diversity x design

In the field of design today, only some voices and perspectives are heard and reinforced. Beyond reforming inequities in the workplace, fostering more diverse and inclusive design environments is contingent on giving more people the opportunity to participate.

By implementing early design education initiatives that encourage active involvement, dxdf will increase awareness, content knowledge, cognitive sophistication, and understanding that there are options within the varied disciplines of design for students to learn, grow, and find a path for their professional lives.

dxdf believes that outreach and initiatives of academic and community-based programs are critical to expanding the active, intentional, and ongoing engagement with diversity: in the curriculum, the co-curriculum, and the socio-cultural and intellectual communities with which individuals might connect.

When a more diverse variety of people harness their lived experiences to solve design problems, new opportunities for innovation become apparent, translating into actualized projects ultimately better-serving the needs of all people.

Founded by Jon Otis, IIDA, New York Chapter and 2018-23 IIDA International Board of Directors Vice President, and IIDA Foundation Trustee and Diane Barnes, IIDA, New York Chapter, the Diversity by Design Fund (dxdf) was created to empower young voices in design.

Jon is the founder and principal of Object Agency (OIA), a multidisciplinary design studio and design strategy agency, whose work ranges from interior architecture and design, exhibition design, branding and visual communications, product design, and strategic consulting. Jon is also a tenured professor at the Pratt Institute where he has taught for 25 years, and he launched the Creative Xchange research accelerator at the Pratt Research Yard in 2018.

Diane has extensive industry experience with decades of work in the interior design and premium furnishings industry, creating growth for design-driven global brands. Having held senior roles in sales at Vitra, Haworth, HBF, and Stone Source, Diane has also served on the DIFFA International Board of Trustees. Diane is currently President, North America, for The Good Plastic Company/Polygood, a sustainable cradle-to-cradle surface material being launched in the USA/NA.