đź—“ Friday, September 26, 2025
đź“Ť Sheraton Grand at The BLOC
711 S Hope St, Los Angeles, CA 90017
Mark your calendars for one of the most inspiring mornings of the year! The 2025 Leaders Breakfast is back, and we’re thrilled to bring the design community together once again to celebrate innovation, leadership, and the power of design in shaping our world.
The Leaders Breakfast honors the enduring impact and bright future of design by spotlighting those who are driving the industry forward. Join us for a dynamic keynote speaker who will challenge your thinking, spark new ideas, and energize your creative spirit. We’ll also recognize a local honoree whose outstanding contributions have helped shape the design landscape in Los Angeles and beyond.
Whether you’re a seasoned professional or an emerging voice in the field, this is a morning not to be missed.
Keynote Speaker:
Shola Richards
Founder & CEO | Go Together Global & Best-Selling Author
Shola Richards is a dynamic keynote speaker, the best-selling author of “Civil Unity: The Radical Path to Transform Our Discourse, Our Lives and Our World”, “Making Work Work”, and “Go Together”, an in-demand workplace civility expert, and a prolific writer with a passionate worldwide following. His articles and wildly-popular Monday morning “Go Together Movement” email series have impacted people in over 160 countries, and his work has been featured on the Today Show, CBS This Morning, Forbes, Black Enterprise, Complete Wellbeing India, and Business Insider Australia.
Honoree:
Georgie Smith, is the President and Founder of A Sense of Home
Smith responded to a cry for help on social media, by a young person who had aged out of foster care. Her random act of kindness spawned thousands of random acts of kindness giving birth to A Sense of Home.
Within days of the outbreak of the 2025 LA fires, Georgie conceived of and launched a new disaster relief initiative to provide fully functioning home environments for community members who lost everything in the LA fires. To meet the moment, the unique ASOH systems were adapted and deployed to operate out of an additional 10,000 sq foot warehouse (in close proximity to Altadena).
Australian born, Georgie Smith, has earned a number of honors including top 10 CNN Hero , Home Beautiful’s “20 People Who Will change the Design Industry”, a DVF Award nomination, a Shero Award nomination at the Women’s Choice Awards, as well as being featured in the book and global exhibit 200 Women Who Will Change the Way You See the World.
Emerging Leader:
Sarah Geske, NCIDQ, IIDA, is a Los Angeles–based commercial interior designer focused on the intersection of workplace and hospitality design. Starting her career at HDR, then spending the last 6 years at HOK, she advanced her expertise on high-profile projects, and learning the design industry. Now at HLW, she continues to create environments rooted in passion and connection.
Sarah approaches every project through the lens of storytelling. She believes that the strongest designs begin with a clear message, and then weaves the story into each stage of her process, creating work that resonates deeply and leaves a lasting impression.
Sarah’s honors include Interior Design Magazine’s NEXT Award given by Cindy Allen; selected for the ThinkLab Gen Z Cohort (2025); the Interior Design Magazine 30/30 Award (2023); and the LA Business Journal Women’s Leadership Award (2021). She currently serves on the IIDA LA City Center Board, and is an advisor to the board of Flip4Good, a woman-owned nonprofit where she passionately redesigns transitional housing units using trauma-informed design principles.
For more information on event sponsorship opportunities, click here!
Tickets
Individual IIDA Member Tickets $250
Individual Non-Member Tickets $300