Lita Talarico is a co-founder and co-chair of the School of Visual Arts MFA Design Program in New York City.

She also co-founded the SVA Masters Workshop in Italy, an ongoing summer program.

A founding associate of Bill Lacy Design, she coordinated architect selection competitions and conferences for the Cleveland Museum of Art; National World War II Memorial Design Competition; International Design Conference in Aspen; Italian Manifesto Conference; and the Pritzker Architecture Prize annual jury meeting.

Talarico was the founding managing editor of American Illustration & Photography, a board-member emeritus of Adobe Education Partners by Design, and member of the AIGA Visionary Design Council.

She was a visiting scholar at the American Academy in Rome in 2008 and 2010, where she conducted extensive research on the Roman letter.