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Leaders Breakfast

LEADERS SAMPLE

IIDA Leaders Breakfast (Leaders) is an annual event series hosted by local IIDA chapters with the support of IIDA Headquarters, international benefactor MillerKnoll, and media partner Interior Design.

Leaders events celebrate design’s importance in the global marketplace by honoring the people who are both the legacy and future of design. Each event features a renowned keynote speaker who enlightens, provokes, and encourages new ideas, and a celebration recognizing one local Leadership Award of Excellence Honoree who has made significant contributions to the design industry.

About the Leaders Breakfast Award of Excellence

A Leaders Breakfast History

2025 Leaders Breakfast Series

New York

Keynote Speaker

Lindsay-Shookus-2025LBProgram-lead-keynotespeaker


Lindsay Shookus
Co-Founder, Women Work F#cking Hard | Legendary Saturday Night Live Producer

A legendary presence behind one of America’s most beloved television shows, Lindsay Shookus worked as a veteran producer for Saturday Night Live. During her tenure, as both producer and head of the talent department, Shookus helped engineer the show’s success from booking and managing celebrity hosts and musical guests, to scouting rising stars to join the show’s ranks cementing her reputation for having a sharp eye for talent. Shookus speaks to her own experiences to lead an on-stage masterclass on personal transformation, building connections, and embracing life’s obstacles on the road to overcome them. She is the co-founder of Women Work F#cking Hard, a women’s community focused on empowering female founders and helping businesswomen develop their careers. Shookus brings a unique blend of inspirational insight and authenticity to share relatable stories with messages that will spark action and remain with audience members for the long term.


Leadership Award of Excellence Honoree
To Be Announced Live at the Event!


Previous Years

  • 2024 Leaders Breakfast
    New York
    Award of Excellence Honoree | Dale Alan Greenwald
    Keynote Speaker | Cassi Chandler

    Houston
    Award of Excellence Honoree | Lauri Goodman Lampson, IIDA
    Keynote Speaker | Kelli Harding

    San Francisco
    Award of Excellence Honoree | Brian Graham
    Keynote Speaker | Vijay Gupta

    Los Angeles
    Award of Excellence Honoree | Vickie Kropenske
    Keynote Speaker | Vijay Gupta

    Dallas
    Award of Excellence Honoree | Kris Walsh
    Keynote Speaker | Sara Williams Goldhagen, PhD

    Atlanta
    Award of Excellence Honoree | Karen S. Freeman, IIDA
    Keynote Speaker | Katie Peditto, PhD

    Chicago
    Award of Excellence Honoree | Jennifer Cusack
    Keynote Speaker | Austin Johnston
    Emerging Leader Honoree | Jamie Cavalier
  • 2023 Leaders Breakfast
    New York
    Award of Excellence Honoree | Hilda Longinotti
    Keynote Speaker | Candace Doby

    Houston
    Award of Excellence Honoree | Kristin Ledet, IIDA
    Keynote Speaker | Maria Brito

    San Francisco
    Award of Excellence Honoree | Joan Price
    Keynote Speaker | Sloan Leo

    Vancouver
    Award of Excellence Honoree | Carol Jones, Emeritus FIIDA
    Keynote Speaker | Cheryl S. Durst, Hon. FIIDA

    Los Angeles
    Award of Excellence Honoree | Rose Tourje
    Keynote Speaker | LaToya Ruby Frazier

    Dallas
    Award of Excellence Honoree | Ana Pinto-Alexander, FIIDA
    Keynote Speaker | Minda Harts

    Atlanta
    Award of Excellence Honoree | Chris Heard, IIDA
    Keynote Speaker | Donna Dennis

    Chicago
    Award of Excellence Honoree | Jennifer Sobecki, Ind. IIDA
    Keynote Speaker | LaToya Ruby Frazier
  • 2022 Leaders Breakfast
    New York
    Award of Excellence Honoree | Jennifer Graham IIDA
    Keynote Speaker | Leyla Acaroglu

    Houston
    Award of Excellence Honoree | Stephanie Burritt, IIDA
    Keynote Speaker | Scott Dikkers

    San Francisco
    Award of Excellence Honoree | Donald Cremers, IIDA
    Keynote Speaker | Jane McGonigal

    Toronto
    Award of Excellence Honoree | Marilyn Donoghue, FIDC
    Keynote Speaker | Ian McCallum

    Los Angeles
    Award of Excellence Honoree | Barbara Bouza, IIDA, FAIA
    Keynote Speaker | Ben Nemtin

    Dallas
    Award of Excellence Honoree | Art Bloodworth
    Keynote Speaker | Michael Ford, AIA, NOMA

    Atlanta
    Award of Excellence Honoree | Ronnie Belizaire, FIIDA
    Keynote Speaker | Maria Brito

    Chicago
    Award of Excellence Honoree | Jim Prendergast, IIDA, FAIA
    Keynote Speaker | Annie Jean-Baptiste

The Leadership Award of Excellence

Presentation of the Leadership Award of Excellence is the signature activity at every Leaders event. This award recognizes an honoree, typically a member of the local design community, for their exemplary leadership within the profession of commercial interior design and architecture or a non-practitioner for outstanding contributions to the profession. Honorees are presented with an iconic, limited-edition Herman Miller or Knoll gift to commemorate their achievement.

Honorees are selected for their achievements recognized by IIDA that have advanced the interior design profession, have a history of conscientious and ethical behavior with colleagues, clients, and others in business interactions, and have been recognized within their local professional design community. Honorees have a strong connection to IIDA and reinforce the Association’s significance in the design community.

History

Launched in New York in 1989 by Jeannie Bochette of Steelcase, the IIDA Leaders Breakfast series began as a single event. The goal was to introduce IIDA to the business world as a leading association of commercial interior design and to inform IIDA members about the major issues affecting them and the industry. The event established a forum where members and their clients could participate and network with their peers.

Since expanded in 2001 by IIDA Headquarters and through the support of international benefactor MillerKnoll and media partner Interior Design, Leaders Breakfast has become an annual event series that celebrates design’s importance in the global marketplace.


Made possible by our International Benefactor and Media Partner: