Our Commitment to Action
Our mission at Design Sacramento is to make our design community more inclusive, equitable and supportive for all. We improve and expand pathways into careers for youth and emerging designers while bridging the diversity gap in our current workforce.
We carry out our mission through three initiatives - Design Education, Design Workforce and Design Action. These initiatives are not seen as separate entities, rather they are all connected and serve as constant guides and reminders of what we value.
Jump to our initiatives
Our commitment as an organization
We are taking a deeper look into our organization and defining clear goals that will keep us on track with improving our community. We will:
Acknowledge the lack of diversity in the volunteers of our organization and focus our outreach so that it reaches more diverse communities.
Continue building a diverse board; if our volunteer group becomes more diverse, we will have a more diverse group to choose from for leadership roles.
Deepen our understanding of who we are partnering with and seek out partnerships with black-led businesses and organizations.
Collaborate with, and support, black organizers and share our resources.
Recognize and understand our role and responsibility in our design community.
Celebrate, encourage, empower, and support more designers of color in our community.
We will continue to update and maintain our list of Equitable Design Resources on our website.
“Change starts with leadership ”
Our commitment as individual designers
As a design organization, we are full of designers who are making a commitment to be a part of the solution in our individual practices. We are committed to:
Intentionally seeking out diverse photos, imagery, and hiring content creators of color.
Hiring content creators that represent their own communities.
Making sure the lens of the project and who is speaking about it/working on it matches and hiring that person rather than trying to speak for the audience.
Stepping aside! Don’t keep the work - send the work to other Black-run companies/designers/artists.
Partnering with local POC photographers.
Convincing our bosses / clients to use diverse stock images when applicable - show what people really look like, humanize them by sourcing from diverse stock image sites, like Stocksy.
Recognizing design impact and history - do our homework and research.
Is the font you are using part of a movement that was harmful to communities of color?
Think of the design styles you are using and how that might be perceived by different communities
Read, listen, and learn about diversity and antiracist education
Actively seek out diversity.
Pressure large corporations to include more art and creativity.
Actions We Are Taking
We do not expect change to happen overnight. We understand that this inequity has been a serious problem for several generations, and it will take a lot of time and work to unpack that, and to create these solutions. We are here to have the difficult conversations, to do the hard work, and continue to be an ally for all of our designers. We hold ourselves accountable, and we hold the rest of our design community accountable as well.
Below are some of our initiatives that our team has started to take steps being a part of the change.
Design Action
The impacts of COVID-19 and the social justice movement forced us to look deeper into the fabric of our design field in Sacramento. While we uncovered many injustices, we see it as an opportunity for growth. Through this initiative, we offer series like Design Dialogues, where we come together to talk about issues.
Design Education
The lack of awareness and access to a career path in design for youth makes an impact on our design community, as it is less diverse and with less equitable opportunities. We work with local design professionals and leaders to teach courses for youth and emerging designers, and help usher in the next generation.
Design Workforce
Through this initiative, we support the designers that make up our local workforce. We achieve this through programs like the Resilient Designer Program, which was created to support local designers that have been negatively impacted by COVID-19. We are now working on a mentorship program for graduates.