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

2026 Leaders Breakfast Series

Chicago | March 6

Keynote Speaker

Cheryl S. Durst Hon, FIIDA
Executive Vice President and CEO, IIDA

An exceptional communicator, innovator, and visionary leader, Cheryl S. Durst has spurred progress, driven change, and encouraged the expansion of the interior design industry. As the Executive Vice President and CEO of the International Interior Design Association, Durst is committed to achieving broad recognition for the value of design and its significant role in society. With members across 58 countries, Durst oversees the strategic direction of IIDA, setting an agenda that leads the industry in creating community, advancing advocacy and continuing decades of work toward equity. Durst is a member of the International WELL Building Institute Governance Council; as well as a Trustee for Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art and the NYSID. She has been referred to by Interior Design magazine as “an ambassador for innovation and expansion, and a visionary strategist.” Durst was inducted into the prestigious Interior Design Hall of Fame in 2016 as the recipient of its first-ever Leadership Award. She is the first African American woman to be inducted into the industry's Hall of Fame. A lifelong knowledge enthusiast and voracious reader who has considered librarian, astronaut and journalist as potential careers, Durst never walks away from meeting someone without gleaning a bit of their story.

New York | May 7

Houston | August 7

San Francisco | September 18

Los Angeles | September 25

Dallas | October 2

Chicago | December 4

Leaders Breakfast Highlights

"The Next Generation of Design Leaders:" How Leader's Breakfast awardees are rewriting the rules of leadership. Read more

"1 Year of Inspiring Mornings, by the Numbers:" 23 years of IIDA’s iconic Leaders Breakfast series honoring the legacy — and future of design. Read more

"Leaders Breakfast Road Trip:" Reflections on the transformative power of IIDA Leaders Breakfasts from the event’s biggest fan: IIDA member Craig Shultz. Read more

"Leaders Breakfast 2023 Recap:" Let’s take a look at all the wonderful memories from IIDA’s 2023 Leaders Breakfast events. Read more

"Leaders Breakfast 2022 Recap:" Looking back at all the wonderful moments from IIDA’s 2022 Leaders Breakfast. Read more

The Leadership Award of Excellence

Presentation of the Leadership Award of Excellence is presented by International Benefactor MillerKnoll, and 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.