I have been a member of the board for 10 years in various roles, each one brought me joy and growth! I started as a student liaison for our NC campus centers and found a passion for mentoring Interior Design students and being a resource to them! These students are the future of our industry, and I enjoy seeing how they are working and learning, and what new insights they bring to design! I was a Co-City Center Director in Triangle and that brought so much growth around balancing workloads and maintaining plans and schedules to keep our monthly events at the time on track and exciting with my Co-CCD and our steering committee – always looking ahead at what we can do for our city center and chapter! As the VP of Communications, I learned how to update websites and communicate through constant contact to our members at large – I never thought web support would be on my resume, but I LOVED IT! Last year, I was fortunate to work closely with our Past President, Chelsea Lawrence, to see how to lead a Board, lead a chapter, and continue to advance our profession and grow our chapter! I’m so excited to carry on the work that has been done by the chapter leaders before me! In 2025, we will celebrate 30 years as a chapter with IIDA. 30 years of service to the profession of Interior Design, 30 years of events and knowledge and learning, 30 years of support to students and members, 30 years of friendships and a shared love for what we do, and most importantly, 30 years of advocacy, sharing what we do, being proud to be an Interior Designer and educating others on what it means to be an Interior Designer!

As I look ahead at what this year will bring for me, I am excited to celebrate our 30^th Anniversary with you all at events, with acknowledging founding members, past board members, and honoring the work we have done! We want to continue to grow our community of Interior Designers and Carolinas Chapter members together, as we look at the opportunity to open a City Center in Wilmington to support our NC coastal region, we need your support to make that happen through membership and involvement! We want to continue the work that was done to pass legislation for Registered Interior Designers in NC and drive those same efforts in SC. We want to support our Campus Centers and help them thrive and learn. We want to promote mentorship and engagement with our professional members both peer to peer and as mentors to our student designers.

It is with great pleasure, that I am a leader with the Carolinas Chapter, and that I have the opportunity to work with all of you in our design community. We love the tenure we have on our board, and we would also love to welcome new board members to bring new ideas and new support. I encourage you to get involved in your local city centers, talk to board members, chapter leaders, and ask how you can be a part of it too. I challenge you all to Advocate for our profession, take advantage of the resources that come to you as a member of IIDA, utilizing both local and our international chapter support for Professional growth opportunities, staying connected on new or leading trends effecting our industry, enjoy the fun with colleagues and friends and grow your network at events around the Carolinas!

Thank you so much to each one of you that support IIDA, through engagement, through membership, with sponsorship and benefactor support, you help us advance the profession of Interior Design and make our Chapter one of the best!

Together, WE are IIDA!