Workways
SUPPORTING A COOPERATIVE MODEL IN NYC'S FASHION INDUSTRY
design research . co design . facilitation . visual design . storytelling
design strategy . project management . facilitation
A Digital Community built by and for STARs
CO-DESIGNING A COMMUNITY-CENTERED FELLOWSHIP
project management . design research . design strategy . facilitation
MULTILINGUAL CAMPAIGN MESSAGING FOR NEWLY ELIGIBLE VOTERS
project management . design research . design strategy
WORK
Photo credit:
Bloomist.com
Design Researcher & Strategist
working towards equitable
social & economic
systems.
ABOUT
How you do anything
is
how you do everything
My work is centered on process.
I strongly believe that the way you do something is equally as important to the goal being achieved. If we are striving to dismantle and disrupt injustices in our services and policies, our processes getting there must reflect values of equity and inclusiveness as well. We must relearn how to lead, teach, work and create collaboratively to redesign and rebuild new systems.
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
Design Research & Strategist
I use human-centered & equity-centered design methodologies to help uncover complex social challenges and center the needs and desires of communities that have been marginalized. I help frame problems, sense make with community and translate insights into community principals that then inform design criteria and opportunities.
Co-creation & Facilitator
I believe that those most impacted by oppressive systems and policies are the people closest to the solution. Therefore my personal practice & leadership role has evolved as a facilitator & guide-er rather than a design expert. My focus is on creating the conditions to build capacity for others to define and create their own positive outcomes.
I use co-creation methods to design experiences and engagements as a way of disrupting power dynamics and breaking down invisible and harmful constructs and boundaries that exist within social systems. I strive to build and model ways of collaborative practices that are democratic and enable shared power.
Visual Communicator
I use strategic visual communication to support research and storytelling. I design tools of engagement such as mapping to help understand and “see” the system, visualize relationships and their interdependencies. I design probes to engage community and guide conversations during the research phase. Ultimately these visual artifacts create an invitation for diverse co-creators, designers and non-designers alike to collaborate and build on an idea - which hope to generate agency in the design process.