While serving as a Senior Policy Advisor to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Dr. Saralyn Mark designed the iGIANT™ as a series of roundtables convening stakeholders in industry, academia, advocacy and government in the health, IT, retail and transportation sectors. The purpose of a roundtable is to foster a common dialog about best practices for gender/sex-specific design elements and to encourage participants to serve as ambassadors for innovation.

 

In July 2015, the iGIANT™ program was launched at a roundtable hosted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Within a year, 14 roundtables were hosted across the nation including in Detroit, San Francisco, Palo Alto, New York City, Boston, Washington, DC, Kansas City, Ft. Lauderdale, Portland and Chicago. In August 2016, the iGIANT™ evolved into a nonprofit. As a nonprofit, the iGIANT™ will support the development of roundtables, summits, innovation prizes, scholarships, and a seal of approval for design elements.