It’s summer, at last, and we’ve just graduated another class of interior designers with both cutting-edge skills and timeless knowledge of our discipline.

At NYSID, we teach interior designers to investigate the details of how people live to meet the needs of specific users. We instill the idea that health, well-being, beauty, and safety are at the heart of every design. It’s struck me, many times, that you can’t produce truly human-centered designers without a lens of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging.

To be a great interior designer, or educator for that matter, you must be open to ideas and perspectives you might not have been exposed to before. You must have an awareness that what may be comfortable and functional for one person, might not be for another. During the past year, I’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with our new Director of DEIB, Mackenzie Carr, on planning the next phase of DEIB for the College. We’ve added the “B” for Belonging to our values statement because we want to create a culture that hears, welcomes, and supports everyone—a cohesive community that celebrates distinctness. Mackenzie is helping us have conversations we’ve not had in the past. Learn about his approach in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Begin With Listening.

Our cover story delves into the education and career of Erick Espinoza ’13 (BFA), a tale of an American dream realized. It was an act of welcoming that changed the course of this first-generation American’s life. When Erick was in high school, NYSID Dean and VP for Academic Affairs Ellen Fisher and I had a chance to meet him during a portfolio fair and make him aware that interior design could be a career for him. We also told him about scholarship opportunities. Back then, Erick didn’t know interior design was a “viable career,” to use his words. This encounter helped him find the profession he belongs in. Erick’s success reminds us that it’s incumbent on us to reach out to young people from all backgrounds and expose them to interior design, one reason our Pre-College Program and Pre-College Scholarship Fund are so important.    

Once, interior design was considered exclusive. My experiences have shown me that interior design is evolving into a more welcoming field. The dozens of industry insiders who shared their knowledge with our students at the Kravet Student Design Forum last fall did so in a spirit of openness and generosity. At Gala 2024, we raised over $667,000 in NYSID scholarships at an event honoring Nate Berkus, Erick Espinoza, and Ann Pyne. There is the will, from many corners of the industry, to bring more perspectives to the table. We’ve made progress, but there’s so much more to do. I’m grateful to you, our donors, volunteers, and educators, who support our students in myriad ways and help great creative talents, like Erick, find their way to design careers.

In gratitude,

David Sprouls
President