In the LD+A, May 2025 “Education” column, “Investing in Change,” IES Director of Education and Standards Brienne Willcock outlines a compelling case to create a unified, resilient, and respected professional community by embracing a collective commitment to strategic advocacy, shared values, and long-term educational investment. She highlights warning signs of instability in our current structure and notes the recent downsizing of the IES and IALD as signals of an unsustainable trajectory. Her vision calls attention to the fragmentation that has developed in our professional ecosystem—and challenges us to imagine something better.
We agree, and now is the time for transformation. The future of the lighting industry depends on the actions we take today, if the industry hopes to remain a relevant partner and voice within the broader architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) landscape. To thrive—not just survive—we must evolve: rethinking how we educate, lead, and grow. In the following sections, we expand on Willcock’s insights and offer a vision for how industry-wide collaboration and a restructured educational framework can be the first steps toward a more inclusive, effective, and resilient future.
The lighting industry’s fragmented structure is one of its most pressing barriers to progress. Today, dozens of organizations—each with their own committees, missions, budgets, events, and mailing lists—operate largely independently, often unaware of—or disconnected from—one another’s efforts, struggles, and strengths. While specialization can offer focus, the current level of disjointedness across these disparate groups creates confusion and weakens our collective impact on clients, design partners, and the public at large.
However, to address this fragmentation, we must first understand its roots. Organizations formed outside of the IES and IALD—including many affinity groups—have emerged in response to societal shifts, industry evolution, and long-standing gaps in representation. In the absence of space within existing structures, these groups carved out their own—establishing platforms that reflect the voices and values that were missing. If unification is the goal, the lighting industry must collectively acknowledge that each of these organizations holds a vital place and purpose within our professional landscape.
Aligned under that vision, we can begin to see an industry that unifies its efforts, leading to stronger membership numbers and more-effective engagement, reducing burnout among volunteers and staff stretched too thin. Our vision would remove the redundancy of shared efforts and resources and augment our creative potential and ability to execute. This is not about erasing individual organizations’ identities or missions. It’s about pooling resources and creating a strong, accessible foundation that everyone can stand on. If our industry organizations are serious about their missions—whether that’s advancing the art of lighting design, reducing barriers to education, promoting sustainability, or mentoring the next generation—they must begin focusing their efforts with synergy.
We believe that creating a centralized portal for lighting education is an essential first step toward greater alignment across organizations. It would help clarify what resources exist, increase access to those resources, reduce duplication of effort in publishing and maintaining educational content, and signal a unified direction to both the public and the industry: this is the place to learn about light and lighting. This collaborative platform would integrate the educational strengths of all participating groups and be built around three core content pillars:
Lighting Design Education
Equity in Lighting Education
AEC Industry Education.
Each pillar would serve a range of audiences—including lighting designers, architects, interior designers, manufacturers, agents, distributors, contractors, integrators, students, educators, policy advocates, and curious members of the public—through tailored content. Resources would span e-learning modules, conference programming, and open-access tools, all housed within a shared ecosystem. Just as importantly, this structure would help identify important gaps to fill in our current knowledge and assign responsibility for filling them, leveraging the expertise of the specific organizations best equipped to lead in each area, whether in technical instruction, advocacy, business education, or public engagement.
Lighting—its design and implementation—is the common thread that connects every role in our industry. When all parties understand and value the role of design, they can better support project goals, advocate for quality, and elevate the whole industry. Design literacy isn’t optional for this vision to succeed—it’s essential.
The proposed Lighting Design Education platform would incorporate input from all organizations involved in the design process, enabling professionals across disciplines to better understand how their work intersects and influences others. This shared foundation encourages collaboration, creates alignment, and fosters a culture of mutual respect. By recognizing the value each role brings to the table, we strengthen the entire project-delivery ecosystem and elevate the standard of lighting outcomes across the board.
Despite the complexity inherent in the world of lighting, many professionals receive little structured support beyond their initial training. To address this gap, we propose pre-defined Professional Development Journeys within the new e-learning platform. This feature would allow users, especially early in their careers, to access curated learning paths tailored to experience level, job function, and personal goals, as well as (automatically) track their growth over time. From students just entering the field to accredited professionals tracking CEUs to seasoned principals navigating the handoff of firm leadership, the system would offer clear, targeted, and flexible educational support. Crucially, it also removes a persistent barrier: access. No longer would professionals need to rely on fragmented resources, informal networks, or luck to identify their next steps. Instead, the platform would offer a transparent, equitable framework for lifelong learning—built to evolve with the individual and the industry.
