Founded in 1963 in Denmark, the International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers (IFI) has worked for 50 years to unite the profession and provide a forum for interior designers.

Now led by Shashi Caan and headquartered in Montréal, the IFI represents 270,000 designers, educators and stakeholders across 110 countries, bringing the parties together in dialogue and enhancing design industry research and practice.

This year marks an important time for the IFI; 50 years on, the initiative requires a strong vision and strategic planning to lead it into its next phase.

Enter the IFI International Strategic Advisory Council, the IFI’s highest council of influential international business, industry and expert leaders. Chosen on a term-by-term basis, Council members strategise business direction, advise on new initiatives to expand the influence of the design profession in a global forum, and identify opportunities for new partnerships.

5 members from 4 different countries have been selected for the IFI ISAC from 2011-2013:

James Keane (USA) – president of the Steelcase Group brand of Steelcase Inc, global leader in office furniture design;

Jeffrey Ho Kiat (Singapore) – Executive Director of the DesignSingapore Council, spearheading the national agency for design in Singapore;

John Lijewski (USA) – Senior Vice President/Interior Design Executive at Bank of America Corporate Workplace;

Raj Nandan (Australia) – CEO/Managing Director and Publisher of Indesign Media Group Asia Pacific, boutique publishing house with offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Singapore;

Ready Zhang (China) – Co-founder and a Partner of CITIEXPO LIMITED, a professional management and operation company located in GuangZhou.

We wish this term’s IFI ISAC continued success in helping the IFI live up to its motto – “Think Big: Communicate, Cooperate, Collaborate”.

IFI
ifiworld.org