Design Visionary Cheryl D. Miller Cheryl D. Miller is a graphic designer, author, and theologian who is best known for her advocacy on racial, cultural, and gender equity, diversity, and inclusion. An accomplished, award-winning designer and businesswoman, Miller established one of the first Black women-owned design firms in New York City in 1984. Cheryl D....

Climate Action InVert™ Self-Shading Window by Doris Sung Designed by Doris Sung, the InVert™ Self-Shading Window uses smart thermobimetal pieces inside the cavity of a standard double-glazed window to shade a building in a magical way—with a kaleidoscope of fluttering butterfly-like pieces. By responding to the sun, it dynamically blocks solar radiation from heating the...

Emerging Designer Colloqate Design Founded in 2017, Colloqate Design is a multidisciplinary nonprofit design justice practice based in New Orleans with a focus on expanding community access to, and building power through, the design of social, civic, and cultural spaces. Its mission is to intentionally organize, advocate, and design spaces of racial, social, and cultural...

Architecture and Interior Design Ross Barney Architects Founded in Chicago in 1981, Ross Barney Architects’ mission is to create well-designed spaces for everyone. The studio is dedicated to the design of “noble” projects, without the most generous budgets or the most sought-after commissions, but those that are important to daily life and require innovative interventions....

Communication Design Imaginary Forces Founded in 1996 in Los Angeles, Imaginary Forces is an award-winning studio specializing in design-based visual storytelling. Led by Peter Frankfurt, Chip Houghton, Karin Fong, Tosh Kodama, Alan Williams, Ronnie Koff, Anthony Gibbs, and Grant Lau, Imaginary Forces takes its name from the prologue of Shakespeare’s Henry V, where the narrator summons...

Digital Design Behnaz Farahi Based in Los Angeles, Behnaz Farahi is an award-winning designer whose work is situated at the intersection of digital design, architecture, fashion, and interactive design, ranging from the scale of wearables to architectural installations. Farahi explores how materials in the environment can be imbued with artificial intelligence and life-like behaviors, incorporating...

Fashion Design Becca McCharen-Tran Becca McCharen-Tran is a fashion designer, cultural worker, and the founder of future-forward bodywear line Chromat. In her design practice, McCharen-Tran interrogates the cultural hegemony around representation and inclusion. A Forbes 30 Under 30 pick for “People Who Are Reinventing the World,” McCharen-Tran is creating a world that empowers women, femmes,...

Landscape Architecture  Studio-MLA, Mia Lehrer Studio-MLA integrates landscape architecture, urban design, and planning to create places that inspire human connection, unite communities, and restore environmental balance. “Advocacy by design” is a foundation of the practice. For more than 25 years, founder and president Mia Lehrer, FASLA, has sparked the team’s inventive thinking to address complex...

Product Design BioLite BioLite is on a mission to empower people and protect the planet through access to renewable energy. A social enterprise that develops, manufactures, and markets advanced energy products for off-grid communities around the world, the company creates novel cooking, charging, and lighting solutions that serve both outdoor enthusiasts and rural communities without...

Kimberly Jenkins is Assistant Professor of Fashion Studies at Ryerson University. Kim became best known for designing a course and exhibition called Fashion and Race and has shared her insights globally in industry forums and institutions. Her expertise in fashion history and infusing ‘race’ into fashion theory education has led to consulting work for Gucci,...

Aditi Jha, age 16, Nidhi Malpani, age 16, and Yasmina Muradova, age 16 duPont Manual High School, Louisville, KY; Westwood High School, Austin, TX; and The Gatton Academy, Bowling Green, KY Many people experience addiction in their lives—drugs, alcohol, self-harm, the Internet, etc. As a common experience among all walks of life, it has touched...

Paulina Caceres, age 17, and Alexis Nicoleau, age 17 Design and Architecture Senior High, Miami, FL Teacher: Eric Hankin Covid-19 has affected the way people move from one place to another. The Pod is made for those who have trouble accessing medical assistance. It provides medical services without the need to travel to a hospital...

Allison Casey, age 14 La Jolla Country Day School, La Jolla, CA People at highest risk for Covid-19 infection, aside from seniors, tend to live in low-income communities and have less access to Covid-19 resources than those in wealthier communities due to barriers such as language, technology, information, and transportation. This makes it difficult for...

Sam Abuchaibe, age 18, and Samantha Azcuy-Batet, age 18 Design and Architecture Senior High, Miami, FL Teacher: Eric Hankin It’s difficult to live a healthy life, physically and mentally, without being connected to nature. Quarantining further isolates and distances people from nature, which leads to many health issues. Hortus, our mobile healing garden, transforms old...

Nitya Ayyagari, age 17 Amador Valley High School, Pleasanton, CA Parkinson’s disease is the leading cause of disability worldwide. I observed the debilitating symptoms that come with the disease while volunteering at my local memory care center, namely Freezing of Gait (FoG), a condition that occurs when patients with Parkinson’s have trouble balancing that may...