On Wednesday May 11th, the American Institute of Architects' (AIA) Emerging New York Architects (ENYA), Design With Benefits, and Design Trust For Public Space celebrated New York City innovators using design for social good at the 3rd annual MAKINGOODESIGN Awards Party. All proceeds from the event will support the Design Trust initiatives to make a lasting impact on how New Yorkers live, work, and play.

Nearly 200 attendees joined the party at Allsteel, to mingle and learn more about local organizations using design for social impact. This year's awards went to ARCHIVE Global, Made In Brownsville, Brooklyn Fashion + Design Accelerator, Show Of Force : Social Good, and Project For Public Spaces. A cohort of talented artists were on hand to custom-illustrate Macktez sketchbook covers.

Huge thanks to Design with Benefits’ Tania Garbe, ENYA’s Miles Paloympis, Jenna Ciano, and Jack Arnold, and all the design enthusiasts who were there to support us. What a privilege it is for the Design Trust for Public Space to be honored with a generous donation from the evening’s event! We will designate the funds to two Design Trust initiatives:

First – our Future Culture Photo Urbanism Fellowship, in partnership with Staten Island Arts and the Alice Austen House. Multiple development projects are currently underway on Staten Island's North Shore waterfront. Fellow Gareth Smit will photograph the diverse cultural community of Staten Island’s North Shore in a time of transformation. Our Future Culture project will engage artists and developers in planning their community and public space together.

Second – we’ll translate our booklet Building the Community Design School at Flushing Meadows Corona Park into Spanish and Chinese. We hope that the new editions will expand our reach to the community. This booklet outlines our World's Park project in partnership with Queens Museum and NYC Parks and how 23 park users participated in a 10-week series of bilingual classes and neighborhood forums to develop design ideas on better access and connectivity to and within Flushing Meadows Corona Park, better serving the public’s needs.

See photos from the event below, and more on MAKINGOODESIGN’s Facebook page.