Little Wing Lee announced as the first Female Design Council + NICOLEHOLLIS Grant winner

Lee is joined by honorees Anne Dereaux of Dereaux Studio, Florida Water Interiors Principle Interior Designer Chopp Stewart, independent designers Laura Casañas Maya and Teruko Kushi, and INDO’s Urvi Sharma. Each will be given a complimentary Female Design Council membership for a year with additional access to the organization’s Mentor Match program.

A former SOM and Ralph Appelbaum Associates staffer, Lee had previously worked on several Emmy and Oscar-nominated documentary projects following her graduation from the Pratt Institute’s Interior Design Master’s program in 2006. Her recent projects include the RAY and the National Black Theatre redevelopment in Harlem.

Speaking of the inaugural class and its future, Nicole Hollis said: “We envisioned [the grant] to encourage and support a brighter, and more equitable, future for design, and with the announcement of our first winner and honorees, we’ve begun. I’m so excited to see what our winner Little Wing and our honorees — Teruko, Urvi, Laura, Chopp, and Anne — do next.”

"The FDC is thrilled to support all womxn of color in design,” the organization’s founder Lora Appleton said in a statement. “We are fortunate to be able to provide financial support and mentorship to advance equity in design.”