04.17.24

Orange County 2024 Emerging Leaders

In alignment with IIDA’s mission to advance the commercial interior design profession through connecting and cultivating relationships and knowledge, the Southern California Chapter launched the Emerging Leaders Program in 2020. We are thrilled to announce that the 2024 OC Emerging Leaders program is successfully underway!

Our Emerging Leaders (EL) Program currently consists of 9 talented emerging designers in Orange County. The goal of the program is to provide specific, intensive workshops geared towards emerging design leaders who are growing from “doing” tasks to “leading” in their firms and the industry. To be considered for the program, prospective ELs were required to submit applications that were endorsed by their managers, which were then reviewed by the EL Committee.

The program consists of a 11-month curriculum with workshops taught by subject matter experts, focusing on a new topic each month. Each once-a-month workshop is one and a half to two hours in length and is held at 6pm on the third Wednesday of each month. Workshops focus on building skills such as relationship building, presentation and leadership skills and business knowledge. The program will conclude with a graduation event in December. Following their program completion, the Emerging Leaders have committed to joining an IIDA OC City Center Committee in 2025 to continue supporting and promoting the organization.

We are honored to present our OC 2024 class of Emerging Leaders!

Alma Cardenas – PAL id Studio

Anika Kronemann – SAA IA

Gina Fabiola

Itzia Salinas – SAA IA

Joey C – Designwork Studios

Kristen Villamor

Melissa He – RDC

Sarah Ho – Symmetry 8 Studio

Vivian Huang – Designwork Studios

If you are interested in getting involved or have any questions, we would love to hear from you! Please don’t hesitate to reach out to the Co-Directors: Jackie Zaccagna at [email protected]  and Christie Porter at [email protected].