Meet our board
Meet the volunteers guiding DIA Design Guild's work to support underrepresented voices in UX design through mentorship and community.
DIA Design Guild is guided by volunteers who understand the challenges of breaking into UX design because they've been there themselves.
Our board members are practicing professionals who believe in the power of mentorship and community-centered learning. They bring diverse expertise from across the industry, united by a shared commitment to making design education more inclusive and accessible.
Grace Lau • Los Angeles, CA
Grace is the Executive Director of DIA Design Guild and works in healthcare content strategy at Blue Shield of California by day. She founded DIA in 2017 because she wanted to create the mentorship opportunities she had when she was starting out in UX design.
When she's not thinking about information architecture and inclusive design practices, you can find her watching Asian dramas and reading translated novels about second chances and transmigration.
Caroline Craner • Denver, CO • she/her
Caroline Craner is a UX Researcher and Strategist with over 10 years of experience in data management, program development, and digital communications. She previously worked in public health and community programs in San Francisco, managing data systems and coordinating community initiatives. Since 2023, Caroline has led digital marketing and apprentice experience projects at DIA Design Guild, where she currently supports program development for the DIA Design Guild Apprentice Program
Kao-wei Chen • Los Angeles, CA • he/him
Kao-wei is a software engineer leader with over 10 years of experience building tools and platforms leveraging traditional AI and LLM-based services. Scaling services from an idea to their production ready state along with building teams who can handle ambition projects to deliver. Past industries include education technology, cancer research, insurance and e-commerce.
He joined DIA through the affiliate meetup group SGVUX where he was an active host and facilitator of meetups supporting the group in operations since 2018. In his free time, he’s always looking for the latest boba (bubble tea) spot to check-out in the San Gabriel Valley (626) where the boba density is increasing every few weeks.
Justin Kim • Los Angeles, CA • he/him
Justin started as a DIA Apprentice in 2021 and continued to become a Staff UX Generalist with the Guild as well as the Program Manager of the now-defunct DIA Game Club. Now he is proud to serve as a Board Member for the group that helped him grow as a designer.