Toronto, Ontario (May 8, 2017) – The Interior Designers of Canada (IDC) and American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) will address the key concerns of migration, culture, and diversity at Impact Summit 2017: Migration, Culture, and Diversity in the Built Environment. The two-day event, held May 8-9, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, features two keynote addresses from internationally acclaimed speakers; three expert panels of world-renowned designers, educators, and community advocates; and design-led walking tours of Toronto’s regenerated Regent Park.
“Impact Summit 2017 takes a hands-on, solutions-oriented approach to the issues surrounding migration and diversity,” explained ASID CEO Randy Fiser. “ASID is proud to partner with IDC to drive expansive conversations about immigration and inclusion. The built environment plays such a significant role in the cultivation of communities and we can create positive change by bringing our diverse backgrounds and expertise to this necessary dialogue.”
Impact Summit 2017 keynote speaker, The Honourable Ratna Omidvar, is an internationally recognized voice on migration, diversity, and culture. In addition to being the Senator for Ontario, she is the founding executive director and Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Global Diversity Exchange (GDX), Ted Rogers School of Management at Toronto’s Ryerson University. Dutch designer and entrepreneur Richard van der Laken of “What Design Can Do” will deliver the lunchtime keynote address.
“Impact Summit brings together some of the finest minds working in the fields of migration, culture, and diversity,” says Clinton Hummel, IDC’s President of the Board of Management. “Through interactive sessions, Summit attendees will work alongside these experts to identify key challenges then generate practical solutions which can be taken forward, reflecting how important our built environment is to the future of communities in which we live and work.”
Impact Summit attendees will receive curated tours through Toronto’s Regent Park, a groundbreaking example of how a city can transform a community into a successful, mixed-income, and mixed-use neighborhood, with rental buildings, market condominium buildings, townhomes, commercial space, community facilities, active parks, and open space. The thriving area embraced migration to build a successful, inclusive, and evolving community.
Through expert-led presentations and audience collaboration, the goal of Impact Summit 2017: Migration, Culture, and Diversity in the Built Environment is to expand attendees’ knowledge base while creating ideas to foster culturally diverse, highly functioning, and economically stable communities.
About IDC
Interior Designers of Canada (IDC) is the national advocacy association for the interior design profession in Canada with a mandate to provide a unified voice to advance and promote the Canadian interior design industry locally, nationally, and internationally. With this goal in mind, IDC provides valuable and quality professional development opportunities; educates the public about the importance of hiring qualified interior designers; protects members’ right to practice through government relations; and works with the media to promote understanding of the interior design profession.
About ASID
The American Society of Interior Designers believes that design transforms lives. ASID serves the full range of the interior design profession and practice through the Society’s programs, networks, and advocacy. We thrive on the strength of cross-functional and interdisciplinary relationships among designers of all specialties, including workplace, healthcare, retail and hospitality, education, institutional, and residential. We lead interior designers in shared conversations around topics that matter: from evidence-based and humancentric design to social responsibility, wellbeing, and sustainability. We showcase the impact of design on the human experience and the value interior designers provide.
ASID was founded over 40 years ago when two organizations became one, but its legacy dates back to the early 1930s. As we celebrate nearly 85 years of industry leadership, we are leading the future of interior design, continuing to integrate the advantages of local connections with national reach, of small firms with big, and of the places we live with the places we work, play, and heal.
