AIGA Staff

Background, position, and contact information for all members of the AIGA national office staff. All staff members may be reached at AIGA, 164 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York. Staff email addresses are first name_last name@aiga.org. The main phone number is 212 807 1990.

Sue Apfelbaum, editorial director, 212 710 3131
Sue is the chief editor of the AIGA website and oversees the editorial direction of online publications. She is the managing editor of Voice: AIGA Journal of Design, and also works with authors to manage publications for the AIGA Design Press, a co-publishing partnership with New Riders.

Sue earned a B.A. in English from the University of Vermont, where she was the music director of radio station WRUV. Most recently, she was managing editor and co-editor of RES magazine, a bimonthly publication about film, music, art and design. Her writing has also appeared in pop culture and design magazines Lemon and Print.

Spencer Bruce, project manager , 212 710 3110
Spencer’s responsibilities include managing projects related to professional development programs for members, including production of AIGA's annual salary survey, the “Business Perspectives for Creative Leaders” program and the Center for Practice Management. He handles all major building projects and works closely with the shipping clerk/facilities coordinator to insure that materials going in out of the building are up to AIGA standards.

Spencer graduated from Buffalo State College with a degree in art history.

Jessica Casper, coordinator, strategic alliances, 212 710 3124
Jessica supports AIGA’s alliances with corporate, media and not-for-profit agencies by coordinating and communicating the benefits of these partnerships to sponsors as well as the design public at large. She works closely with the director of strategic alliances to build and maintain sponsor relationships, manage contracts and document all details related to these alliances. Jessica is also available to chapters who may have questions about national or local partnerships and sponsorship programs.

Jessica earned a B.A. in visual studies from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to working with AIGA, she helped create window displays for Ralph Lauren’s Manhattan stores. She is an artist, currently designing clothing and jewelry.

Amy Chapman, project manager, 212 710 3137
Amy works to recruit and connect interested and active members with various AIGA programs and initiatives and helps to develop systems for maintaining member involvement and communication.

Amy earned a B.F.A. in painting from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Kathleen Cox, bookkeeper/accountant, 212 710 3127
Kathleen is responsible for the reconciliation of the general ledger and subsidiary accounts including accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll, employee files and employee benefits. She also prepares financial statements and analysis that provides the board of directors and the organization’s management team with relevant financial data necessary for budgetary and financial decisions. Her other duties include internal controls, policies and procedures according to established audit procedures. Kathleen is the liaison with outside auditors overseeing the annual audits, corporate tax returns and financial reports. In doing so she audits all business activities to make sure they comply with federal, state and local regulations.

Kathleen has several years of experience in accounting. She served as the director of finance for the New York Society for the Deaf for three years and then as their executive director for four years. Her commitment to the deaf community comes from her life-long commitment to her brother who is deaf. Kathleen earned her B.S. in accounting from Georgian Court University.

Katie English, project manager, 212 710 3136
Katie’s areas of responsibility include managing the distribution of news and information to members, knowledge management within the organization and providing information and support to AIGA chapters.

Katie earned a B.A. in English from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and also completed her M.A. in English at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Jonathan Feinberg, director of events, 212 710 3142
Jonathan has the overall responsibility for site selection, vendor contract negotiation, logistical application and post-event reconciliation for AIGA’s conferences and meetings. He collaborates with the programming team to develop, maintain and adhere to the meeting and conference budgets. . Jonathan also serves as a tactical consultant for Design Education and other regional conferences. Additionally, he schedules events and meetings within the AIGA building.

Jonathan earned his B.A. in business from the University of New Hampshire and brings more than 10 years of event planning and hospitality management experience to AIGA.

George Fernandez, membership director, 212 710 3132
George maintains AIGA’s membership database and is the primary customer service contact for membership inquiries from chapter membership coordinators. He is responsible for providing membership recruitment materials, helping coordinators use the chapter workroom, generating invoices and monitoring and maintaining group memberships as well as sending out regular mailings (postcards, new-member packets, membership cards). He answers questions about membership status, which benefits members should have been sent and who belongs on a group membership.