Advocacy and education go hand-in-hand—and that connection is at the heart of the Equity in Lighting Education pillar. Advocacy raises awareness, pushes boundaries, and calls attention to systemic gaps—while education provides the tools to act on that knowledge. Without education, advocacy lacks follow-through. Without advocacy, education risks becoming stagnant. In the lighting industry, this relationship is especially critical as we work to build a more inclusive, informed, and future-ready profession.
Affinity groups play a vital role in this dynamic. These organizations not only advocate for equity and representation but also generate essential educational content rooted in lived experience—offering training on inclusive design, workplace culture, coalition- and community-building, allyship, and more. Likewise, human resources professionals and firm leaders are increasingly seeking guidance on recruitment, retention, and belonging—areas where affinity group-sourced education is uniquely positioned to lead. By embedding advocacy-driven learning into our centralized platform, we ensure that the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion are not treated as an add-on or siloed but are integrated into the core of professional development and education across all roles in the industry.
Just as important as understanding our own roles is the ability to comprehend the disciplines around us—and to help them understand lighting. That’s the purpose of the AEC Industry Education pillar. One of the platform’s greatest strengths lies in its potential to foster meaningful, cross-disciplinary collaboration. Lighting doesn’t exist in a vacuum, and neither should our educational systems.
This means building bridges with organizations beyond lighting—such as the American Institute of Architects, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the National Electrical Contractors Association, and other key partners in the built environment. By integrating shared learning opportunities and cross-industry insight, we can promote a deeper understanding of lighting’s value across the AEC spectrum and strengthen the impact of every project. With deeper understanding, we can reduce elitist mentalities, increase empathy and respect, and remove exclusionary practices, lifting all boats with the rising tide.
We believe that the IES is best positioned to create and share this portal, leveraging its existing robust educational infrastructure to serve as the central hub for the three content pillars. To support both sustainability and accessibility, the platform would follow a flexible payment model, offering a mix of membership tiers with pre-selected tracks and à-la-carte content. Access and payment need to be simple and easy to understand, which could look like a monthly or yearly subscription plan, all-access passes, and individualized learning options that allow low-stakes exploration of adjacent topics or a specific deep dive into a specialized niche topic.
This approach would allow individuals and organizations to engage with the material most relevant to them without requiring full membership to each program. With a diverse range of educational topics managed by specialty organizations, this multi-faceted, tailored approach encourages wide participation while generating resources needed to maintain high-quality, evolving content. It also consolidates the financial burden and complexity for businesses keen to provide professional development support, while providing autonomy to the individual to curate their unique educational journey.
At the same time, we recognize the need for a public-facing knowledge base that removes traditional barriers to entry. That’s why we propose an Education for All track—offering foundational content freely available to the general public, students, and those exploring careers in lighting. This would include terminology glossaries, lighting fundamentals, visual and video explainers, and select excerpts from key resources such as The Lighting Handbook. These materials would demystify the profession, foster early engagement, and help build a more diverse and informed pipeline of end users, future practitioners, and potential clients. By opening the gates of general lighting knowledge to the public, we make a long-term investment in the visibility, relevance, and health of the industry.
We see Willcock’s article not as a critique but as a catalyst. She has invited all of us who lead and participate in the many aspects and areas of our industry to reflect on the systems we’ve inherited and to imagine what “better” could look like. We’re answering that invitation. Yes, change will require coordination, compromise, and courage. But the rewards—a stronger, more connected, and more inclusive lighting industry—are worth the effort.
The time has come to unify our fragmented landscape, beginning with restructuring our approach to professional education and making basic lighting knowledge accessible to all. Systemic innovation requires shared language, values, and knowledge. This platform would create all three. We have the tools. We have the talent. We only need the will.
Let’s invest in change—together.
Francesca Bastianini, LC, Member IES, is the co-founder and principal of Sighte Studio, a practice that folds education, research, and community engagement into design.
Ketryna Fares, Member IES, IALD, is a Lebanese designer with a decade of practice in New York. She pairs her love of design with a commitment to mentorship, collaboration, and education.
Kelly Roberts, Member IES, IALD, LEED BD+C, is the principal of Primary Arc Design and has two passions—bringing beautifully detailed lighting to homes and businesses and creating a more-equitable, socially responsible lighting industry.
Jennifer Sanborn-Loukas, LC, EIT, Member IES, IALD, LEED AP, launched Lighting Playground to bring fresh energy to the lighting industry while sharing her passion through mentorship, education, and collaboration.
Sara Schonour, LC, Member IES, IALD, is strategist and advocate in the lighting industry, working at the intersection of business innovation, equity, and design excellence.
Addie Smith, CLD, Member IES, IALD, LEED ID+C, is the founder of Studio Adelia and brings artistry to light to enliven the built environment, evoke emotions, and enrich lives.