Project H was a pivotal experience for me; working hand-in-hand with Emily Pilloton and Matt Miller helped expand my definition of design from product-focused to human-centered and gave me new insight into non-profit management, grant finding, social entrepreneurship and institutional partnerships.

As a Project H liaison, I created and taught a social design program to sixth and seventh graders, conducted participatory research at a low-income senior center over two months, represented the brand at several design events and conferences, and wrote a toolkit aiming to make social design more approachable to students and teachers.

Transforum was a campaign to build community support for and to foster open dialogue with Cincinnatians around the controversial issue to expand Cincinnati's public transit with a modern-day streetcar line. We saw the ineffectiveness of other pro-transit organizations and decided to approach the issue as a conversation rather than a debate; this personal, human-centered dialogue approach helped us win respect from the opponents.

We experimented with creating and distributing persona videos, drumming up social media, and using public art and performance to help win support for public transit policy change.

Watch some of the video pieces here!

The Leap Year Project is a community of people who have decided to take a risk/leap to change the/ir world. The leaps range from getting families back on track to quitting jobs and becoming entrepreneurs.

We're prototyping with different methods of community building, digital interaction, and storytelling with the goal of creating a flawless user experience, which will in turn create a more supportive and nurturing community.