Women in Design Chapters
Welcoming spaces for professional networking, allyship, and gender equity.
Find a Women in Design Chapter near you
IDSA’s growing network of Women in Design Chapters is just getting started. Don’t see a Chapter in your city? Learn about starting a Women in Design Chapter at the bottom of this page.
IDSA’s network of Women in Design Chapters launched in 2021, aimed at fostering positive gender equity within our profession and creating welcoming environments for women, women-identifying individuals, and allies to network, connect, and learn from one another. WID Chapters operate much like IDSA’s Professional Chapters and provide valuable programming for designers in local communities. IDSA’s Women in Design program establishes a robust platform that celebrates the tremendous impact female-identified industrial designers have within our businesses and society at large.
In addition to supporting women in industrial design, our programming encompasses related fields such as user experience design, visual design, service design, design research, and design operations. Founded on the belief that balance and inclusion are essential for creative success, our events, resources, and mentorship programs are platforms for inspiring honest conversations and bringing about meaningful change in our industry.
History of Women in Design at IDSA
IDSA has a long-standing commitment to Women in Design and is continually working to amplify its support to this community by fostering a heightened level of opportunity and connection for women-identifying industrial designers. To date, IDSA has proudly invested considerable resources in supporting this community group, including with the establishment of a Women’s Special Interest Section in 1992, the Women in Design San Francisco community group, and most recently with our annual Women in Design Deep Dive events.
Belle Kogan, FIDSA at work in 1955. Believed to be one of the first women to work as a professional industrial designer in the United States, Kogan received IDSA’s Personal Recognition Award for her life’s work and contributions to industrial design. She also received IDSA’s highest honor of Fellowship.
Ellen Manderfield, L/IDSA at the Montgomery Ward Bureau of Design, 1950. Photo courtesy of The Chicago Athenaeum, Christian Narkiewicz-Laine, Director. In 1992 Manderfield was the first woman to receive IDSA’s Personal Recognition Award.
Start a WID Chapter
Interested in starting a new Women in Design Chapter in your city? Fantastic! You’re embarking on a monumentally important journey. The value that IDSA Chapters provide those who participate is sometimes difficult to quantify, but often immeasurable in terms of positive impact on one’s future career. The opportunity to be a part of an IDSA Chapter is truly what you make of it.