Women Making History Today

For Women’s History Month, the women of WIID reflect on the courageous women that brought us to this celebratory month today, and how we can further achieve historic milestones for women in design. During the month of March, government agencies and companies nationwide band together to commemorate and encourage the study, observance and celebration of the vital role of women in American history.

 

Historic Leaders of Today

Everyday women continue to fight for equality as part of the Women’s March. Originating in Washington, in January 2017, this group focuses on promoting feminist economies, reimagining democracy and ending white supremacy to build “Our Feminist Future.” In the past few years, we have celebrated a plethora of historic moments for women in history in all types of industries. Here are just a few of those recent historic moments.

Kamala Harris became the first woman, first black and Indian-American to become Vice President of the United States in the 2020 presidential election. Ketanji Brown Jackson was nominated to the Supreme Court as the first black woman in the highest court of the nation on February 25th, 2022.

In February 2022, Victoria’s Secret hired their first model with Down Syndrome: Puerto Rican-born Sofia Jirau will be promoting the new Love Cloud intimates collection.

After decades in the space tech industry, Jane Poynter co-founded Space Perspective with her husband to redefine the space tourism industry.

In 2021, Chloe Zhao became the first woman of color to win the Academy Award for Best Director for “Nomadland”.

Katie Sowers became the first woman and first openly gay coach for the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV.

 

Celebrating Women in Design

In the world of design, things have been rapidly changing as well in creating a world of equity between all genders in the workplace and design community.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, women in design flourished on social media by pushing people outside of their comfort zones to talk about equality. Danielle Chen (@dchen.play) made strides in advocating for women in design as well as Asian Americans on Instagram and with her podcast “Push&Play” launched in September 2020. Lindsay Malatesta started @Unif-ID on both Instagram and Discord: a community space made for women and non-binary industrial designers. Kristi Bartlett (@kristibartlettdesign) and Ti Chang (@designerti) continue today to challenge social and workplace norms for women in industrial design.

In 2021, IDSA launched a network of Women in Design Chapters to foster positive gender equity and connect women throughout the design industry. In the same year, Lindsay Maxwell became the first female chair elect VP for IDSA. Outside of IDSA, Lindsay serves as the Vice President of the Aerospace Studio at Teague.

Positions for Chief Design Officers are continuing to arise at large companies, and rather than being the “first woman CDO” many women are becoming the “first CDO” in a company’s history. Valerie Casey became the first CDO of Walmart in 2018, and Jenny Arden became the very first CDO at Zillow in January 2022.

Celebrate with more women in industrial design and allies at IDSA’s Women in Design Deep Dive this year from March 31st to April 1st in Columbus, Ohio.

 

How have you made history as a woman in design?

We believe we are all making strides in women’s history as women in industrial design whether it was a singular moment and an ongoing achievement. For example, here is how some of our own women are making history for women in design:

Lea Stewart became the first woman to lead design for the baby products segment at Newell Brands in 2020, going all the way back to when the largest brand Graco was founded in 1942.

Jessica (Hedge) Monsalve is continuing to define design and brand strategy for the Amazon aggregators industry within her company, Thrasio.

Mallory Evans works on her first majority women design team, crafting the future of outdoor grilling at Weber.


In 2021, our team started a library that continues to grow with our favorite resources that help to celebrate Women’s History Month. We hope this library helps everyone continue learning about the intricacies and intersection of feminism, design, race, gender, and sexuality. Check it out here.

 

Do you know of a woman that recently made history for women in design, or how are you making history for women in 2022? Tell us about it on social media @wiid_chi.

 
Jessica HedgeID Women ChicagoComment