George holds a B.A. in liberal arts from Queens College. Previously, he was responsible for membership at another association and maintained client records for a health care organization.

Richard Grefé, executive director , 212 710 3100
Ric is the CEO of AIGA, the professional association for design. He is generally involved in all of AIGA’s activities, although his major contributions are in strategy, formulating new initiatives to enhance the competitive success of designers and advocating the value of design.

Ric earned a B.A. from Dartmouth College, crafted books at Stinehour Press, spent several years in intelligence work in Asia, reported from the Bronx County Courthouse for AP, wrote for Time magazine on business and the economy and then earned an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. Following a career in urban design and public policy consulting, Ric managed the association responsible for strategic planning and legislative advocacy for public television and led a think tank on the future of public television and radio. He has been at AIGA since 1995, developing programs that reinforce the relevance of design as an extraordinary creative gift and a critical element of business strategy.

David Hall, member experience manager, 212 710 3133
David is AIGA’s primary liaison to student groups and faculty coordinators, as well as student members in general. In responding to member inquiries by phone or email, he pays close attention to ways in which AIGA can improve the member experience and works with the team to implement those improvements.

David has several years of experience processing payments, working with financial databases and working with the public. He has a B.A. in music and performs regularly.

Jessica Hewitt, managing director, Design for Democracy, 212 710 3126
Jessica manages AIGA’s Design for Democracy initiative, with a current focus on election design.

Previously, she directed a user experience research and design practice at a Publicis marketing agency and designed user interfaces for emerging software solutions at IBM. She has served major clients from finance, travel and consumer packaged goods industries in the areas of business process improvement, information architecture and interaction design. She is a former ACM SIG-CHI chapter co-chair and holds a B.A. in Visual and Cultural Studies from the University of Rochester.

Nurri Kim, digital archivist, 212 710 3147
Nurri is responsible for managing AIGA’s digital assets, digitizing AIGA’s archival materials and maintaining them in the online Design Archives.

She earned her BFA in Fine Arts from Ewha Womens University in Korea, and her MFA in Plastic Arts and Mixed Media from Japan’s University of Tsukuba. Her recent work includes the New York Public Library’s African-American Migration Experience and Digital Gallery projects. She also works as an artist in New York City.

Lydia Mann, web director, 212 710 3122
Lydia administers AIGA’s websites in conjunction with an outside technology and development firm, and works to provide satisfactory user experiences for visitors to the sites. Through ongoing evaluation and development, she develops, establishes and prepares improved workflows as well as recommending new site content. Her primary responsibility is to provide accessible, rich online experiences for all and provide a window to communities of interactive designers. 

Lydia brings more than 20 years of experience in designing and developing websites, applications, intranets and print collateral materials for a wide variety of clients, from large financial associations to small-business owners, artists and musicians, establishing and maintaining brand and corporate identity. Lydia has a B.A. in graphic design and early-childhood education. She paints, as much as possible.

Kelly McLaughlin, project manager, 212 710 3134
Kelly’s areas of responsibility include managing the design production process for AIGA projects, and updating and maintaining the AIGA website.

Kelly is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, having earned a B.S. in policy and management and a minor in communication design. Her background includes social science research and design strategy. Kelly previously directed a dance company in college, and now works to guide her co-founded dance troupe.

Gabriela Mirensky, director, competitions and exhibitions, 212 710 3143
Gabriela is responsible for AIGA’s competitions, which provide the content for two major exhibitions in the gallery each year. She collaborates with design teams to conceptualize, produce and install from four to six exhibitions annually. Gabriela oversees the production of the print annual that results from the competitions, and the online Design Archives, launched in 2004.

Gabriela earned a B.A. in graphic design from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana in Mexico City and an M.F.A. focused in printmaking from the City College of New York. She joined the AIGA staff in January 1996.

Andréa Pellegrino, director of strategic alliances, 212 710 3125
Andréa builds alliances with corporate, media and not-for-profit partners through sponsorships and affiliations. Through these, she helps communicate the value of design to the business community, related organizations and the general public. The benefits allowed by these partnerships provide members access to conferences, exhibitions, initiatives and events that AIGA may not otherwise be able to produce. In addition, Andréa works with chapters on sponsorship and other issues they face.

