Designing your Future
The following groups and organizations can serve as a starting point for anyone interested in design as a career.
Do your research. Find an organization in your area that fits your needs. Additional groups can also be found at Diversecreatives.com under resources.
When someone has an interest in art and design as a career path the idea of a “starving artist” may cause a re-evaluation of possible career options. A career in graphic design is as respectable as any other career path and will allow a creative individual to put their passion to use.
A student looking to gain more insight in a career in design is not alone. There are groups and organizations that are out there to help. There are local organizations that a student can get involved with and national organizations that work with different cities and smaller groups across the states. They are designed to help develop design skills, provide mentoring, support, creative outlets, job training, and will add experience to a resume.
This chapter provides helpful advice with honest insights into the industry, plus great resources to help you get started.
Below are a list of organizations nation wide. Find one in your area!
Creative Cypher
“Creative Cypher started in Chicago and has expanded across the map, empowering creatives with access to resources. Our mission was, and continues to be, to eliminate the need for permission, control our narrative,
and own our work.”
Creative Reaction Lab
“Our mission is to educate, train, and challenge Black and Latinx youth to become leaders in designing healthy and racially equitable communities.”
Design + Diversity
“The Design + Diversity Conference explores proactive ways to make the design and creative industry more diverse, inclusive and equitable.”
designExplorr
“designExplorr addresses the diversity gap within the design profession by partnering with education and corporate organizations.”
Diversity & Inclusion Task Force
“Task force members support the initiative by raising awareness, offering guidance to the organization and its members, and by participating in purposeful dialogues and activities.”
E4 Youth
“E4 Youth uses the arts, sciences, and technology to help youth find and pursue pathways to successful careers in the creative economy through hands-on-training, active mentorship, and exposure to real world opportunities. E4 Youth has helped thousands of youth ages 16–22 learn to Engage, Educate, Employ and Empower themselves.”
Girls Inc.
“Girls Inc. inspires all girls to be strong, smart, and bold, through direct service and advocacy. The network of local Girls Inc. nonprofit organizations serves girls ages 6-18 at more than 1,500 sites in 350 cities across the United States and Canada.”
Girls Who Code
“Girls Who Code is on a mission to close the gender gap in technology and to change the image of what a programmer looks like and does.”
Huedesignsummit
“The Hue Design Summit is an immersive un-conference for black developers and designers to foster relationships and build community.”
Inneract Project
“Inneract Project empowers underrepresented youth through design education and links them to opportunities to explore design in career and life.”
Living Arts
“Living Arts ignites creativity in the lives of
Detroit youth through the performing, visual,
and media arts.”
Kuumba Community Art
“It is our goal to increase art awareness and appreciation as well as give the children in our community the opportunity to learn to fully express themselves through art.”
National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA)
“NOMA’s mission, rooted in a rich legacy of activism, is to empower our local chapters and membership to foster justice and equity in communities of color through outreach, community advocacy, professional development and design excellence.”
St. Louis ArtWorks
“The mission of St. Louis ArtWorks is to enrich the lives of the region’s youth by providing art education, essential job skill training, and exposure to career opportunities through paid apprenticeships in the arts.”
The Hidden Genius Project
“The Hidden Genius Project trains and mentors Black male youth in technology creation, entrepreneurship, and leadership skills to transform their lives and communities.”
The Regional Arts Commission
“The Regional Arts Commission envisions a region where every resident has the freedom, resources, and opportunities to enjoy a creative life – to share and celebrate their stories, art, and culture and feel a sense of belonging wherever they live, work, or play.”
Revision Path Podcast
“Revision Path™ is an award-winning weekly showcase of Black designers, developers, and digital creatives from all over the world. Through in-depth interviews, you’ll learn about their work, their goals, and what inspires them as creative individuals.”
Valence
“Our mission is to create new paths to success for Black professionals.”
4A’s MAIP
“The 4A’s foundation is committed to identifying, developing, empowering and ensuring the most diverse talent enters and succeeds in the marketing industry. We achieve this through programs aimed at discovering and cultivating talent through scholarships, high school initiatives and the Multicultural Advertising Intern Program (MAIP) fellowship and Alumni communities.”
AAGD (African American Graphic Designers)
“Our vision is to be part of an ecosystem: fed by knowledge, watered by the community, dead to old ideas, and birthing new and greater talent who can help solve large social issues through creative design thinking.”
Adcolor Inc
“Our goal is to create a community of diverse professionals who are here to support and
celebrate one another.”
AAF (American Advertising Federation) Mosaic Awards
“The AAF’s Mosaic Awards recognize companies, agencies and individuals whose commitment to diversity and inclusion is evident through their creative work and organization-wide initiatives.”
AAF (American Advertising Federation)
Most Promising Multicultural Students Program
“The AAF’s Most Promising Multicultural Students program connects the advertising industry with
the nation’s top multicultural college seniors.”
AfroTech
“AfroTech is a conference experience and continues to be one of the largest multicultural tech conferences in the United States, bringing together engineers, venture capitalists, recruiters, technologists, and culture enthusiasts from all over the world.”
Afrotectopia
“Afrotectopia is a social institution created at
the intersections of art, design, technology, Black culture, and activism. We cultivate spaces for Black radical imagination through annual festivals, think tanks, international fellowships, alternative schools, and more.”
All Black Creatives
“The All Black Creatives Foundation provides community and educational programs for Black creative students, freelancers, professionals, and founders of creative studios and startups.”
Arts Administrators of Color
“Arts Administrators of Color Network (AAC) is an arts service network that focuses on networking and community building through the arts.”
Arts Corps
“Arts Corps is a nationally recognized youth arts education organization that works to address the race and income-based opportunity gap in access to arts education.”
Art + Practice
“A+P’s mission is twofold: (1) collaborate with a nonprofit social service provider (i.e. First Place for Youth) to support the needs of 18 to 24-year-old foster youth who are transitioning into adulthood, and (2) provide free access to museum-curated contemporary art celebrating artists of color.”
BidBlack
“BidBlack is a non-profit platform on a mission to normalize the presence of Black filmmakers in creative roles in the advertising industry. We aim to be a complementary resource for all creative industries to source Black talent– placing an emphasis on creating more opportunities for Black creators to bid on commercial jobs by increasing awareness and access to Black directors, cinematographers, editors, colorists, and more.”
Black Lives Black Words
“Through exciting partnerships with like-minded arts and academia institutions, BLBW commissions new plays and films widening the accessibility to mainstream institutions and increasing the visibility of new and existing POC artists.”
Black Orlando Tech
“Black Orlando Tech (BOT) is a nonprofit organization working to increase the awareness, activities, network, and resources for local minorities who pursue careers in technology by over 10,000 people by the year 2025.”
Blacks Who Design
“Blacks Who Design highlights all of the inspiring Black designers in the industry. The goal is to inspire new designers, encourage people to diversify their feeds, and discover amazing individuals to join your team.”
BYP Network
“Connecting Black professionals to each other,
job opportunities, Black businesses, and events.”
Code2040
“Code2040 is a nonprofit organization activating, connecting, and mobilizing the largest racial equity community in tech to dismantle the structural barriers that prevent the full participation and leadership of Black and Latinx technologists in
the innovation economy.”
Did I miss an organization you know about? Please reach out and let me know about it.