2025: Outpacing Uncertainty

As we hit the ground running in 2026, we’d like to take time to reflect on the past year, with all of its challenges and successes.

The landscape in which Diversify by Design (DxD) operates has changed drastically since January 2025, making the coalition’s purpose of catalyzing diversity and equity in the design industry more difficult, although not impossible. We are grateful to the courageous nonprofits, educational institutions, and corporations that walked with us in 2025, enabling DxD to continue to make measurable progress, despite the rocky terrain. 

For example, our continued partnership with Amazon and Culver City High School has allowed us to deepen our impact, introducing 200 new students to the  Design= Curriculum Kit, and bringing over 100 students to visit Amazon’s Culver City Campus, where they presented their projects to professionals designers

A new partnership with Long Beach Unified School District brought D×D Advisor and Vans Footwear Designer, Shawn Williams, and his colleagues into classrooms to share their stories, critique student projects, and get students excited about design. This spring, the students will visit Vans headquarters!

And the Design= curriculum's reach continues to grow. From Providence, RI and Grand Rapids Michigan to Los Angeles, CA to Bangladesh, educators are downloading the free kit, complete with lesson plans and design projects, bringing the impact and possibility of design to their students.

As a coalition that seeks solutions in the midst of challenging times, we ran a crowdfunding campaign last summer to support the many high schools that want to participate in the Design= program. Our deepest gratitude to all that supported our efforts, particularly Doug Powell, Greg Story, Kevin Bethune, Debbie Millman, Oen Hammonds, Omari Souza, Ellen McGirt, Shawn Williams, Tysonn Betts, Elysia Syriac, and Sam Shelton. 

On the higher education front, we beta tested a new format for DxD Intensives, thanks to our partners at Lehman College and DxD Advisory Council member, Richard Jennings, and his team at Warner Bros Discovery (WBD). The Career Readiness Program paired twelve college students with mentors from WBD and BBMG. Over the next several months, these students will work closely with their mentors to prepare for the professional world with portfolio reviews, interview prep, networking tips, and ongoing support. 

None of this would have been possible without the dedication of our advisors, who help guide us in accomplishing our goals and provide support on the coalition’s work. And a huge shoutout to the team at Impact Collaborative, who manage the coalition and its programs. 

Yes, 2025 was challenging, but we’re both hopeful and determined to continue expanding our work in 2026. We’d love for you to join us! Learn more about how you can be part of the DxD movement here: info@impactcollaborative.co.