Get ready to cast your vote for the next leaders of the AIGA Houston chapter.

In accordance with our chapter bylaws, the next group of AIGA Houston board and committee members to serve the local community will be elected by a majority vote of the members of the AIGA Houston chapter. As a chapter board, we are made of the members, by the members, for the members. Only votes by active AIGA members will be counted in the election.

Design: Bruce Chao

This year’s chapter slate election is a continuation of the board nomination process:

• Chapter slate vote: After reviewing all submissions from the 2023 Board Nominations, the Nominating Committee proposes a slate of nominees to be approved by the current board. The chapter slate is then presented to all AIGA Houston members for a majority vote election. Once the election form opens, slate voting is fast and easy with a simple up or down vote of the entire chapter slate.
• Term start: Elected candidates will be onboarded and new board/committee members will begin their term on July 1, 2023.

2023 Nominating Committee

Thank you to the 2023 Nominating Committee for their time in reviewing this year’s nominations.

• Natalie Thayer, chapter advisor, former board member and former Nominating Committee member
• Rachel Flores, former officer and former Nominating Committee member
• Henry Ngo, President emeritus and chapter advisor
• Michelle Ferrell, community member with board governance expertise

Election Period

Friday, May 12, 12:00 a.m. CT – Friday, June 2, 11:59 p.m. CT. Results will be announced Friday, June 9. Incoming, outgoing and continuing members will be listed in the announcement.

Eligible Voters

The AIGA Houston chapter board is made of the members, by the members, for the members.

• Must be an active AIGA member for your vote to count.
• Duplicate votes and votes by nonmembers will not be counted. Not a member? Join now!

2023 Chapter Slate

We are excited to present this year’s chapter slate for consideration. Learn more about each nominee below.

Membership

Volunteer Coordinator | Samantha (Sam) Delgado
Samantha Delgado is an experienced Graphic Designer with a demonstrated history of working in the secondary and higher education industry. She is skilled in Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Indesign CC, and Adobe Illustrator and has a strong creative background with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art/Design from University of Houston-Clear Lake.

Design Advocacy

Design Advocacy Director | Sara Iqbal
Sara Iqbal is a Pakistani American and an alumnus from University of Houston Graphic Design program. She’s the owner, Creative Director of Graphic Matters, a full service creative design practice, where graphics become important matters of communication for small businesses and non-profit organizations. She specializes in branding and strategically designing mindful experiences while advocating for Design as a tool to solve complex problems. Sara is also a founder of Indus Arts Council, a non-profit whose mission is to foster a cross-cultural exchange between the Pakistani diaspora and the diverse communities in the U.S. through arts, Urdu classes, immersive cultural events, films, and theater. She’s a boy-mom of 3. One of them is a gray tabby.

Design Advocacy Chair | Samantha (Sam) Benitez
Sam Benitez is a UX/UI Designer, who leverages her extensive design and front-end knowledge and background in psychological research to tackle complex human-centered problems requiring critical thinking and creativity. Through empathy and inquisitive nature, Sam methodically gathers and synthesizes data into an intuitive design solution and takes it to production through strategic planning, meticulous organization, and communication. She currently serves as AIGA Houston’s Design Advocacy Co-chair.

Design Advocacy Coordinator | Priya Ramikissoon
Priya Ramikissoon is founder and director of Imiloa Collective, a social creative platform. Priya has over 12 years of extensive volunteer work and spent 10+ years offering successful business-generating projects and initiatives. Her diverse background has allowed her to bridge ideas and concepts, while enriching the development of innovative designs with a commitment to cultural, social, economic and environmental sustainability.

Design Advocacy Coordinator | Christie Le
Christie Le is a curious and multifaceted designer with a BFA in Graphic Design and a minor in Marketing from the University of Houston, Class of 2022. She currently works as a graphic designer at Midway Creative Group, specializing in real estate. Christie seeks to understand the impact of design decisions on communities and people through exploration and experimentation. She believes that design has the power to bring people together and positively impact the world, and she is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of design to help others achieve their creative potential.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI)

DEI Chair | Sanders Anderson
Sanders Anderson uses creativity and strategic thinking to tackle brand identity design, positioning, campaigns, and integrated marketing. He has 10+ years of experience spanning identity and packaging, billboards and outdoor signage, websites and digital experiences, advertising, and communications. Sanders currently serves as AIGA Houston’s DEI Coordinator.

DEI Coordinator | Joshua Unikel
Joshua Unikel is an assistant professor in the University of Houston’s School of Art and currently serves as AIGA Houston’s DEI Coordinator. As a Jewish designer, Joshua has experienced first-hand how necessary DEI initiatives are. As a white male designer, he knows the importance of listening to others’ perspectives on DEI issues and the importance of being an ally. As a professor at the University of Houston, he understands up-and-coming Houston area designers: designers who are largely BIPOC and mostly women of color.

Joshua also has experience implementing DEI-based change. He has helped to diversify the design curriculum at UH to include even more BIPOC graphic designers and projects addressing BIPOC issues. He has used his role on committees to ensure that scholarships, project funding, exhibitions and visiting speakers represent the diverse range of designers in Houston.

DEI Coordinator | Chris Robinson
Houston, Texas-based illustrator Chris Robinson’s (he/him) work brings together his professional experience in graphic design and his personal cultural heritage. His illustrations depict subjects playfully while remaining deeply rooted in rich family and cultural histories. Chris currently serves as AIGA Houston’s DEI Chair.

DEI Ambassador | Maha Aziz
Maha Aziz is an End-to-End User Experience and User Interface Designer focused on accessible design, with 4 years of experience in the insurance industry. Maha is dedicated to empathizing with users and creating ideal experiences for them. Empathy and inclusivity are the most important things to her.

Programming

Programming Director | Melton Bell
Melton Bell III is a digital designer and Creative Director based in Houston, Texas. His overall focus is quality design and delivering unique and original ideas. Creating thoughtful, simple visual identity assets for brands of all sizes. Melton’s career launched in 2011, taking root in his genuine desire to amplify the work of friends and family who were in need of someone who could adequately meet the visual needs of their businesses. From his partnerships at the beginning of his career, he immediately saw his niche as a digital visual artist is in delivering problem-solving multimedia executions that are commercially viable for businesses, but also totally unique and original to his clients’ businesses. In other words, he has a deep desire to create products that are demonstrably non-derivative, but also to raise both the floors and ceilings of his clients’ brand identities and their overall presences in the industries in which they reside.

Programming Chair (Community) | Qi Guo
Qi Guo is a multimedia designer. She earned a BFA in Graphic Design from Fashion Institute of Technology, SUNY while minoring in Creative Technology and Art History. Qi spent three years interning at an advertising agency based in New York and worked with several of their clients closely, (Grand Central Terminal, Fresh & Co., Montclair State University, and more) on a wide variety of projects from brand identity design to motion graphics. She currently serves as AIGA Houston’s Design Advocacy Co-chair.

Programming Ambassador (Community) | Damien Claudio
Damien Claudio is a creative and passionate graphic designer and visual branding professional that thrives on assisting with the establishment and growth of brands through creative materials. With 5+ years of industry experience, he has helped small to large, B2B and B2C, cool and even cooler brands put their best step forward with print and digital creative assets like logos, brochures and one-pagers, PowerPoints, display ads, social media content, animations, photography and so much more.

Ready to Vote?

Questions?