CREATING WAVES; MAKING SPACE

The Female Design Council (FDC) is the premier professional membership network and advocacy organization for women in design, architecture and the applied arts. The FDC’s mission is to advocate for equity and tangible gender parity in the design industries and provide access to professional opportunities for our members.

FACILITATE IMPACTFUL EXPERIENCES to connect, empower, and spotlight our members. We design events, curate exhibitions, professional development workshops, & necessary conversations.

MAKE MEANINGFUL
CONNECTIONS with fellow industry trailblazers
which transform into exciting collaborations, career opportunities, new clients, sales, and more.

PROVIDE CRITICAL DESIGN BUSINESS SUPPORT in an industry with many roadmaps.

What are members saying?

  • Jenny Nguyen / Hello Human / PR

    Membership with the FDC has proven to be an important part of my networking arsenal as a professional PR person. There's an immediacy to the connections you make through the FDC, an understanding with others in the community, which creates a really great base for collaboration. Also, I can't thank Lora and FDC enough for supporting my businesses growth by sharing our initiatives with the rest of the network of engaged and talented female design folks.

  • Nora Wolf / Wolf PR & Wolfcraft

    The FDC has connected me to new potential clients which is great for business, but it has also connected me to other strong, independent business women which makes me feel a little less alone and a little more connected. It feels rewarding to be on the ground floor of not only an important professional group, but a necessary shift in our industry.

  • Boa / OI Studio

    As a member of FDC I’ve felt heard and supported as a woman designer and solopreneur. The increased exposure, opportunities, instructional webinars and access to resources have been an integral component in keeping my small business afloat during the pandemic and beyond. It’s also been a definite bonus to meet women artists and designers around the country that I would never have heard about otherwise.

  • Sara Ossana / Ossana Design

    This group is the most relevant, helpful and real that I have come across, I think it is an invaluable support as we navigate all of this uncertainty and prepare to come out on the other side.

  • Angela Hau / Photographer

    I've met so many wonderful creatives through FDC and have collaborated with quite a few on various photography projects. It is truly a welcoming and supportive community!

  • Emma Gardner / Emma Gardner Design

    After meeting another artist FDC’s community member meeting, we formed an exciting collaboration — a first for my company. This fruitful and happy collaboration with fiber artist Liz Collins wouldn’t have happened if it hadn’t been for the supportive, professional and astonishingly broad and talented community Lora Appleton has created with FDC. FDC is as filled with high-achieving creatives as it is welcoming to newcomers, offering opportunities for creative conversations and professional connections that I haven’t found anywhere else.

Meet the Team

  • Lora Appleton

    EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR / FOUNDER

    Lora Appleton is a recognized curator, designer, and leading voice in design. Lora founded the Female Design Council (FDC), to build a strong, creative community of women in creativity and to push against the stereotypes of women’s work being less valuable than others. Lora has developed many needed programs with the FDC including the FDC grant program for WOC, and a free, successful mentorship program (FDC Mentor Match) for all womxn in design, architecture and the applied arts. Appleton continues to be a passionate advocate for inclusion, equity, and tangible gender parity.

    In addition Lora is also a celebrated designer, artist and curator as well as the founder of kinder MODERN, her award winning design gallery and studio specializing in contemporary + historical vintage furniture for children and the family home. Her curatorial and design work has been exhibited at several art and design fairs including Pulse Miami + Pulse New York, the Collective Design Fair, Intercept (SOFA) Chicago, Dutch Design Week, NYCxDesign, Upstate Art Weekend and more. Her collections have been acquired by and shown at the Brooklyn Museum, the Milwaukee Art Museum and the HBC Global art Collection among others.

    Appleton serves on the NYCxDesign Steering Committee and has been the recipient of numerous industry prizes, including the American Society of Interior Designers ICFF Award, Interior Designs Best of the Year Honoree, Architectural Digest’s Clever Award, and the Apartment Therapy Changemaker Award.

  • Angharad Coates

    DIRECTOR

    Angharad Coates brings 14 years of experience in PR for art, fashion and design, both in-house and at international agencies. A graduate of Columbia, she most recently served as Managing Partner at Camron, a design-focused global communications agency, managing the New York office and overseeing accounts in the design, art and architecture space. Previously, she was the Director of Communications at the New York Academy of Art for seven years, overseeing media relations, social media strategy, and branding. Before transitioning to the art world, Angharad had a significant career in fashion PR, working with clients including Costume National, threeASFOUR and Ralph Rucci. Angharad holds significant art world credibility and deep expertise in reputation management, strategic advisory, and brand positioning.

  • Ivana Brenner

    COMMUNITY + MARKETING MANAGER

    Ivana Brenner is a Buenos Aires-born, Brooklyn-based artist and designer. She has exhibited individually and collectively in galleries, museums, and biennials across the world. Her recent shows include Contemporary Clay: Seven new voices in American Ceramics, at Emma Scully Gallery, NYC. Upcoming shows include Bronx Calling: The Sixth AIM Biennial, at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, NYC.

    As an artist, Ivana has been awarded international residencies such as at the Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris. She was a 2022 Bronx Museum AIM fellow and was part of NYFA's 2020 Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program. She is also the founder of Domingo Ceramics, a porcelain & gold tableware line that dialogues with her sculpture.

    Ivana also has an active teaching and mentoring practice, and is a 2024 mentor in NYFA’s mentor program. Her published writing includes a catalog essay for the Art Institute of Chicago published by Yale University Press.

    Ivana has worked in New York, Paris, Chicago, and Buenos Aires, and brings half a decade of both nonprofit and commercial management experience in the arts, as well as over a decade of experience as an exhibiting artist, designer, and community builder. (photo credit: Carlos Ledesma)