In 2015, I received an AIGA Innovate grant of $5000 to develop the first ever satellite chapter that works in conjunction with a city chapter. I work closely with AIGA Houston to develop programming in the Beaumont area in order to provide better opportunities for local designers that cannot make it the 90 miles to Houston for events. Events included a software demonstration by an Adobe representative, a career lecture by The Creative Group, a local presentation about coding in graphic design, a journaling and goal setting workshop, a community brunch, and small business development workshop. Events were often designed to allow participation by both local professionals as well as students in the LU Department of Art, which has an active graphic design student group that I mentor.
