Hilary Sopata, ASID, LEED AP Michelle Banks Watt, ASID, LEED AP
Hilary Sopata, ASID, LEED AP president at Interior Visions Designs, Inc., is a registered interior designer who has over 14 years of experience in the design industry encompassing both residential and commercial design. She also holds a professional certificate from the National Council for Interior Design Qualifications (NCIDQ) and serves on the panel which judges the professional exam administered by the NCIDQ. A 1995 graduate from Valparaiso University with a double major of Interior Design and Art, Hilary is a professional member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) and currently serves on the Illinois Chapter Board of Directors. She is the immediate past-president of the Illinois Chapter of ASID and currently serves as the chairperson for the Sustainable Action Council.
Hilary won an award for Commercial Green Design at the 2009 ASID IL Design Excellence Awards! The project has been bublished in the private label magazine as well as in Architectural Products. As a registered interior designer, Hilary is registered with the state of Illinois as being qualified in the field of interior design through education, experience, and practical examination. She has a passion for green design in particular and has recently become one of a select few LEED Accredited Professionals (LEED AP)! Also, Hilary has been published in the Chicago Tribune, Daily Herald, Home Fashion, Remarkable Woman, Chicago Home Improvement, bankrate.com and featured on NBC's House Smarts and LCN Cable Channel 24. An accomplished speaker, she has spoken at over 20 venues including NeoCon World's Trade Fair, the Merchandise Mart Treasure Hunt, and the Midwest Home and Design Show in addition to local organizations and schools. In addition to hundreds of residential clients, her career project list has included such companies as Blue Cross Blue Shield, Navteq, The Federal Aviation Administration, Amica Mutual Insurance Company, ABN Amro, Chicago Public Schools, and CDW.
In her spare time, Hilary enjoys the outdoors, especially traveling and meeting people from other cultures. The most exotic place she has been is Nigeria, Africa, where she spent two weeks handing out medical supplies to and praying with some of the citizens of that country.
Michelle Banks Watt, ASID, LEED AP has been practicing the art of Interior Design for over 18 years. As president of Michelle Banks Interiors of Naperville, Ill., Banks Watt specializes in green residential design. She gained experience working in both residential and commercial design before striking out on her own in 2004. She holds a professional certificate from the National Council for Interior Design Qualifications (NCIDQ) and serves on the panel which judges the professional exam administered by the NCIDQ. In 2008 she passed the prestigious US Green Building Council LEED exam and is now among a select group of green residential interior designers.
A member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) since 1991, Banks Watt has served on the communications committee in 2004-05 and the public relations committee in 2005-07. She was co-chair of the ASID Designer Showcase House in 1996 and again in 2005, and also was on the Designers' Homes tour committee in 1995, as well as a Board member in 1993-94 and on the board as the Professional Development Director in 2007-09. Chapter Appreciation Awards in 1996, 2005, and 2009 reward her work. She also received the honorable Presidential Citation in 2009. Currently, Banks Watt is the ASID Illinois Chapter President-Elect.
She received her bachelor of science in business administration and marketing from the University of Missouri in 1989, her bachelor of arts in interior design from Mount Mary College in 1994 and her NCIDQ certificate (professional designers’ exam) in 1996. A single mother, Banks Watt enjoys spending time with her daughter and working with the local Girl Scout council as a troop leader and local board member.