Andréa earned a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame. After working with underprivileged children for several years in Chicago, she returned to New York to enter the field of magazine publishing. She went on to lead advertising and marketing teams for Jonas Publishing, Nature Publishing Group and, most recently, Print, HOW and I.D. magazines.

Leah Rico, project manager, 212 710 3146
Leah organizes, manages and provides support for AIGA task forces and initiatives. She helps develop mechanisms for grassroots involvement and communication in the areas of diversity, sustainability and education. Leah is also the primary contact with the Worldstudio Foundation on the Worldstudio AIGA scholarship program.

Leah earned her B.F.A. in fine art at the State University of New York at Buffalo. She went on to work in arts administration with a number of nonprofit arts organizations in western New York, including Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center and Big Orbit Gallery, and taught at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and the University at Buffalo. Leah returned to the University at Buffalo to complete her M.F.A. in Visual Studies and currently works as an artist in New York City.

Tiia Schurig, director of first impressions, 212 710 3111
Tiia serves as the first line of response to callers and visitors to AIGA, providing general information on chapter contacts, health insurance, discounts and other member benefits as well as basic information about conferences, competitions and exhibitions. Tiia is an essential member of the membership team, answering questions and assisting callers in navigating the AIGA website. She also handles sales of publications though the website and the gallery. Tiia interacts with all other staff on a daily basis, exchanging information to find better ways of serving members and the public.

Tiia earned a B.A. in Art History and a B.A. in humanities from the University of South Florida. After graduation she studied at L'Alliance Française in Paris for more than a year, earning an intermediate level certification in the French language.

Michelle Stanek, program curator, 212 710 3144
Michelle coordinates AIGA’s events and conferences. She is responsible for program content and event logistics, managing relationships with presenters, managing marketing and promotion, the coordination and development of collateral materials and backstage management.

Michelle earned a B.A. in art history and arts administration from Goucher College and an M.A. in the theory, criticism and history of art and design from Pratt Institute. Michelle is a visiting art history professor at Pratt. She also teaches art appreciation for Pratt’s summer pre-college program, introducing high school students to art history themes and theories and New York City’s art and cultural institutions. Michelle  contributed research and writing to the New York Transit Museum’s book, Subway Style: 100 Years of Architecture & Design in the New York City Subway on cartography, signage and advertising.

Heather Strelecki, information specialist, 212 710 3145
Heather provides support on a wide variety of information resources. She is the primary contact for event registration inquiries, and she manages the AIGA library and institutional archives. In addition, she assists with annual competitions and exhibitions; the online design archives and journal publications. Her responsibilities include effectively communicating with conference attendees and competition entrants; timely processing and notification of financial transactions; monitoring the AIGA website for necessary updates and organizing digital and print information and artifacts.

Heather earned a B.A. in art history from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and is currently pursuing a master’s in library and information science from Pratt Institute. She brings customer service and administrative experience from STERIS Corporation. She was a contributing art writer for the Erie Times News, and she volunteers at Kentler International Drawing Space in Brooklyn.

Peter Van Hyning, digital archives technician, 212 710 3141
Peter’s primary responsibilities are related to a grant-funded project to expand AIGA’s online archives, supported by the National Endowment for the Arts. He is adding selections from exhibition catalogues from 1925 to 1980 to Design Archives.

Before joining AIGA, Peter was assistant archivist to photographer Ezra Stoller at Esto Photographics in Mamaroneck, New York. He graduated with a BFA in painting from The Cleveland Institute of Art, and works as an artist, illustrator and performer in Brooklyn. 

Denise Wood, chief operating officer, 212 710 3135
Denise is responsible for operational decisions within AIGA, overseeing development and implementation of AIGA’s budget. She is responsible for knowledge management within the organization and AIGA’s information systems. She works closely with the executive director to implement plans in virtually all membership and strategic areas of AIGA.

Denise earned a B.A. from Oberlin College and an M.B.A. in information management from George Washington University.