Copy

Would you like to receive our updates? Please subscribe to our newsletter.

InWithForward

Sammy, our positive deviant of the year!

At the corner of 107 Ave NW and 95 St in downtown Edmonton is an ordinary looking mini-mart. Then a man, not so sober, stumbles in dragging a broken duffle bag. He is not eyed suspiciously. He is not asked to leave. Sammy, the owner, greets him warmly. "Hello, my brother!" The man takes a seat at the counter Sammy purposively built for these moments. Over a cup of coffee, he defrosts. He is reminded he is human. It is strangely remarkable.

'I' is for Infrastructure

"I" might as well be the letter of last year. Donald Trump ushered in an area of unapologetic narcissism. In Canada, we took comfort in a duller set of "I's": infrastructure and implementation.

We're learning you can't get to social change without HR pipelines and information highways that continuously confront the status quo. That's exactly what we're building as part of Grounded Space: Canada's first Research & Development collective for social services. Read this story >

Another year over, so what have we done?

See our 2017 experiments & 2018 iterations here >

 

Provocation

 

When Empathy Isn't Enough

Delve into human-centred design and you'll come across the word empathy. Human-centred design is all about stepping into the shoes of an end user, and creating products and services they supposedly want and need.

Lately, we've experienced the limits of human-centered design. Can you really step into the shoes of a heroin addict or an autistic, non-verbal adult? And on what basis do you discern the 'best' or 'right' paths forward? We think it's time for values-led design. Get this story >

Intent & Purpose

Shameless social policy

Dale has been on the streets for 3 years. He refuses help. Find out why, and glimpse the kinds of social services we hope to enable. Learn more >


Terrific Teams

 

More eclectic & experienced than ever before!

In Vancouver we welcomed Anna Bond (Operations), Dr. Jennifer Charlesworth (Organizational Change), Valentina Branada (Design) and we partnered with Maggie Vilvang (Community Living Innovation Venture). We re-started our Ontario team with Dr. Daniela Kraemer and Natalie Napier.

We're looking for a freelance designer in Toronto >

Our Kudoz team grew with Quinn (Learning Coach), Elisa (Designer), and a cast of programmers developing software for Kudoz to scale. Plus, the fab Andie Froese returned!

2017 brought us a superb cohort of fellows from Stanford University, Parsons School of Design, and the School of Visual Arts. A big thanks to Terry Windell Adkins, Vikas Maturi, Nick Chan, Maria Alejandra Sandoval Avila, and Scott Brown. Click here to join our 2018 fellowship cohort!

Resources

Download our best publications of the year!

  1. Choreographing New Practices for Social Change (March)
  2. Develop and Deliver (May)
  3. Out of the Lab and Into the Frontline (in: Stanford Social Innovation Review, Winter 2018)

Share or forward:

Delen op Twitter
Delen op LinkedIn
Delen via Email