The Diversity in Design (DID) Collaborative recently welcomed 16 new members, building momentum and strength as the group of companies continues with a shared purpose to make the design industry more equitable and inclusive.
“Each of these dynamic organizations in the business of design brings unique capacities along with great energy and focused expertise to DID,” said Todd Palmer, Director of DID. “Our now 35 companies uniquely position the Collaborative to scale our impact as we look toward a year of action in 2022.”
Initiated by MillerKnoll in June 2021, DID is a group of companies united by a common belief in the critical role that diversity plays in creating strong, impactful businesses and innovations. DID has come together with a shared purpose to create and foster systemic change in increasing diversity in design across fields, with the understanding that such change requires commitment, strategic action, and financial support.
“Young people can’t be what they can't see, and the design industry is not the most visible industry when you are not in it,” said Christion Banks, Chief Strategy Officer at The Ronin, a member company of DID. “Our journey started because we were around young people who had aspirations of being creatives but had nowhere to go,” added Alex Vega, CEO of The Ronin.
All DID members make a leadership-level commitment to take concrete action to diversify design disciplines both inside and outside their business walls.
“Diverse talent and perspectives lead to better outcomes, said Mika Smith-Brown, Content Strategy Manager at Airbnb. “By working together as a Collaborative, we can help address the pipeline of diverse design talent, leading to more inclusive workforces and meaningful design output.”
DID named Palmer as its first Director in July and has been active this fall at Detroit Month of Design, the Business of Home panel in New York City, the Architectural League Annual Student Program, and an IIDA discussion in California.
DID’s central area of focus is to grow the network of members and to collaborate on projects that address the immediate issue of the lack of representation of Black creatives in design in the United States. The Collaborative aims to increase design career opportunities for Black youth through the building of industry awareness, knowledge, and connections that will form an educational pipeline that leads to full-time employment.
The Collaborative organizes team work primarily through three committees (Awareness & Activation, College Programs & Education, Recruitment & Retention), that bring focus to strategies for change that will be the core of a 2022 year of action to launch with a Teen Design Fair in Detroit on March 18, 2022.
New members of DID include 3M Company, 50,000feet, Airbnb, Ammunition, ASH NYC, Carrier Digital, Corgan, Emotive Brand, GERTRUDE, INC., HNI Corporation (HBF, Allsteel, HON), Johnson & Johnson Design, level, Ralph Appelbaum Associates, Rightpoint, SOUR, and The Ronin.
Founding members include 2X4, Adobe, Architecture + Information, Aruliden, Camron, Civilization, COLLINS, Dropbox, Fossil Group, The Freeman Company, fuseproject, Gap Inc., Levi Strauss & Co., MillerKnoll, Pentagram, Stamen Design, Studio O+A, Wolff Olins, and Work & Co.
Learn more about DID and view the full list of members at www.diversityindesign.com.