Just over 15 years ago, I founded Youth Design with a mission to provide urban creative youth in Boston with awareness, exposure and training opportunities in design, enabling them to envision and pursue a career pathway that would feed their passion for creativity.

We have witnessed the magic that happens when young people – working with hundreds of Youth Designers who have benefited from our “platform for change” and world-class programming – discover the possibilities and realize their limitless potential to pursue a professional creative life in the field of design and beyond!

With tremendous gratitude, a heavy heart, and sincere pride, I want to share with you that we made the bittersweet decision to sunset the Youth Design organization at the end of 2017. This has been quite a journey.

We are proud of the strides we have made, collectively, in bringing awareness to the need for greater diversity in design and the impact we’ve had in supporting 700+ Youth Designers find achievable pathways to careers in design. This was no small feat.

We have made a difference together and I hope that the Youth Design mission and legacy will continue to thrive in your heart and under your leadership . . . as there is still much work to be done.

For all of this – I and all of the Youth Designers thank you.