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INSIGHTS
Antionette Carroll
Design Humbly
It is 2014. In a city Antionette Carroll once called home, a police officer shoots an unarmed teenager dead. Ferguson erupts. During the heavy heat of the weeks that follow, Carroll reacts the only way she knows how: through social entrepreneurship. She brings designers and communicators together in the first-ever Creative Reaction Lab (CRXLAB), and after 24 hours in a room cooled against Saint Louis’s burning August sun, ideas take form. From a card deck fostering meaningful conversation between activists, protestors and police officers to a campaign that challenges stereotypical images of fear with stickers placed guerilla-style throughout Saint Louis, the inclusive designs grabbed hold of hearts and minds—including Carroll’s. Today, as the president of AIGA Saint Louis, the chair emerita of AIGA’s Diversity & Inclusion Task Force, and the president and CEO of CRXLAB, she still asks the hard questions. How—or if—you answer is up to you. —Esther Oh
How did you get started in social entrepreneurship?
Today, many of the experiences that influence my work come from personal injustices. When I was working in higher education, we were looking to hire a new associate, and each finalist gave an officewide presentation. One female finalist, who
did a phenomenal job, showed us a picture of her son at the end of her presentation. She finished with
the statement, “This is why I do what I do. I love my son.” Suddenly, the reviewers’ conversation shifted from whether she was a good candidate to whether she really had time to devote to the position. I argued, “How dare you move beyond her credentials to determine whether she would be appropriate for this position?”
A lot of what I said came from my own experience. I was constantly asked whether I was going to leave school when I was pregnant— I went on to pursue my master’s degree. I’ve been asked in job interviews whether I qualify for positions because I have twin sons. I’ve overheard a colleague calmly using the N-word—until he realized I was in the room. I’ve been in staff meetings when a CEO and the top leadership joked about a competitor’s accent. All of these situations have built my mindset toward diversity and inclusion— not to just tolerate others, but to really accept and understand that we are all individuals.
How has the Creative Reaction Lab evolved since you founded it in 2014?
It began as a 24-hour event. Naively, my first lab included only designers as problem solvers—then I realized that excluded everyone else. Today, we have evolved into a model that seats designers at the table alongside business, social and civic figures as well as community members, the living experts on local issues. When we have all of these representatives at the table, we can create the most impactful approaches.
We inspire a new generation of civic and social creative change makers to enact changes in their organizations, their neighborhoods, and the local and federal governments. And when I say a new generation, I’m talking about people who might be 70 or working in retail! I want people to realize they are creative problem solvers, and thus, everyday designers. I want people to recognize that no matter how many powerful individuals tout law school degrees, they don’t discredit your expertise. They don’t discredit your passion.
Have you noticed the design industry making actual progress toward greater inclusion?
Although diversity numbers have improved in some cases, diversity is not interchangeable with inclusion. Inclusivity is another goal within itself. Whether we want to admit it, the very nature of design is exclusive.
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