Join us to kick off our new #designforgood series! We’re bringing four Connecticut-based social enterprise leaders to Hartford to talk about how they are creating positive change through their work in the fashion, design, and food industries. This special evening features insights into how our panelists leverage design and creativity to build brands for social impact. What a great way to celebrate #givingtuesday, and talk with fellow creatives about entrepreneurship, social enterprise, sustainability, and all things #designforgood! Panel Discussion and Q&A, followed by social hour with complimentary appetizers, drinks, and raffle prizes! You don’t want to miss this!
Tuesday, December 1st, 6:00-8:00
6:00-7:00 Panel Discussion
7:00-8:00 Social with free appetizers, drinks, and raffle prizes!
reSET
1429 Park Street #114
Hartford, CT 06106
Register early and save!
SAVE with Earlybird rates through November 22:
Non-member: $35
AIGA member: $25
Student: $10
Admission after November 22:
Non-member: $40
AIGA Member: $30
Student: $15
15% of your ticket cost benefits the AIGA-CT Scholarship Fund.
AIGA MEMBER EXCLUSIVE OFFER:
• Receive 20% off ablemadeshop.com first time purchase.
RAFFLE PRIZES
Enter to win one of these prizes!
• Able Made x Threadless Tees
• A Happy Life Coffee Gift Package
• Two tickets to our next AIGA Creative Impact Event
Panelists:
Constanza Gowen-Segovia, Graphic Designer at co:lab
As a creative professional at co:lab and visiting lecturer at Trinity College, Constanza is committed to helping people understand what design can do to improve the world around them. Serving on the AIGA Connecticut Board from 2009-2103, Constanza worked to engage young professionals and students in community-oriented projects.
At co:lab, she works with social-value clients to craft visual experiences that help them connect with what’s most meaningful to their audiences while staying true to their mission. At Trinity College in the Studio Arts Program, she teaches a course about book design and its value as a vehicle for ideas.
Raised in Mendoza, Argentina, Constanza is a University of Hartford Art School graduate and a passionate advocate for human rights, social action, economic empowerment and the alleviation of poverty. She is a founding member of Design Global Change and Design is Love.
Constanza is actively involved in the Hartford arts scene, her neighborhood of Frog Hollow, live doodling, pretty much anything, listening to the radio, walking everywhere, reading graphic novels and (oh that’s right,) being in a marching band. She currently lives in Hartford with her tall boyfriend, his two small kids (sometimes), and their bunny Violeta (all the time).
Suzanne McKenzie, Creative Director and Founder of Able Made
Able Made is an active lifestyle brand that promotes healthy living with their responsibly-produced accessories line. Able Made's collaborators include Project Runway's Anya Ayoung Chee, Vogue Fashion Fund Winners Public School, Threadless and more -- resulting in exclusive products that have funded projects for VH1 Save the Music Foundation, Pencils of Promise, Sloan Kettering Cancer Institute, and other top-non profit organizations. Suzanne was selected to attend President Obama's Global Emerging Entrepreneurs event at the White House in May 2015 and is an Ideas that Matter Grant recipient. Suzanne also teaches Design and Social Entrepreneurship at the School of Visual Arts, and runs the Ucal McKenzie Breakaway Foundation which gives city youth access top soccer and health education.
Onyeka Obiocha, President of A Happy Life
A Happy Life is a social enterprise dedicated to creating a happier world for all. In February of 2014, A Happy Life launched Happy Life Coffee, a coffee roasting company dedicating to breaking the cycles of poverty by investing 100% of net profits into coffee farming communities. In March of this year, A Happy Life launched The Happiness Lab, a community space located in New Haven, CT dedicated to creating a happier community. The Happiness Lab features a coffee shop, meeting room, and community space that hosts meditation, yoga, and community conversations in conjunction with the Yale Humanists. The Happiness Lab was recently recognized by the National Retail Federation as one of the most innovative retail spaces in the country. An avid traveler and bicycle enthusiast, Onyeka holds a degree in Economics from the University of Connecticut.
Moderator:
Heather Burns, Connecticut Sustainable Business Council
Heather Burns is President of the Connecticut Sustainable Business Council, the state's largest network of businesses committed to policies and practices that advance leadership in social, economic and environmental performance.
In 2010, Heather was recognized by Buckminster Fuller Challenge for HaitiOnward, a social impact organization "demonstrating a clear grasp of holistic and sustainable solutions to the the system failures facing Haiti." Locally, she has been recognized by Morris Media Green Awards for positive contributions to the community, and Moffly's Best of the Gold Coast Awards.
In 2007 Heather founded Connecticut’s first sustainability related blog, www.CTGreenScene.com. Live events around the state brought a wide range of stakeholders together to share ideas and brainstorm solutions and garnered media attention from The New York Times, CPTV, Green Is Good Radio and others.
Sappi Fine Paper is a leading global producer of coated fine paper widely used in premium magazines, catalogs, books and high-end print advertising. Sappi continues to invest in projects to reduce solid waste, wastewater and air emissions, and improve water and energy utilization. Each of Sappi's mills implements internationally-recognized environmental management systems to ensure that current and planned operations and expansions meet all legislative requirements. For over 15 years, Sappi’s Ideas that Matter program has given nearly $13 million in support of over 500 charitable causes around the world, funding those who use design as a driving force to make a difference.
