5Q: Lisa Carnevale

THINKING THINGS THROUGH: Lisa Carnevale, center, executive director of DESIGNxRI, brainstorms with Jon Kletzien, principal at Studio AMD, and DESIGNxRI's Joye Whitney, program manager. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
THINKING THINGS THROUGH: Lisa Carnevale, center, executive director of DESIGNxRI, brainstorms with Jon Kletzien, principal at Studio AMD, and DESIGNxRI's Joye Whitney, program manager. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

1 What is DESIGN FORWARD RI?

It is a comprehensive strategy comprised of three distinct programs to develop skills at different points in a design career, to strengthen the talent pipeline. They are the midlevel advancement program which began in May; “emerge,” a postgraduate fellowship and “explore” summer camp for teens. … DesignxRI was awarded a planning grant from Real Jobs RI last year which we used to identify gaps in the hiring and training of designers. We found a range of needs, from recruitment and retention issues, to global competition and on-the-job training burdens.

2 How can the business community get involved?

Employer partners are key to the success of this program. They identify design employees to enroll and inform DESIGNxRI of their needs, which we use to craft the curriculum. We are still in the recruitment phase for the emerge fellowship and are looking for employers to enroll their new hires or recent graduates and tell us if they are interested in hosting a fellow. We want to expand on these programs in the coming year and will expand our employer partner base at that time too.

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3 What challenges did DESIGNxRI face crafting a workforce-development program for such a diverse industry?

There are aspects of this program we know are not meeting all the needs of the sector. Like many other Rhode Island businesses, design businesses are small, even micro-businesses, if not independent consultancies. DESIGN FORWARD RI is an easy fit for larger businesses, and while there is a mix of businesses in the advanced program, we recognize it’s not clearly an easy fit for all.

4 Why did DESIGN FORWARD RI devote one-third of its programming to a youth summer camp?

Currently, there is a growing need for design talent and we felt it was critical to find a way to support this growing need for the industry. Also, a key program partner in our summer camp is DownCity Design, a nonprofit with experience teaching design to Rhode Island youth.

5 Will DESIGN FORWARD RI be further developed to cover more points in a designer’s career?

Right now, we feel these programs meet critical areas of a designer’s career and will be focusing more on excellence. That said, there’s room to meet specific needs of independent consultants and smaller, micro-design firms, and we would like to develop new programs to do so. •

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