League of Women Designers

The League of Women Designers (LWD) is a member-led professional

forum that exists to elevate women in interdisciplinary design, and to

benefit the larger design community.

The League of Women Designers began informally in Portland in 2009. It was and is fueled by the local design community and a passion to elevate women in the varied fields of design.

Originally there was no agenda, and there was no manifesto; it was simply a monthly gathering of professional, creative individuals who happened to be women.

As time went by, the membership grew. More and more women saw the value of having a forum where they could share their thoughts and ideas concerning their practice, process, and inspiration with an interdisciplinary network of other women designers.

Since 2009, LWD has expanded from its origins in Portland to Chicago and to the beginnings of new chapters in New York, Denver, and Seattle. Our national network of over 400 members has curated more than 100 member meetings and dozens of pubic events. Our passionate and involved communities have fueled this organic growth, and in 2018, we officially became a 501(c)(3) organization.

For the past ten years, LWD has been operated by a few dedicated people giving their time, energy, and personal funds to support and organize its monthly member events and public events. As we continue to grow and our vision expands, the need to establish a more sustainable method of funding our infrastructure and programming has become apparent.

Our goal is to establish a strong platform for growth so that LWD can continue to be a volunteer-based, member-led organization that brings ever greater value to our members, our communities, and the design profession at large.

 The mission of LWD is to:

• Increase the visibility of women in the design field through panel discussions, exhibitions, public lectures, and our online presence
• Celebrate the work created by women in the fields of design
• Encourage interdisciplinary design inspiration and collaboration
• Grow local communities of female designers
• Increase national interconnection of female designers
• Present design dialogue that educates and inspires the larger community
• Educate the public about the fluidity of design practices and the specific contributions of women in design
• Mentor one another and the next generation of women designers

By supporting this campaign, you will help us establish funds to build our

online presence, fund future public exhibitions and events, recoup our

startup costs, and grow the LWD community. In order to fund these

efforts, we are looking to raise $7,000 to support the following:

Thank you to you—our LWD members—and our larger communities for helping to support these efforts.

As a heartfelt thank you, we're offering some awesome LWD swag. At the LWD Champion level ($100), you will receive a tote bag and a T-Shirt. At the LWD Supporter level ($50), you will receive your choice of a tote bag or T-Shirt.