We are now face to face with wicked problems. Childhood obesity, climate change, aging population, literacy—the scope, implications and rate of change of today’s critical problems make them unlike anything we have faced before. Solutions to these problems have the potential to change the way we live in the world. To even begin to address such issues, we need people and organizations with the ability to innovate. Expertise in health care, education, and energy are not enough. Neither are superb analytical and creative thinking skills. Motivation, informed by beliefs in ability, is the critical ingredient we often ignore. Without believing in our ability to develop and implement innovative solutions that can address the world’s challenges, we will not even act.
We can’t innovate if we don’t believe that we can. We must work together with those from all different backgrounds and perspectives, we must work with our community, and we must support each other in our efforts improve the world around us.
Design for America’s vision is a world where people believe in their ability to innovate and tackle the most ill-structured challenges of our time. Our mission is to develop a pipeline of leaders of innovation and create impact through the implementation of DFA projects.
CHECKOUT ROADMAP.BCDFA.COM...
to see the unique human-centered design curriculum our studio leads created to help our teams understand the process and overcome roadblocks.
Also take a look at our facebook page...
which has amazing posts and articles about human-centered design and promotional posts about the inner-workings of our studio. I have run this page from spring 2013 to present and, in that time, garnered almost 700 page likes, including 400 organic page likes (not personal Facebook friends). Our average post has an average reach of 1,171 Facebook users with 331 engagements per post. We do not sponsor any of our posts with paid advertising.
Thank you so much to all of our friends who came to support us during the Mid-Year Review. We had an incredible time...
Posted by Barnard-Columbia Design for America on Sunday, December 13, 2015
"She created a coat that turns into a sleeping bag for homeless people, but when she was told that they needed jobs more than coats, she stepped up to that challenge too" The Empowerment Plan
Posted by Barnard-Columbia Design for America on Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Check out this amazing article featuring DFA studio member, Tessa Hurr!!"Declare Your Major: How Sheryl Sandberg Is Supporting College Women in Computer Science and Engineering"
Posted by Barnard-Columbia Design for America on Friday, October 16, 2015
SEE RENDERINGS FROM OUR #SUMMERSTUDIO15 INSTALLATION
In which our DFA Studio Members paired up with Gensler Architects to reimagine the dangerous and barren area under the elevated A-Train subway line in Far Rockaway. We partnered with local community members, such as the Shore Corps. students and Rockaway Waterfront Alliance to form our ideas and designs. These renderings served as inspiration for a physical tactile urbanism installation we had over the summer, in which we had the city shut down the street for the day and celebrated with local music, food, and community members to show the potential of unlocking the space.
below is the executive summary of the project completed under the female empowerment lens.
Band of Beads:
Science, technology, and math can prove to be challenging and intimidating subjects to many. Nonetheless, in the growing age of technology and the Internet, quantitative and problem solving skills are in high demand. The world needs computer programmers, researchers, and scientists. Women represent 50% of the population yet only 27% of employees in STEM fields. Studies and statistics show that girls lack confidence in science and math classrooms which leads to lower test scores, lack of interest in the field, and ultimately, a wasted resource and loss for society. Alongside initiatives such as Goldiblocks and #BanBossy, we want to create an army of girls who are not afraid to band together and conquer math. We want to celebrate the intelligence, potential, creativity, and drive of each girl and tackle what we believe to be the three biggest barriers to female engagement in STEM fields with a unique accessory and mentorship program.
Girls in STEM fields are at risk for the effects of ‘stereotype threat.’ Imagine a girl sitting down to take a math test. Due to societal influence, she perceives math to be a ‘subject for boys.’ She feels anxious, nervous that she’s not good, that she will choke or fail and that her peers will make fun of her. Sometimes, she gives up when the homework and test questions get tough because she thinks math doesn’t come naturally to her. If she’s bound to do poorly, why try and fight the odds?
This story is happening to girls everyday and we want to change it. We’ve taken the ‘lucky pencil’ and turned it into a powerful tool, a tool that will build confidence in girls, remind them of their successes, and motivate them to excel. With each extra help session, well done homework, question asked in class, organized binder, or other personal achievement, the girl will receive a bead from her ‘sister’ mentor, customized for the girl’s personal goals. Filled pencils will be ceremonially converted into trendy bracelets to be worn with pride, showing off the efforts put forth in overcoming struggles.
We need to fight the odds of missing out on the contributions of women in STEM fields. Together we can conquer girls’ fear to ask questions and speak up in class by encouraging them to seek extra help. We can instill confidence in girls, as each bead and completed bracelet reminds them of their efforts and inspires them to push through challenges. We can create a community, a family, a band of allies encouraging female leadership and solidarity in STEM. Together, we will build confidence, rise up together, and kick some serious math.