President’s Letter: July 2025
MAS has always found benefit in forging alliances with likeminded groups working toward a common goal. Some are short-lived. Others have blossomed into nonprofit organizations, like the Waterfront Alliance. Now, in response to increasing financial pressures and ideological challenges at the national level, MAS and a coalition of other public design organizations based in New York City have joined forces to form the Public Design Alliance.
MAS has shared resources and co-created programs with many of these organizations informally for decades. Our shared history demonstrates a strong foundation of common values and a commitment to elevating design’s role in shaping a more just, inclusive, and vibrant city.
The Public Design Alliance represents a renewed commitment to partnership, shared resources, and coordinated action—so that we can continue to serve our communities and advocate for the power of design in public life while we face federal funding cuts and a backlash to our values of equity and inclusion.
The establishment of this network is intended to build trust and model solidarity between organizations, prioritizing opportunities to make the design community stronger, more visible, and better connected. We will identify ways to collaborate and define our separate work to increase our individual and collective impact.
Additionally, through this alliance, there is an opportunity to raise awareness about the cumulative impacts these short-sighted federal cuts will have on communities and our city’s economy and collaborate on solutions toward a more livable city.
From all of us at MAS, I wish you a very happy July 4th holiday. Thank you for your support of our work.
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