DxD Q2 ‘23 NEWS

Time is flying. We’re nearly through Q2 and DxD has been busy.

If you’ve been following Diversify by Design on social, you know some of what we’ve been up to. First up, we’ve had the good fortune to welcome Shawn Williams and Bernard Suber, NCARB, AIA, NOMA, to the Advisory Council. We’re delighted to have these two amazing creatives bring their talents and vision to DxD and look forward to applying their contributions to DxD’s mission.

We’re equally delighted to announce that CUNY Lehman and YWCA National Capital Area have also joined the coalition, with both organizations already in full-swing with their DxD programs: the Y hosting Design= workshops for their afterschool programming and co-building the upcoming curriculum kit; and, Lehman gearing up for a fall DxD Intensives cohort. More on both of these down the page.

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PROGRAMMING

Design= 

DxD’s Design= initiative saw more collaboration with Program Partners, designExplorr and Intuit. Together with the support of Amazon, Design= wowed 90+ youth in Detroit, Baltimore and DC with on-site design workshops. Students got to dive into design concepts, ideate and create under the guidance of DxD Advisory Council member and designExplorr founder, Jacinda Walker, along with professional designers from Intuit. ‘Seeing leads to Believing’ and students saw, first hand, that design as a career path is available to them.  

But it doesn’t stop there, Design=’s expansion is in the works…moving from a “one at a time” workshop model to empowering formal educators and youth instructors with an open access, completely free design curriculum kit. The kit is currently being tested by top educators and designers, with a full rollout expected later this summer. If you’re an educator/instructor, or know of folks or programs that could benefit from this amazing course, let us know! We’d LOVE to have your connections test run the curriculum with their students. Go to the Design= landing page to share your contact info and we’ll take it from there.

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DxD Intensives

As you know, Design= isn’t the only game in town. DxD’s college/university level program, DxD Intensives, has been challenging Workday + San Francisco State University’s cohort #2 (#5 for the program-to-date) with a design challenge to solve for effective and inclusive hybrid work models. 20 students comprising 5 teams delivered innovative variations on the theme that included 3 apps and 2 sites. Workday mentors supported students at every step with guest speakers and subject matter experts to give the cohort a depth of experience that maps with those found at the top design schools.

Workday and SFSU will be back in the fall, as will Program Partner Delta Dental teaming up with Lehman College in NYC for Delta Dental’s 4th and Lehman’s 1st Intensives cohort. We’ll have more on these exciting teams and their design challenges for the students come Q3, so keep an eye out.

Wrapping up on DxD’s programming, we’ll leave you with a bit of a teaser: Pathways. There’s so much more to come on this dynamic new initiative that will provide end-to-end mentorship for designers of color…and you’ll want to be part of it. Pathways!

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COMMUNICATIONS

You’ve had to notice that DxD has ramped up our comms game on LinkedIn and Instagram (don’t bother to look on Twitter, we’re not there anymore). We’re posting at least twice a week, and it’s not just DxD stuff you’ll see (though we like our stuff…a lot). We’re on the lookout for and surfacing stories featuring the top talent and unsung heroes in the design industry who are making an impact, elevating their craft, or just being their great selves as a beacon for up and coming Black, Brown and Indigenous designers. 

If you like what you’ve been seeing, like us and share with your friends. And if you have a story you think DxD should elevate, let us know!

Lastly, but not in the slightest bit least, it’s Pride Month and DxD is calling on all non-white LBGTQ+ designers. We want to know your stories! Tell us about your path to design — the triumphs, challenges, and lessons you’ve had along the way. We’d like to feature a collection of your experiences on DxD’s site and social channels to inspire and support the next generation of queer creatives. Stories help us all, especially when we can see ourselves in them. Email stories@dxd.design and either submit your story or request an interview (for those non-writers out there). 

That’s it for now, but stay tuned, there’s more exciting news on the way in Q3!

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