We’re looking for folks to join the all-volunteer board of directors for AIGA DC — the DMV’s professional association for design. We’re leaders dedicated to sharing knowledge, skills and resources with the local creative community.

Applications are now closed.

Why Join the Board

Join the dynamic AIGA DC board, a team of 20+ volunteers driving local programming and communications in the vibrant DMV region! It’s your chance to shape and uplift the creative community, gaining leadership skills, making connections, and enjoying the company of an amazing group of passionate volunteers—all while attending AIGA DC events for free!

Who We’re Looking For

We’re looking for driven individuals with a vision for what AIGA DC can achieve, who bring enthusiasm and determination to the table. 

Whether you’re a writer, engineer, development specialist, project manager, or business owner—your unique skills are valuable. Diversity is at our core, and we strive for a board that reflects the rich tapestry of the DC design community. 

Be part of a team that welcomes questions, values commitments, and embraces a broad spectrum of backgrounds and experiences. Your journey with us is about making a real impact!

Open Board Roles

We’re recruiting for a lot of roles across every team on the board and are seeking passionate and committed volunteers! 

Executive Leadership roles

The Executive Leadership Team is responsible and accountable for developing and submitting their team’s strategy, project calendar, budget and annual report summary. They shape the structure of their team and manage day-to-day activities. 

The Executive Leadership Team also mentors their individual team members, and helps them meet their professional goals. 

• Communications Director
  • Manages chapter processes, procedures, and protocols, ensuring proper documentation of all marketing and communications activities. 

Communication team roles

Members of the Communications Team are responsible for supporting the Communications Director in all facets of AIGA DC marketing and messaging.

• Currently, there are no open roles available.

Operations team roles

Members of the Operations Team are responsible for supporting the Operations Director and the Board in all aspects of management and maintenance of the organization. 

• Currently, there are no open roles available.

Programming team roles

All members of the Programming Team are responsible for planning and executing events for members of AIGA DC and the larger creative community. They are responsible for maintaining a high quality programming experience for event attendees.

• Mentorship Chair
  • Leads the peer-to-peer months-long mentoring program designed to support career growth and professional success of emerging designers.
• Awards Chair
  • Manages the Fellow Awards process, including recruiting the Fellow Awards Committee and organizing the award ceremony. The Fellow Awards honors individuals who have significantly elevated the standards of excellence in design practice and conduct within the DC area design community.
• Education Chair
  • Engage with students, educators, and designers to identify key topics and also manage the annual Creative Review, offering portfolio reviews by professional designers.

What’s the commitment?

Joining the AIGA DC Board is a two-year commitment. You can also serve for longer (and many do). At the end of each year, board members may decide if they want to keep their current role or move to another open position.

Specific responsibilities vary depending on the team and the role and all board members are expected to:

• Be (or become) AIGA members in good standing at any level. 
• Attend all required planning retreats and monthly board meetings.
• Attend major events (bonus: board members get into all our events for free!)
• Be responsive on Slack and email (Slack is our main communications platform).

The weekly time commitment varies from role to role and throughout the year.

Following our Spring and Fall recruitment periods, we welcome new members to the board in June (Spring) and October (Fall), and host training in July (Spring) and November (Fall). The annual board retreat and planning session in August. 

Monthly board meetings, programming, and regular communications occur during our programming year from September through early June.

What is the Selection Process?

The Application

In addition to some questions about your experience and interests in joining the board, we’ll ask for:

• Your resume
• A description of a time when you ran something (as a team lead, a project lead, managing people, planning an event – anything.) 
• A short writing sample: A draft of an email asking someone you admire to speak at an AIGA DC event. You can make up whatever logistics you like – time, date, location, other speakers, etc. We’re looking to get a sense of how you think about AIGA DC and how you write in a professional context. A good writing sample would communicate clear directions, offer a compelling pitch, and be reflective of who our community is — a great one would also tell us a little bit about who you are and what parts of design you’re most excited about.

The Google form won’t let you save an application, so we recommend you draft your answers elsewhere and paste them in here is a preview of application questions. 

Nomination Committee Review & Interviews

Applications are reviewed by a nominating committee of board members and members of our community. The committee will arrange interviews with select applicants. 

Taking into account individual skills and experiences, and with the expectation to create a board that is diverse and reflects the community it serves, the nominating committee will recommend a slate of new board members for approval by the current AIGA DC Board of Directors.

Questions?

We recently hosted a virtual information session on Zoom to delve into the details of board membership. During the session, we explored the various roles and responsibilities associated with being on the board, and our current board members were on hand to answer any questions.

If you missed the live event, don’t worry! We recorded the session, and everyone who registered will have access to the recording. While attending live was a great opportunity to engage directly with our board members, the recorded version will ensure you don’t miss out on any important information.

Thank you to everyone who participated, and we hope the session provided valuable insights into board service!

If you have any other questions, please email us at apply@dc.aiga.org.