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Jennifer Graham, FIIDA, LEED AP

Jennifer Graham, FIIDA, LEED AP

Managing Principal

Perkins & Will

Jennifer Graham has delivered multiple award-winning, high-profile projects for over 30 years. Her success comes from her special approach to project leadership that builds mentorship into the process. As a Principal at Perkins&Will, a renowned Architecture & Design firm, she creates and upholds a supportive, positive, and empathetic work environment for her teams.

As a bold champion for DEI, social purpose and sustainability, Jennifer brings these issues to the forefront in her client work and community service. With 35+ years of experience in design, Graham’s extensive accomplishments demonstrate her passion and commitment to the needs and growth of the industry. Always putting the design and architecture community top of mind, Graham has spearheaded numerous initiatives to provide accessible workshops, mentoring, and networking activities for those wanting to learn and connect with others. In 2009, she founded LMNOP NYC, Inc., an organization that offered networking and affordable continuing education credits to designers. Following LMNOP’s acquisition by IIDA NY, she currently serves as IIDA NY’s Vice President of Action and 2021 Catalyst Chair. Jennifer has recently joined the AIANY Board of Directors as a Public Director.

In 2021 Jennifer was recognized as a 2021 Female Frontier Awards, Highly Commended ‘Unsung Hero’ and Architizer, 100 Women to Watch in Architecture, 2021. In 2022, she received an honorary doctorate from the New York School of Interior Design (NYSID) in May, her alma mater the same year receiving the prestigious IIDA NY Leadership Award of Excellence.

Native to Barbados, the influence of Jennifer’s beloved family and the values they shared are evident in everything she does; from fulfilling her late father Sir Albert Cecil Graham’s own dream of working in architecture and following his dedication to serve; to epitomizing the resolve and relentless pursuit of knowledge passed on through her grandmother.

Her character and record demonstrate her advocacy and commitment to both the design and global communities.

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  • Cultivating Emerging Designers: Education to Practice
    Contains 1 Component(s), Includes Credits

    As the premier developer of quality standards for interior design education at the college/university level, the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) has a vested interest in design students moving on to thriving, impactful, and rewarding careers. As academic learning concludes, how can mentorship and collaboration--even including the larger design community of allied professionals--be used to support emerging professionals and strengthen professional development ? Does it take a village? Simultaneously, as the practice world undergoes tectonic shifts, how might reverse mentorship be used to harness the knowledge and ambitions of a new generation of designers and ultimately advance the profession at large? Our panel consisting of one interior design educator, one small firm practitioner/owner, and one large firm practitioner at the leadership level will engage in a moderated discussion to explore the connections and pathways between education and practice. The dialog will be focused in the context of several macro trends impacting the future of the design profession, including Environmental Sustainability, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and Advanced Technology. How young designers transition from academia to practice is an especially urgent question in a time when the economic and competitive pressures of practice divert attention from mentorship and post-COVID realities have disconnected individuals and teams from leaders and organizational culture.