What is social design?

an emergent, relationship- based, and empathy-centered design process

that seeks to understand and uplift the lived experience of those most affected by the social and environmental challenges being addressed

I design with others, not for them

Which generates more equitable and SUSTAINABLE solutions for both people and planet

My design-thinking framework can be adapted to any social mission that aims to center human insights and involve key stakeholders throughout the creative process. The social designer’s role is to facilitate community partners, organizations, and participants through this creative and iterative process so that together, we generate more equitable and sustainable outcomes.

Social Design helps organizations generate innovative solutions for questions like:

How might we evaluate and innovate our offerings in a way that better meets our stakeholder needs?

What are the areas in our process that could be opportunities for more effective and efficient systems?

How might we engage with our community and better connect people to resources and offerings?

Humans are messy, emotional, intelligent, and complex, which makes social organizing and impact work as challenging as it is rewarding. Luckily, this human-centered design process holds space for the twists and turns of social impact work - all while having fun with Post-It notes and Sharpies!

Areas of Specialty:

My two areas of deepest interest and experience are designing interventions for education and the environment. As a long-time Waldorf Educator, I especially enjoy using design thinking to support educators, families, and students in improving their everyday school experiences. The natural world is also something that I feel deeply connected to and therefor compelled to design sustainable solutions for.

Click below to explore more and see examples of social design at work: