Summer program wins award

The PIC would like to congratulate Youth Design and program founder Denise Korn as the recipient of a 2009 Sappi Ideas that Matter grant.  

Press Release, October 1, 2009 -- Boston Designer Receives Sappi Ideas that Matter Grant Grant Will Fund Design Mentoring Program for Urban Youth

BOSTON - Sappi Fine Paper North America today announced that Denise Korn, principal and owner of Korn Design, has been awarded an $18,000 grant from Sappi’s 10th annual Ideas that Matter program. The grant will help fund her design mentoring program, Youth Design, a summer jobs program connecting talented urban high school students to career opportunities in design through professional mentorships.

Korn plans to use this grant to write a book, “Inspirational Guidebook for Mentoring” and update the support materials for Youth Design, encompassing both the mentoring program and a with the book a much broader outreach initiative on the power of creative mentoring in today’s society.

Youth Design is a mentoring program in which inner-city high school students compete to be selected for paid summer internships at local leading design firms. Korn founded the program in Boston in 2003 and is expanding it across the country, now active also in Colorado and Rhode Island. Youth Design is run in partnership with the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), as well as city and state agencies in each of the sites currently up and running.

“Sappi has a strong tradition of recognizing the creativity and social commitment within the design community, and I am thrilled to receive an Ideas that Matter grant,” said Korn. “Youth Design opens the world of design, to students who might not otherwise get that exposure.”  See the entire press release.