Creative Boom A Feature on AIGA NY

43 Years of Female Leadership at AIGA NY 

Champions co-founder and AIGA NY president from 2008–2012, Jennifer Kinon was asked to respond to a series of questions about female leadership at AIGANY.

They printed an excerpt in Creative Boom. Here’s the full reply.

AIGA NY started in the 1980s. With the heartbreaking exception of Carin Goldberg, many of the women leading then are still here and practicing at the highest levels today.

I have been lucky to know a few of them.

Paula Scher was a founding member and early president. New York City Design’s truest leader.

When I started my career in New York, I would see President Emily Oberman with her big three-ring binder and tote sitting in the front row of every AIGANY event, large and in-charge and so cool.

After her, Carin Goldberg was a firm but fair president that got the brand in shape. She also recruited the person who has come to be the chapter’s spine, soul, and economic engine, Stacey Panousopoulos.

I served on the board with Lucille Tenazas. Lucille elected to roll up her sleeves at the chapter level years after already serving as an AIGA national president.

And, while I was President following the financial crisis in 2008, Debbie Millman was leading at the national level and visited every local chapter at her own personal expense during the course of her tenure.

These are my AIGA NY champions.

And, while I have only known our industry with them in it, these women knew something entirely different.