Caren Rideau, Shea Soucie, and Mark Williams Recognized With the inaugural Community Impact Award
The trio were recognized for their work with the Design Leadership Foundation.
The trio were recognized for their work with the Design Leadership Foundation.
Any member of the DLN knows that our community is about much more than design excellence (though our members have that in spades). The true magic of the DLN is in the connection, collaboration, and mentorship that goes on between members every day. In order to better recognize those members of our group who are especially committed to serving the design community, the DLN inaugurated a new honor at the 20th annual Design Leadership Summit in Madrid this year.
The Community Impact Award is designed to celebrate an individual who has demonstrated the highest dedication to community-based service, giving their time, money, or expertise—often all three—to advocate for and strengthen community ties through design. There could be no better first recipients of this award than those who championed the Design Leadership Foundation in its first years in action.
Between them, Caren Rideau, Shea Soucie, and Mark Williams have impacted hundreds of students through their work on the DLF Advisory Board, through on-campus workshops at MSU, and in expanding the DLF’s activities to Santa Monica, Chicago, and Atlanta, respectively.
Caren led the first expansion of our pilot platform past our first academic partner, introducing Santa Monica College to our on-campus workshop which brings together DLN professionals and students for a day of talks, panels, and roundtables. With the third Annual Workshop on April 1, 2026, we are set to double our reach from years past and incorporate even more DLN members than in years before.
Shea’s relationship with Chicago-area nonprofits enabled the DLF’s partnership with One Million Degrees, a group supporting students at the City Colleges of Chicago. With four years of mentorships, panels, lunch and learns, and studio visits, we are looking forward to introducing the pilot platform for our internship model for students in Chicago through OMD in summer 2026.
Mark’s strong knowledge of academic institutions in the Southeast provided the insight necessary to create our first Atlanta Area Workshop in Fall 2026, bringing together 3 key Georgia institutions to represent students in Landscape Architecture, Interior Design, and Architecture.
The presentation concluded with a toast from DLF Director Ruth Mauldin:
Caren, Shea, and Mark: Your passion and commitment for bringing opportunities to students and expanding access to the design industry is inspirational. The dedication and knowledge you have each brought to the DLF has enabled us to have the impact the DLF has today, and has changed the lives of countless students. Thank you for everything you have done, and congratulations on this very much deserved award.
By joining the DLN, you gain entry to the conversations, perspectives, and relationships shaping the design industry today. If you’ve found inspiration here, imagine what you’ll find inside our community.
