2022 Legislator of the Year

IIDA is proud to recognize State Assemblymember Mike Gipson as the 2022 Legislator of the Year recipient. This annual award recognizes an elected official who has put forth extraordinary effort on behalf of causes championed by the commercial interior design community. IIDA leaders presented the award in October at his district office in Gardena, California in Los Angeles County.

Asm. Gipson represents the 64th Assembly District encompassing much of the South Bay region of Los Angeles County. He served for nearly a decade as a councilmember for the city of Carson before his election to the California State Assembly in 2014. Since 2016, he’s held the position of Democratic Caucus Chair, a role responsible for helping drive the legislative priority for members of his caucus.

Asm. Gipson has met with representatives from IIDA’s Northern and Southern California boards multiple times over the years, including this past spring during the 2022 sunset review process for interior design regulation. Asm. Gipson impressively recalled specific details of IIDA’s recommendations for modernization of California’s interior design regulation, recognizing both the negative impacts of current regulation on professionals and the public, and the opportunity for positive change, encouraging IIDA advocates to continue pursuing the elevation of the commercial interior design profession.

Moreover, Gipson’s legislative accomplishments and policy platform achieve progress with a lens of equity and justice. IIDA’s California chapters recognize the imperative responsibility of the commercial interior design profession to pursue justice in our industry and our communities and seek to offer the expertise of its members to lawmakers in their work.