Our chapter’s leadership is committed to making our recruitment process as transparent and inclusive as possible. This includes sharing our board recruitment process with you, our AIGA DC community. If you have feedback, questions, or suggestions about recruitment, please email us anytime at talktous@dc.aiga.org. We’re happy to hear feedback on how we can do better.
Forming a Recruitment Committee
Our first step in the search for new board members was to form a recruitment committee. This group is composed of the Executive leadership team. Their task is to execute the board recruitment process, then propose a slate of new candidates to fill the open board roles for the upcoming year.
Building off past years’ approaches, this year’s process consists of four parts:
- Outreach & Application Collection
- Independent Review & Evaluation
- In-person interviews
- Deliberation & Offers
The committee develops the process, and then participates in training to ensure that all applications are reviewed fairly.
Outreach & Application Collection
We aim to ensure that local prospective board members know which positions are open, how to apply, and what to expect throughout the process. We publish a list of the open roles on our website and across our social media platforms.
In an effort to recruit diverse board members, we accept nominations from the community and encourage folks to self-nominate.
Prior to the application deadline, we host a public information session where a small group of current board members candidly answer questions about the board structure, how we work, available roles, and the selection process.
The Application
In addition to some questions about the applicant’s experience and interest in joining the board, we ask for:
- Their resume
- A description of a time when they 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 they admire to speak at an AIGA DC event.
- A video recording or written responses to our STAR Method interview questions.
About the STAR Method Interview Format
The STAR Method is a behavioral-based interview structure where candidates answer questions by discussing the Situation or Task they had to resolve, the Actions they took, and the Results that were achieved. Recruitment Committee members asked each candidate the same questions, which gave interviewers a structured data-gathering process.
This form of behavioral-based interviewing is based on discovering how the candidate acted in specific position-related situations. Candidates are asked questions related to the skills and responsibilities outlined in role descriptions. Instead of asking how the candidate would behave in an imaginary situation, they’re asked how they behaved in a past experience.
Additionally, and most importantly, by asking a set of standardized interview questions, we reduce the likelihood of personal bias amongst the interview panel. Instead, we assess candidates on a much more even playing field, grounded in diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The committee wrote four STAR Method questions for the interviews that align with our scoring rubric’s themes of Accountability, Collaboration, Spirit, and Innovation. The candidates may opt to respond to the questions in writing or by submitting a video recording of their verbal responses. Each candidate is asked the same four questions and are not judged by their delivery method of choice.
Independent Review & Evaluation
After the application period closes, each member of the committee reviews and scores a set of applications.
Reviewers are asked to rate the applications across five categories:
- Skills: How well does this person match the job description and have the skills to execute the role(s) they are interested in? If the person is applying for multiple roles, average the score.
- Perspective: How much additional perspective will this person bring to the board either from their background, interests, or area of knowledge?
- Spirit: How much support has this person provided to the design community, other communities, or others in the past?
- Accountability: Based on your review of this person’s resume, how accountable do you believe they are?
- Innovation: How likely is this person to bring new ideas to the board?
To ensure consistency, the evaluators use the following criteria to grade applicants in each category:
- 1 = Novice: New to the subject or not bringing any novel ideas or background
- 2 = Intermediate: Has some knowledge or skill but little applied experience
- 3 = Proficient: Has practical application of skills or knowledge on the subject
- 4 = Distinguished: A high performance level of experience and brings some new perspective
- 5 = Mastery: Has expertise and repeated experience in their subject matter, including novel ideas and background
Evaluators submit their scores privately to prevent them from influencing each other. Each application is reviewed by at least three members of the committee. We avoid having anyone review an application of a candidate they know personally or professionally to avoid conflicts of interest. All applicants are evaluated on the basis of what they provided within their application alone.
After extensive conversation during the first deliberation, the committee selected candidates to move on to the in-person interview.
In-person Interviews
Selected candidates are asked to meet with one of the committee members in-person on the day and time of their choosing. These meet-ups provide an opportunity for unstructured discussion to answer any lingering questions regarding the role or board service, and get a sense of the board culture and expectations.
Locations, dates, and times for in-person interviews vary according to the committee’s availability. A booking page is shared with candidates to preview days, times, and locations to select the appointment that works best for their needs.
Deliberation & Offers
After in-person sessions, the committee gathers for final deliberations. They review applications, discuss interviews, and share recommendations for offers.
As the final group of candidates is narrowed down, the committee also reviews the candidates and the returning board as a group. This ensures the board will include a diverse mix of identities, geographies, experience, and industries within the broad umbrella of “design” in the DC Metro area.
The committee proposes a slate of candidates to AIGA DC’s current Board of Directors. During the May 2026 board meeting, the board will vote on approval of the new board members.
Next Steps
This multi-phase recruitment process takes months of planning and execution, and the final piece includes our community. All active AIGA DC members will get an email with instructions on how to vote on our proposed slate of new board members. Members will be able to approve, reject, or abstain from voting on the full slate through a digital ballot.
Moving Forward
Overall, this process helps our committee enact a more equitable selection structure for future board members to best serve and represent our community. We encourage feedback to continue to improve our processes for equity, diversity, and inclusion across the DC Metropolitan region. If you have any questions or ideas, please reach out to us at talktous@dc.aiga.org.
