women-identifying (womxn) industrial designers. Applications to serve on the new Women in Design Committee (WIDC) will be accepted through February 19, 2021. Learn more and apply here. The WIDC and Chapters when formed will be charged with collaborating, coordinating, and aligning efforts with the DEIC on IDSA's DEI goals pertaining to Women in Design.
- IDSA has released a DEI Event Toolkit for IDSA Chapters and event content planning teams. This toolkit was developed in partnership with Georgia Tech design students Jill Niland, Nandita Gupta, and Nikki Mehrjerdian, who were part of an IDSA sponsored project with the Fall 2020 Georgia Tech Service Design Class, instructed by Florian Vollmer. Additional support was provided by leaders of the DEIC and Design Foundation.
RESOURCES
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
ORGANIZATIONS TO SUPPORT
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.