Background
UCSD Design Co is a pre-professional organization aiming to connect student designers to industry through various events, panels, and socials.
As former Director of the Industry Relations (IR) team, my goal was to build relationships with industry professionals to develop partnerships and create opportunities for my peers at university.
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My Role(s)
Industry Relations Senior Advisor, Director of Industry Relations, and IR Coordinator
Time
2 years - 2021-2023
Below are some of the events and initiatives that I helped organize and lead:
... and more!
Before I even became a designer, I attended events put on by Design Co and learned all about how to use Figma and what makes a good portfolio. Once I joined DCo board, I had the incredible opportunity to pass on my own knowledge to newcomers to design, which was a very exciting feeling. I loved knowing that I was helping to inspire the next batch of designers, helping them grow and succeed beyond our wildest dreams.
Upon being promoted to Director of IR, I'll admit to being nervous; I was now responsible for leading my team in bringing in company representatives for all of our most high-impact events, like Stride, our annual career fair, and Design Frontiers, our yearly design-a-thon, as well as smaller-scale portfolio reviews and workshops. Thankfully, we've made some wonderful connections and put together events in collaboration with several large companies, such as Google, Deloitte, Sony, Accenture Song, Bloomberg, Yahoo, Pixar, SoFi, Blink UX, and many more.
After I joined the team, I developed soft skills in organization, communication, and leadership thanks to the many hours of dedicated work we all put in. My fellow board members and I managed to coordinate so many well-made events that it was almost staggering; at the end of the day, we are a strong and scrappy community, and I'm extremely thankful to have been a part of this team. ♡