Diversity Chair

Jessica is a designer, cyclist, and an activist who spends half of her time and energy on design and design issues, and the other half on a bike or trying to encourage others to trade four wheels for two.

Having grown up 10 miles south of downtown Cleveland, Ohio in the neighborhood of Maple Heights—a racially integrated, blue-collar town which was recently described in a New York Times article as being the “epicenter” of the subprime mortgage crisis—Jessica experienced first-hand the struggles and hardships that many creatively inclined people of economically disadvantaged communities face.

From attending a failing public school district with a laughable arts curriculum, to having been raised in a community that widely believes the misconception that the only thing one can do with creative talent is become a starving artist—she somehow managed to discover design.

Her passion for the AIGA Diversity Initiative is driven from her understanding that design effectively defines, describes, and shapes the world in which we live, and realizing that her and others’ unique background adds depth to this collective vision—and that there are many others whose visions of the world are rarely seen.

While serving on the board she hopes to gain a better understanding, and make strides to toward removing, the road-blocks which prevent people of many diverse and under-represented communities in the Bay Area from entering the creative industry.