Hey Folks!

As our Network enters its first Seasonal Pause of the year, I want to share that this time also marks a major transition for my work with DJN. My time as a contractor in the roles I’ve held since 2020 is coming to a close. As I move through this change, I am filled with deep sadness, immense gratitude, hope, and the feeling of deep roots that keep me stable and supported while moving forward.

When I first started my journey with DJN in 2014, where I witnessed and participated in foundational moments with Una Lee and Wes Taylor as we shaped with others what would become the Design Justice Network, I could never have imagined that the ideas in a meeting room or online Zoom rooms would turn into what now is an International Network. I also never imagined being knowledgeable and experienced in all the ways that I am now - speaking in public, organizing huge events, coordinating ongoing programming, and being part of an ever-growing community of people who see justice as central to design, in all of the formats that they practice.

I never could have imagined growing with and from the amazing people within this network and friends or followers of the network. I am SO extremely grateful to all of you here (and no longer here) and I have been having a hard time expressing this in just one note of goodbye and gratitude.

To our Node and Working Groups and Facilitators: Over the last many years, you have all grown and shaped what nodes and working groups were, are, and can be. Without your input and suggestions and continuous momentum, we would still be at the beginning - I thank you sincerely. I’ve loved working with all of you, showing up to your meetings, watching what you formed and shared, and facilitating meetings for us to work together and build together things that did not exist (and very much still don’t exist because of lack of direction/support), creating structures and supports, and just talking through the daily things life brings us - thank you. You have embodied what I see and have learned about Design Justice and have taught me so much along the way.

To the Steering Committee, past and present: Thank you. For cultivating this network alongside me, and giving it the tools and space to grow. Thank you for both training me and training with me, for making a space to grow and learn, for making changes and growing into new structures, and for being a continuous support. My role is shifting but our friendships will not!

To our members and signatories: It has been an honor to work with you, providing guidance or support, responding to your emails or messages, and just witnessing the ways that design justice and the principles moved around the world and how it has shown up in your lives and work. I will continue to be in community with you!

To my fellow contractors past and present: Taylor Simone, Rene Joy, and Denise Shanté, thank you for being in community with me, for being the soil that kept me planted, and the water that kept me sprouting. I owe you more than I can describe, and we will always be friends <3

And finally to Una Lee, my mentor, and close friend, and one of DJN’s founders, alongside Wesley Taylor, also my mentor and friend: Thank you for starting this movement, for paving the way for many more movements, and for shifting the design narrative toward justice. I am forever grateful to you both and will continue to say your names each time I mention design justice. If you have not met or read about Una and Wes, please take the time to do so.

There are so many more thank yous that I could say. There is a great group of people supporting the Design Justice Network -- Steering Committee and Contractors, the DJN Care Pod team, DJN members and signatories, and many awesome organizations! As for me, I am returning to work that I love and want to strengthen: more design and accessibility work with the principles at the core.

I am spending the month of April off, improving my Spanish in Colombia allowing time to figure out my next steps, while participating in the Toronto node and strengthening my local connections. I intend to keep supporting DJN, just not in my current roles. I am excited to keep following and see how things evolve, and perhaps shortly I will do a member-story share or written piece about my years in the network – stay tuned!

Thank you to Jody on the DJN Care Pod team, for sharing this poem, which I’d like to also share with you all: “You Are Who I love” - as I say goodbye - mucho amor y abrazos para todos/todas/todes.

For now, if you would like to reach out or connect, here are a few ways (noting that, I have not updated my personal sites in a long time - it's a future goal! And that I will be off in April - and therefore may not get back to you until May!):

Website: victoriabarnett.com
Email: victoria.e.barnett@gmail.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-barnett-25889941
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/veegs42
Facebook: Facebook.com/victoriaBarnettDesign

Victoria Barnett (she/her/ella)
Digital Graphic Designer