Executive Director

As the new Executive Director of the San Francisco chapter of AIGA, Dawn Zidonis is eager to help designers stake out their place in the entrepreneurial culture that defines the Bay Area. Her vision for the San Francisco chapter is to build on the passion people bring to the design community, create connections between members and business, foster the cross-pollination of ideas among design disciplines, and ultimately add valuable, meaningful content to the design conversation.

Dawn is a vocal, visible problem solver with a long-standing commitment to AIGA. A former board member with AIGA Cleveland, Dawn served as president and executive board member. During that time she managed oversight for the board of directors which included event planning, membership, fundraising, non-profit management, and operations. In July 2012 she’ll assume her newest role as President Council Chair for the national board of AIGA, where she will serve as liaison between all 66 AIGA chapter presidents and the national board, function as a resource for chapter leaders, and represent the concerns of chapter presidents to the national board.

A designer who hails from the Midwest, Dawn brings more than 15 years of experience as a classically trained designer, design business owner and entrepreneur to her role as Executive Director. In addition to her past volunteer work at AIGA, Dawn has served as a mentor to young girls interested in pursuing a career in design and or technology as well as conducting workshops for girls age 7 through 15 on how to design and code for the web through the process of creating their own personal website. Dawn studied graphic design at University of Ohio, Athens.

Dawn calls herself “a total introvert” but no one who actually knows her believes it.