Organizations That Support AAPI Designers
/For Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month in 2021, we shared Seattle-area AAPI-owned businesses to support, including restaurants, shops, artists, and more. You can read about them here, here, and here! This year, we’re highlighting some new organizations that advocate, connect, and empower AAPI designers and architects, and ways you can support them.
Asian American Pacific Islander Design Alliance (AAPIDA)
Freshly launched in May 2022, AAPIDA is the design industry first AAPI organization focused solely on supporting Asian, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders working within the home and design industries. They describe themselves as, “an organization and collective that engages, promotes, and empowers [the AAPI design community] to foster visibility, collaboration and representation industry-wide.” Founded in New York City by designers Young Huh, Joanne Lee, and Jessica Davis, the founding of AAPIDA was sparked by the devastating racially charged spa shooting in Atlanta in March 2021. They aspire to be a go-to resource for students and professionals for job postings, networking tips, finding emotional support, community, advocacy, mentorship, and more visibility and recognition for AAPI designers. The group held their first event earlier this month, putting out a call to the design community to gain membership. They’ve received interest from designers in LA, San Francisco, and Texas, where they hope to open chapters and build the organizations reach nationwide. Joining the alliance is one of the best ways you can support AAPIDA, and if you’re an AAPI designer in the Pacific Northwest and wish you had this type of assistance in your early years, there’s still plenty of opportunity to build a chapter here. Find them on Instagram.
AIA Asian American Designers Union (AADU) – Seattle
AADU is a committee established by AIA Seattle in July 2021 and “aims to establish a support system that connects, empowers, and advocates for Asian American designers and architects through collaboration, networking, education, and leadership development opportunities.” Like the AAPIDA, they too aim to promote diversity and visibility of Asian American designers and their cultures within the design industry, but AADU focuses specifically on designers in the Seattle area. Our region’s Asian American community is one of its fastest growing populations, but they are underrepresented in the design industry. AADU intends to change that. If you’re an AIA member seeking for support from other Asian Americans in the industry or feel called to advocate and support on behalf of this minority group, consider joining AADU Seattle.
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