Cooper Hewitt

Design Museum

EDUCATION | MUSEUM PARTNERSHIP | DESIGN ADVOCACY

Design is most powerful when it’s accessible to all.

Scope
Design Career Fair mentor representing PwC

National High School Design Competition mentor

Interview series for teen program

Attendee at the 25th Annual National Design Awards Gala

Year
2025

Duration
Ongoing

Backstory

As a designer passionate about accessibility and mentorship, I’ve partnered with the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum to support their mission of nurturing the next generation of creative thinkers.

Through PwC, I represented the firm at the Design Career Fair, mentored finalists in the National High School Design Competition, shared my career journey in a recorded interview for the museum’s teen program, and attended the National Design Awards Gala celebrating 25 years of innovation in design.

Design is most powerful when it is accessible to all. Cooper Hewitt’s youth programs invite students from across the U.S. to:

  • Explore design careers across industries like fashion, product, architecture, and graphic design.

  • Engage with designers from leading organizations such as Nike, IBM, Adobe, Sesame Workshop, Atlason, and Studio Rodrigo.

  • Connect with prestigious design schools like Parsons, Pratt, FIT, and Cooper Union.

  • Build confidence in their creativity and design thinking skills.

My role was to help bridge the gap between professional practice and student exploration, giving teens a real sense of how design is applied in industry.

The Opportunity

  • Design Career Fair: Represented PwC as a featured mentor, engaging with high school students about pathways into design and business innovation.

  • Mentorship: Supported the National High School Design Competition, providing feedback and guidance to young finalists on their design concepts.

  • Interview Series: Shared my personal design journey as part of Cooper Hewitt’s teen program YouTube playlist, reaching a national audience of students and educators. See the full series here.

  • Design Gala: Attended the 25th Annual National Design Awards Gala, celebrating excellence in design and connecting with peers across industries.

Project Scope

Mission

My mission was to make design approachable for young learners—showing them that creativity and strategy can coexist, and that design careers extend beyond traditional paths. I also aimed to reflect the importance of representation in design spaces, ensuring that students saw inclusive role models in the field.

Through my involvement with the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum, I was able to:

  • Inspire and mentor emerging designers.

  • Represent PwC’s commitment to creativity and social impact.

  • Celebrate design excellence at the National Design Awards Gala, joining a global community of design leaders.

  • Contribute to an inclusive ecosystem that values youth voices in shaping the future of design.

This work remains one of my proudest intersections of education, design, and mentorship.

Conclusion