Join AIGA Arizona for an introduction to the AIGA Design For Good initiative.

National AIGA President Doug Powell and AIGA Connecticut President Rich Hollant will talk about the work they've been doing in their communities and with the national initiative. We'll also be talking about some opportunities in Phoenix, including a recap of the recent Phoenix Design Summit.

About Design For Good:

Design for Good is a platform to build and sustain the implementation of design thinking for social change. This platform creates opportunities for designers to build their practice, their network, and their visibility. Design for Good recognizes the wide range of designers' work and leadership in social change which benefits the world, our country and our communities.

Design for Good supports and sustains designers who play a catalytic role in communities through projects that create positive social impact. By connecting and empowering designers through online networking tools, inspirational stories, chapter events, training, national advocacy and promotion, Design for Good serves as a powerful resource for designers who wish to work in this area and a beacon for designers leading the charge.

About Doug Powell:

Doug Powell is a designer, strategist, entrepreneur and the creative visionary for Schwartz Powell, leading successful projects for a wide range of clients and collaborative partners in health and nutrition, including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Lifescan, and Pepsico. Doug also consults with a variety of cross-disciplinary teams on design-driven entrepreneurial projects. In addition to his responsibilities with Schwartz Powell, Doug recently served as consulting Creative Director for HealthSimple, working in close collaboration with the Johnson & Johnson Global Design team.

In 2004, following their daughter Maya's diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes, the couple launched Type1Tools to bring well-designed, kid-friendly tools to the daily experience of managing this complex disease. The success of Type1Tools led to the expansion of the business into HealthSimple? with a vision to help the millions of people living with chronic health problems better manage their conditions and live healthier lives. Doug and Lisa have transformed Schwartz Powell into a consultancy bringing design thinking and strategy to a variety of organizations with a focus on health and nutrition.

Doug is the national president of AIGA, the professional association for design. With more than 22,000 members in 66 local chapters, AIGA is the largest and oldest design organization in the country.

A 1988 graduate of the School of Art at Washington University in St. Louis, Doug is a frequent commentator on design issues.

About Rich Hollant:

Rich Hollant is the principal and a design director at co:lab, a design firm he started 25 years ago. At the inception, Rich and his team developed branding and launch campaigns for corporations such as Motorola, Aetna, Travelers, Harley-Davidson, and Procter & Gamble. They operated on the Robin Hood model, where they spent half the week working on big brands and the other half using their profits to underwrite work for causes they valued. About 5 years ago, they made a significant shift in the way they approach their work. Today, co:lab is deep-rooted in Connecticut and focuses entirely on social-value/culture-building for non-profits, communities, social-enterprises and socially responsible organizations.

Over the years, Rich has lead his team to receive several hundred awards along with recognition in magazines and design books. He has been featured in Business Weekly, and has been honored as one of 20 "People to Watch" by Graphic Design, U.S.A. His work has been selected for the permanent collection of the Library of Congress. Rich has lectured and run workshops on brand-building for socially-conscious organizations, innovative business approaches, and ethics. He'll be speaking at AIGA's GAIN Social Value Design Conference in Fall of 2012 (come out to San Francisco-it's going to be a great conference!).

He focused on culture thinking as a philosophy major at Boston University. He then went on to the Museum School, where he focused on giving ideas a tactile point of access. Rich is a Connecticut Youth Service Leadership Award recipient, the Development Chair of Compass Youth Collaborative, a founder of both the online community Design is Love and the youth organization GIV2, and President of AIGA Connecticut.