July 2023 | Creative Ladder Puts Diversity in the Spotlight at Cannes Imagine a snapshot of every attendee at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. From rising creatives to veteran CMOs, this vision could capture a cross-section of the industry at large—an industry that, as of now, may not fully reflect the diversity of the general population.  

“Lack of diversity isn’t caused by a talent deficit, it’s an opportunity deficit—and everyone has a role to play in driving change,” says Dionna Dorsey, co-founder and CEO of The Creative Ladder, which celebrates its first anniversary at this year’s Cannes Lions. 

Forbes Italia

September 2022 | Chi è l’imprenditrice americana che ha fondato una non-profit con Ryan Reynolds “Per avere successo, bisogna fare un po’ di progresso ogni giorno” è convinta Dionna Dorsey. “Se ti viene un’idea, soprattutto se sei una donna e di colore, se hai la possibilità di dedicarvi 5 o 20 o 25 minuti al giorno, fallo!” aggiunge. Dionna è un’imprenditrice di successo oltre a essere una creativa. Ha un background in branding, marketing e fashion design e, dopo un periodo a New York, ora vive a Washington. Ha frequentato la scuola di fashion design a Milano e nei suoi primi vent’anni ha fatto la stilista a New York.

The Creative Ladder

June 2022 | Ryan Reynolds announced the formation of a new nonprofit, The Creative Ladder, to help make creative careers more accessible to all – especially those from underrepresented communities. Deloitte has joined the initiative as a founding donor with an initial $500,000.00 contribution and as a strategic collaborator.

To lead the organization, co-founder Ryan Reynolds will be joined by co-founder and CEO Dionna Dorsey, founder of the lifestyle brand District of Clothing, and third co-founder and Chief Content Officer David Griner, a longtime editor for Adweek.

Business Wire | Variety | Bloomberg | Adweek

UPS Unstoppable Campaign & Something In The Water

June 2022 | District of Clothing was chosen to do a feature for the UPS Unstoppable campaign in collaboration with Something in the Water!

Our UPS feature was shown during the Something In The Water festival weekend! A big thank you to our community of dreamers, doers and changemakers, thanks for choosing to take us with you as you work to change the world for the better. We love you, and we need you. Keep going!

Politico

December 2021 | Women Rule: The Exchange | BUILDING THE NEW WORKPLACE COVID-19 has upended the American workplace — and it continues to shine a light on what isn’t working — particularly for women. But within every crisis, there is opportunity. Women Rule: The Exchange brings together leading women in business each quarter to confront these challenges and help find solutions to today’s most pressing issues at the intersection of gender, industry and policy.

People

August 2020 | Exclusive | Entrepreneur Dionna Dorsey on Turning Her 'Side Hustle' into a Thriving Clothing Brand During the Pandemic The designer behind the viral "Trust Black Women" T-shirt talks to PEOPLE about her "pandemic pivot," making clothing as a call to action and what she hopes for the future of fashion.

Bustle

August 2020 | Meet The Designer Behind The Viral “Trust Black Women” T-Shirt Dionna created her brand to represent a lifestyle. The brand behind that viral "Trust Black Women" shirt first came to Dionna Dorsey in a dream. “I woke up in the middle of the night,” Dorsey tells Bustle.

Forbes

August 2020 | To Be Successful, Make Some Progress Everyday Dionna Dorsey is the founder of Dionna Dorsey Design, a creative direction firm, and her side hustle, DISTRICT of CLOTHING, is a lifestyle brand encouraging progression, inspiring action and supporting self-love.

District Fray Magazine

July 2020 | Black-Owned Businesses Design + Curate Clothing for Change When 2020 began, Dionna Dorsey could never have imagined that her T-shirts would be part of a racial protest movement, or that she’d be designing a line of apparel that would support relief aid during a global pandemic.

Washington Business Journal

June 2020 | Survivors: Local designer finds newfound purpose through pandemic business pivot Dorsey strategized ways to build her brand and online presence during the era of social distancing and remote work. She ramped up her social media posts, adjusted her ad graphics and incorporated Covid-19 resources in her marketing. And she updated her site to display the clothing line’s new motto: “Our clothes won’t change the world, but the people who wear them are.”

Black Enterprise

May 2020 | How This Design Entrepreneur’s ‘Pandemic Pivot’ Led to a 250% Increase in Sales Dorsey went into action mode, in what she calls her “pandemic pivot,” and shifted much of her time and attention to her side hustle, a fashion company called District of Clothing she started four years ago during another lull in her main design work.

Side Hustle Pro

April 2020 | Dionna M. Dorsey, a gifted designer and brand development strategist and the creator of apparel line DISTRICT of CLOTHING, is in the Side Hustle Pro guest chair. In episode 196 of Side Hustle Pro, Dionna shares, why she decided to work for free as a way to build her client portfolio, the steps she takes to ensure that customers receive quality products and why she believes in living a healthy “unbalanced” life.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher, and Spotify! #SideHustlePro

iOne Digital Creative Class

November 2019 | Dionna Dorsey was a natural selection for this year’s Creative Class because the full-time entrepreneur who is also a designer who works in branding and marketing is the model of someone who carved out her own niche career to achieve success. It makes sense that her line, District of Clothing, is all about empowerment.

Adweek Rising Star Award

September 2018 | While most likely think of Washington, D.C., as a simmering cauldron of political intrigue with a smattering of nice museums, the reality is (thankfully) quite a bit more multifaceted. Meet the Rising Brand Stars bringing a new wave of energy to D.C.

The Washington Informer

October 2017 | D.C. Fashion Designer Uses City as Muse. In 2009, Dionna Dorsey’s career as a fashion designer took a hit with the downturn in the economy, but after moving back home to D.C., she found inspiration to start again with apparel that pays homage to the District.