In 2015, the Annual report prepared and released by the National Architectural Accrediting Board spilled the beans on numbers, revealing that only five percent of architecture students identified as black or African American. We are now in 2020, and the statistics are still gruesome and alarming, and more so in the field of interior design where less than one precent of professionals are women of color.

Interior Design had a conversation with seven architects and interior designers, including M.Arch Program Director Mark Gardner, about achievements, struggles and the work to be done by future generations of young and aspiring professionals to change the trajectory for those who will follow. Tap into words of wisdom and encouragement here.