PARTICIPANTS

Debera Johnson leads Pratt’s commitment to integrate sustainability into education, research and enterprise in her role as Executive Director of Pratt’s Center for Sustainable Design Studies (CSDS). She is the director of the Pratt Design Incubator for Sustainable Innovation, founded in 2002, during her tenure as chair of Pratt’s Industrial Design program. The Incubator has launched over 30 social and environmental enterprises in four sectors: energy, fashion, product design and social entrepreneurship.  This June the Incubator launched its new Certificate in Design Entrepreneurship program. She has recently received funding to develop the Brooklyn Fashion and Design Accelerator that will expand the Incubator into a citywide resource for designers. Deb leads the Partnership for Academic Leadership in Sustainability (PALS) 30 art and design colleges that are working collaboratively to advance sustainability in art and design programs. Both PALS and the Pratt Design Incubator have received national leadership awards from the ACUPCC.