Mark your calendar for The State of Black Design Returns 2024 Conference and Career Fair upcoming next spring.
Conference & Career Fair: March 15–16, 2024
Location: Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tenn.
Registration opens this fall.
Founded and organized by Omari Souza, CVAD associate professor of Communication Design: User-Experience Design, The SOBD is a groundbreaking conference and career fair that aims to increase the employment of Black professionals in the design industry. The conference, convened annually since 2020, addresses the longstanding lack of diversity in the industry’s workforce and professional practice. The conference’s designer-focused career fair connects numerous job seekers with recruiters from dozens of firms nationwide.
In collaboration with the College of Visual Arts and Design at the University of North Texas, Intuit, and The Design Observer, SOBD 2024 will be the first in-person conference with students, designers, academics and professionals anticipated to attend in-person, and additional opportunities for hybrid and live-streaming participation around the world.
Save the date to hear from incredible people in the industry. Past speakers include the following.
Instagram: @StateOfBlackDesignTX
Visit The State of Black Design website for additional details and updates.
The only national effort dedicated to establishing young black professionals and recent college graduates in design careers, The State of Black Design has quickly become a premier event for networking, professional development, industry innovation, and job opportunities.
For more information, email info@TheSOBD.com.
About Omari Souza
Omari Souza is a designer and educator raised in the Bronx, a first-generation American of Jamaican descent. His past employers include "VIBE" magazine, Buffalo News, CBS Radio, and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
He earned a B.F.A. in digital media from the Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, and an M.F.A. in design from Kent State University, Kent, Ohio. Omari's research explores the idea of perceptions and how visual narratives influence culture — how we view ourselves and others around us.
