Beyond DLFNY’s $1 Million Gift: More Paths into Lighting Education

A fourth-grade classroom may seem far removed from a lighting design office. Yet that is one place DLFNY is helping introduce young people to light and its possibilities.

In Part I of our conversation, Dan Blitzer and Charles Stone of the Nuckolls Fund for Lighting Education joined Jennifer Mason and Shaun Fillion of the Designers Lighting Forum of New York. We discussed DLFNY’s $1 million commitment to the Fund over three years.

In Part II, we explored the work surrounding that gift. The conversation covered trade-school scholarships, elementary school lessons and the process for selecting scholarship recipients.

Disclosure: Your humble editor serves on the board of the Nuckolls Fund for Lighting Education.

Lighting Education Starts Before College

Shaun explained that DLFNY’s community investment committee looked broadly at ways to expand lighting education. The Nuckolls Fund offered an effective path to universities. Other partnerships could help students at different stages.

Through Project Illuminate, DLFNY supports scholarships for third-year trade-school students pursuing lighting-related studies. Shaun described the initiative as entering its second year of partnership with DLFNY. The funding helps students finish their education and move into the field.

DLFNY also supports Equity in Lighting’s enrichment program. Last year, 188 fourth graders at a Title I school in Queens received eight weeks of lighting education from New York City designers.

Fourth grade. That caught my attention during the interview.

We spend considerable time discussing how to attract college students to lighting. Here is an opportunity to introduce the subject years earlier, when children are still discovering what interests them.

Shaun said DLFNY expanded its funding to continue the elementary school work and hopefully reach a middle or high school.

Watch Shaun: Bringing lighting education to more students

Beacon Awards Help Students Continue

Jennifer described another part of DLFNY’s educational work: the Beacon Awards. The third annual event is scheduled for October 14.

The event contributes directly to scholarship funds. Jennifer noted that past support has benefited Professional Women in Construction. Students and scholarship recipients have also attended the events.

I appreciate that connection. Meeting a recipient helps put a face to the funding and reminds us why the effort matters.

Jennifer also shared plans for LEDucation 2027, scheduled for April 13–15, with the first day devoted to designer hours. The show’s reach gives DLFNY opportunities to bring more people into the conversation about education.

How Scholarship Candidates Reach the Fund

Raising money is one responsibility. Selecting recipients thoughtfully is another.

Dan explained how the Nuckolls Fund approaches that task. Rather than asking board members to identify students they do not know, the Fund seeks nominations from program directors.

Each director can nominate one graduate student and one undergraduate student. A committee of the Fund’s board then reviews the nominees and selects recipients by vote.

Dan described the process as merit-based and practical. Educators bring knowledge of their students, while the committee applies a consistent selection process.

He also said the November 2026 scholarship awards would include the new Paul M. Marantz Lighting Design Scholarship alongside four existing scholarships.

Watch Dan: How the scholarship nomination process works

Giving Other Communities a Starting Point

The conversation also considered what success in one place can mean elsewhere.

Dan pointed to educational work in New York and programs at Colorado State University. Those examples give other communities and institutions something concrete to consider.

They can look at an existing program and ask whether they could do something similar.

That seems especially useful in an industry where committed volunteers often carry educational initiatives forward. Sharing an approach can help the next group take its first step.

The Fund has a focused mission, but the need extends beyond any single organization. Universities, trade schools and younger students all offer opportunities for the industry to get involved.

Watch Dan: Helping other communities build on successful programs

Building on the Commitment

The $1 million gift deserves attention. So do the individual efforts that surround it: a designer teaching fourth graders, a program director nominating a student and volunteers reviewing grant proposals.

Together, those efforts give more people a chance to discover lighting and develop their abilities.

I came away encouraged by both the ambition and the practical work already underway. To learn more about supporting the Nuckolls Fund for Lighting Education, contact Dan or visit the Fund’s website.

Watch the complete Part II conversation.