2026 IIDA Educator of Impact Award
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Closed
Recognizing and celebrating educators who have advanced racial and ethnic diversity in the interior design industry.
Guidelines
Submission Requirements
All submissions must be completed electronically. No hard copy submissions will be accepted. If any of the following items are missing, your application will not be reviewed. Any additional materials will be removed and not considered.
Written Component
Complete five, short answer questions detailing how the candidate is contributing to the advancement of racial/ethnic diversity in the commercial interior design industry.
Letters of Recommendation
Two separate letters of recommendation in PDF file format, saved individually, must be included. Letters must be from the following:
- One (1) letter from a former student, max 1 page.
- One (1) letter from an interior design professional who is not the nominee’s student, and who can personally address how the nominee has contributed to advancing racial/ethnic diversity in the interior design industry, max 1 page.
Judging
The IIDA Foundation Board of Trustees and a select panel of IIDA design and industry professionals will review the applications and select a recipient by December 31, 2026.
Award
The 2026 IIDA Educator of Impact Award is a $5,000 cash prize. The recipient will be honored at the IDEC Annual Conference in March and provided a $500 travel stipend from Interior Design Educators Council Foundation (IDECF) to attend. The recipient will receive official digital assets, a mention on IIDA’s website, and recognition on IIDA social media channels.
For questions, contact IIDA Foundation at foundation@iida.org.