DLFNY

About Us

Discover more about our mission, community, history, events, educational programs and our organization.

ABOUT DLFNY

Who We Are

The Designers Lighting Forum of New York is an organization dedicated to exploring the power of light in design and the latest in lighting innovation and education. We are led by a volunteer Board of Managers and are supported by the DLFNY general membership, the generosity of its corporate sponsors, and financial proceeds from LEDucation.

We believe in the power of lighting design.

Our mission: we bring exciting educational activities to the design community and support lighting education for professionals and students.

Light is invisible; lighting needs to be experienced in three dimensions. As a spirited community, we engage directly with lighting in the built environment by hosting interactive project visits, guided by the designers who made them.

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LEDucation

LEDucation – our annual conference and trade show – offers professionals ready access to the latest in LED products and technology, together with a wide range of accredited seminars. Manufacturers enjoy access to a rich flow of specifying designers. Introduced in 2007, LEDucation has grown to become the preferred venue for meaningful interaction in the lighting community.

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History

The Designers Lighting Forum had its origins in 1935 as the Women’s Auxiliary of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, serving the interests of residential lighting. The Auxiliary quickly became the Lighting Forum for Residential Lighting, then expanded over the years to engage lighting design in commercial and institutional applications, ultimately becoming the Designers Lighting Forum, attracting eminent designers in the NYC community. The DLFNY separated from the IES in the 1980’s and is a not-for-profit organization.

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Membership

Our membership is a diverse community sharing a passion for lighting and design. Membership is open to all: established professionals, emerging professionals, students, design firms, and others in the lighting and construction industries.

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Programs

With a love for lighting at its core, the DLFNY produces an annual season of events and educational programs that are stimulating, educational, and inspirational. Join us for enlightening visual experiences, practical information, and networking.

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Education

We support education in lighting by offering numerous professional development programs, as well as financial support through donations, grants, and scholarships to schools and universities for their lighting programs.

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DLFNY Leadership

The DLFNY Board of Managers

Cynthia Turner is an experienced lighting professional whose career has touched all facets of the lighting industry.

Cynthia Turner

President

Jennifer Mason is Regional Sales Manager at QTL.

Jennifer Mason

Vice President

Kathleen Carlisle is Managing Partner of Dark No More LLC.

Kathleen Carlisle

Treasurer

Matt Seconi is Chief Executive Officer of Moxie Lighting.

Matteo Seconi

Recording Secretary

Jesse is a lighting designer who has worked with highly regarded lighting design firms and currently works daily to bridge the gap between lighting design and the end users of a space.

Jesse Coletta

Communications Secretary

Dan Blitzer is Principal at Practical Lighting Workshop, providing strategy, communication, and training. He is an advisor to Next Generation Lighting Systems and Treasurer at the Nuckolls Fund. LC, FIES.

Dan Blitzer

Jamie Eck is a Business Development Manager for O’Blaney Rinker Associates with over 30 years of experience in the lighting industry.

Jamie Eck

Carl Everett is Principal Designer at Sense Lighting Design, a studio that works with artists, architects, and creative agencies to develop permanent constructed environments, exhibitions, and temporary experiential installations.

Carl Everett

Shaun Fillion, LC, LEED Green Associate, Educator IALD, CLCP is an award-winning lighting designer and educator. Fillion is Program Director for the Masters of Professional Studies in Lighting Design program at the New York School of Interior Design (NYSID), as well as Director of Lighting Design at RAB Lighting.

Shaun Fillion

Paula Garcia-Turkowitz (SDA Lighting and Controls) bring 20+ years of experience calling on the design community. She began her career representing furniture manufacturers, and recently moved to the field of lighting. Paula holds a B.A. in International Business from Eafit University, in her home town of Medellin, Colombia.

Paula Garcia-Turkowitz

Burt Grant is Co-Founder and Co-Chair of LEDucation, Past Vice-President of DLFNY, and Past-President of IES Long Island.

Burt Grant

Wendy Kaplan is the Northeast Regional Manager for Feelux Lighting. She enjoys the creativity of the lighting designers, architects, and interior designers involved in our community.

Wendy Kaplan

Tzu-Hao Kuo is Lighting Designer at Borealis Lighting Studio (BR+A), a studio that works through the challenges that each environment brings, from Healthcare to Laboratories and Higher Education to Civic and Performance Spaces as well as Arts, Entertainments, Façade, and Landscape.

Tzu-Hao Kuo

Sirun Olivapotenza is a lighting designer at Apeiro Design (formerly known as Auerbach & Associates), a multi-disciplinary design firm that specializes in theatrical, architectural lighting design and AV technology. She is part of the creative force that brings exceptional experience of built environment through lighting.

Sirun Olivapotenza

Pavarini’s experience, theatrical career, and vision have made him a recognized Designer. Recipient of 33 design awards including a LUMEN, his accomplishments confirm his influence within the Industry.

Charles Pavarini III

Amy Ruffles is an Associate Principal at Lighting Workshop. LC, LEED GA.

Amy Ruffles

Past President

Fantina Barrera Rodriguez is a Senior Designer at Reveal Design Group. She weaves light and shadow into a building's fabric to transform spaces, activate surfaces, and extend the language of architecture beyond light as merely an additive element.