Amazon has joined the Diversify by Design (DxD) coalition as a foundational sponsor, to help drive inclusion, diversity, and equity across the design profession. Amazon’s sponsorship supports a three-year collaboration with DxD partner organizations that create access to design for Black and Brown youth. The key element of that collaboration is Design=, an experiential learning initiative that will give thousands of young people the opportunity to explore the world of design and connect with professional designers across disciplines, including Amazon’s design team. The initial phase will deliver a series of workshops for middle and high-school age youth. designExplorr – a Cleveland community-based organization whose mission is to diversify the design profession by delivering experiential workshops that expand access to and understanding of design education for youth – has developed and will facilitate the 2021 workshops. In addition to increasing the frequency and reach of the workshops in 2022, a train-the-trainers module will be incorporated to help DxD’s youth program partners scale their impact. The relationship is a milestone for the coalition. Co-founder of Impact Collaborative, DxD’s managing entity, Andréa Pellegrino said of the collaboration, “Amazon’s support not only communicates, but more importantly activates, their commitment to addressing the lack of diversity in design at the systemic level. Rather than investing in siloed approaches, Amazon chose to invest at the beginning of the design ecosystem, supporting the proven efforts and programming of those that have been creating pathways to design for youth who have been traditionally excluded. Their desire to learn from and build with DxD’s youth programs partners has the potential to not only inspire and prepare the next generation of Black and Brown designers, it has the potential to radically change design as we know it.”
Amazon Joins Diversify By Design Coalition
