Planting a Seed for the Next Generation of Designers

Roby Issac, vice president of commercial design, Mannington Commercial. Photo: Mannington Commercial.

Roby Isaac knows first-hand the importance of exposing youth and budding talent to a world of design and creation. Benefiting from such exposure himself during high school, Isaac’s participation in a design apprenticeship set an early foundation and the roadmap for his career in design. As vice president of commercial design at Mannington Commercial, Isaac is paying his formative experience forward—spearheading the manufacturer’s involvement in the Design Your World Education Program, a program developed in partnership by IIDA, the commercial interior design association, and Chicago-based After School Matters, to create early exposure and opportunity for Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) students to careers in interior design and architecture.

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