The Educational Foundation (EF) of IFDA, the International Furnishings and Design Association, announces its grant winners for 2026. Since the early years of this 79-year-old global design industry alliance, EF has awarded grants to talented professionals as well as scholarships to high-achieving design students annually. The funds awarded this year total $38,500. The judging is conducted by a subset of the EF’s Board of Trustees.
“We’re honored to support the inspiring range of projects through this year’s grants,” said Karen Dzendolet, chairman of the Board of the Educational Foundation of IFDA. “Whether its adult wayfinding, hands-on historic preservation, exploring color and light in a project that bridges theory versus practice, or attending an important healthcare design conference and expanding the reach of an IFDA member’s design tours, all the initiatives demonstrate considerable talent and skill and a willingness to take on new challenges.”
Earline Feldman, FIFDA, director of scholarships and grants, added, “The selection process is challenging with such talented applicants. Each recipient stood out for their vision, dedication and potential to make a meaningful contribution to the field; we are delighted to recognize their achievements.”
IFDA Educational Foundation Grants are offered to all professionals working in the interior design or furnishings related fields, but not to undergraduate students.
Irma Dobkin Universal Design Grant ($2,000)
Soheil Jafari is a PhD student in design and merchandising with a focus on interior design at Oklahoma State University. He holds a Master of Architecture in built environment interiors from Politecnico di Milano. His work brings together architecture, interior design, visualization and research on older-adult wayfinding. He is interested in how interior environments can support dignity, confidence and independence in daily life, especially in senior living and age-friendly settings.
The Irma Dobkin Universal Design Grant will support a project titled “Clear Paths: A Universal Decision-Point Wayfinding Node for Age-Friendly Senior Living Interiors.” It will develop an expert-informed wayfinding concept for senior living corridors. The project focuses on decision points, such as intersections, dining entries, restrooms and elevator zones, where older adults may need clearer environmental cues. The proposed node combines signage, contrast, tactile/Braille confirmation, lighting, materials and landmark identity to support orientation, confidence and independence while remaining useful for visitors, caregivers, staff and people with diverse visual, cognitive or mobility needs.
Ina Mae Kaplan Historic Preservation Grant ($2,000)
Lisa M. Tucker, PhD is a certified interior designer and registered architect with over 20 years of professional experience in sustainability and historic preservation. She is a professor at Virginia Tech and teaches historic preservation, design research and graduate courses. She is the director of the Center for Historic Preservation in the School of Design. She holds degrees in architecture and architectural history from the University of Virginia and a PhD from the University of Missouri-Columbia in architectural studies.
Tucker’s work will take place during the summer and fall semester in conjunction with a class ITDS 5124: Preservation of Historic Interiors. She hopes to demonstrate how to collect a paint sample to the students and will share the analytical reports they receive with them. Dendrochronology samples will be analyzed from all four periods of construction as well. This will be shared with the students and can illustrate how archival data and physical evidence can be triangulated when studying a historic building. Paint samples will be taken from the two mantels from what is likely the oldest period of construction – one on each floor. An additional sample will be taken from the interior doors between the main lobby and meeting room on the first floor and from a window in the oldest section. This funding request will support four samples.
Elizabeth Brown Grant to Interior Design Programs — $2,500
Nam-Kyu Park is chair of the Department of Interior Design at the University of Florida. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses spanning design studios in retail, hospitality and workplace design, as well as interior lighting, building systems, construction detailing and research methods. Her research explores how the built environment can enhance well-being, health and human behavior. Grounded in environmental psychology and social science research, she employs mixed methods to investigate lighting, culture, sustainability and design for special populations, with her work published and presented nationally and internationally.
The project this grant will fund is titled “Experiential Learning Modules for Color and Light in Interior Design.” It develops a series of hands-on learning modules that help interior design students explore how color and light shape spatial perception, material experience and well-being. Using portable, reusable teaching resources, students will directly observe and experiment with lighting conditions, color interactions and material reflectance in real environments. The project strengthens experiential learning by bridging theory and practice, enhancing students’ perceptual awareness, critical thinking and applied design skills while creating scalable instructional materials that will benefit future cohorts of interior design students.
Tony Torrice Professional Development Grant – $1,500
Hamed Yekita, PhD is an assistant professor of interior design at Iowa State University, where he teaches design studios and healthcare design courses for undergraduate and graduate students. He earned his doctorate and a master’s degree from Texas Tech University, holds a Master of Architecture in healthcare design and is a LEED AP BD+C and EDAC. He has worked in professional practice alongside teaching throughout his career. His research examines spatial awareness among nurses in intensive care units and has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including “Health Environments Research & Design Journal.”
The grant will support Yekita’s attendance at the Healthcare Design Conference + Expo in New Orleans, Oct. 17 to 20, 2026, the leading annual gathering for professionals who plan, design and furnish healthcare environments. He will attend educational sessions on current research, standards and design strategies and meet manufacturers of patient room furniture, nurse station systems, flooring, lighting and textiles on the expo floor. What he learns will go directly into his healthcare design courses at Iowa State University, and the connections he makes will bring practitioners into the classroom through guest lectures and project reviews.
Valerie Moran Memorial Grant — up to $3,000
Jennifer Driscoll, founder of Broadview Marketing and Broadview Tours, is a strategically focused marketing and business leader with over 30 years of experience championing analytical results for manufacturers and professionals that target the luxury residential design market throughout the U.S. and abroad. Her work has earned several awards, including six PRISM awards.
The Valerie Moran Award will allow Driscoll to expand her educational and experiential tours for interior designers and architects by strengthening industry partnerships and increasing global access for IFDA members. It also enables me to give back to the organization by offering $500 to an IFDA member, toward a future tour enrollment at broadviewtours.com.
Each year, the Educational Foundation encourages IFDA chapters to apply for five $1,000 grants available for IFDA chapters to support their marketing and event programming. For the fifth year in a row, EF was a sponsor of the Future Designers Summit at Bienenstock Furniture Library in High Point, N.C. from Sept. 23 to 25, 2025, providing tuition for five students to attend the summit.
