Reece is an award-winning creative director, with a long standing devotion to the DC design community. Her contributions range from mentoring graphic design students to participating as an active and long-lasting committee member of the AIGA DC Design Continuum Fund, a merit-based scholarship fund for underrepresented and economically disadvantaged students in DC. As Fellow committee member Rica Rosario put it, “Reece has always been so generous and genuine with her talents, time and energy. In addition to being a design executive and educator, she’s also actively involved in the AIGA DC community. She is a mentor to many, an inspiration to all and the very definition of unsung hero.” 

The Award

The Fellow Award recognizes designers who have made a significant contribution to raising the standards of excellence in practice and conduct within our local chapter and regional community. Reece Quiñones will join a twenty-year legacy of Fellows devoted to design excellence, community, and leadership. Read more about the previous DC Fellows and the award overview here.

The Process

The nominations for the Fellow Award opened in Fall 2021. The Fellows Committee made up of the award chair, past honorees, former board members, and members of the community — Mira Azarm, Dan Banks, Sara Jamshidi, Jessica Kerbo, Lance Pettiford, Rica Rosario, and Carolyn Sewell —  was assembled to review the submissions. They looked at a series of criteria, including “contributions to the DC area design community through mentorship.” In the end, Reece was unanimously chosen as the 2021 Fellow, with approval by both the Fellow Committee and AIGA DC Board of Directors.

“Reece has been an AIGA DC Design Continuum Fund committee member from the very beginning — and she’s still serving (13+ years), which is incredible. So much work has gone on behind the scenes, running the gamut from brainstorming ideas to bringing DCF to the membership at large, fundraising, lining up in-kind donors, planning events big and small, and mentoring. It was amazing to see Reece take the stage at the last DCF gathering as the keynote speaker. The design community deserves to see more of her on center-stage!”

-Mira Azarm

About Reece Quiñones

Reece is a senior vice president and creative director with more than 25 years of experience managing and delivering solutions ranging from product development, publishing, web/user-experience, advertising, and marketing. Currently, Reece is a senior vice president and creative director for The Hatcher Group (a PR, communications, and design firm in Bethesda, MD). She is also an adjunct professor of design at George Mason University where she has taught undergraduate and graduate courses since 2008. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Art from the University of Maryland, an M.F.A. in Integrated Design from the University of Baltimore, and an MBA from the University of Maryland Global Campus. Reece also mentors graphic design students and has been a long-standing member of the AIGA Design Continuum Fund, a merit-based scholarship developed for underrepresented and economically disadvantaged students studying art and design in colleges and universities in the Washington, DC region. 

In her spare time, you will find Reece helping with pro-bono design work, working on a new degree, cooking traditional Puerto Rican meals, or hanging out with friends and family, especially her four grandchildren.

Thank You

This award would not be possible without the generous support provided by Eighty2degrees, a DC-based social impact design studio. We are grateful for all their assistance in crafting an elevated and thoughtful suite of branding assets and materials for the AIGA DC 2021 Fellow Award.

Stay Tuned

We plan to host a digital event May 22nd, 2021, to celebrate Reece with the AIGA DC design community. Keep an eye out for the official invitation, through our social channels and the AIGA DC email!