Join 3×3 for a lively gathering around the challenges, myths, and joys of practicing community-centered design.
We’ve created this recurring gathering space for emerging and established practitioners to connect, learn, and support each other in their use of community-centered design. We welcome all professional backgrounds and experience levels — no prior training or knowledge of community-centered design needed!
Takeaways
Learn more about the core values and applications of community-centered design and hold space for discussion, story- and skill-sharing, and networking! You will walk away with:
- An understanding of the lineage and evolution of community-centered design in practice;
- A set of core mindsets and values that you can apply to your community-centered practice;
- Exposure to fellow practitioners to share challenges, resources, and inspiration;
- Pathways to deepen and evolve your practice through more advanced training opportunities and other resources.
Format
This online event will be a combination of a CC101 overview and a guest speaker presentation, followed by an open discussion. A custom Zoom link will be sent to your inbox once you are registered and approved.
Speakers
Emma Tsui works at the intersections of community health, occupational health, and the social sciences. She conducts in-depth qualitative and ethnographic research, sometimes using innovative methods like peer interviewing, oral history, and digital storytelling, to elucidate the lived experience of marginalized workers and related lessons for public health. Most recently she has studied institutional food workers and home care aides with an interdisciplinary lens that illuminates how public and organizational policies, employers, and clients, shape the lives and labor of these worker groups who are largely women of color. Dr. Tsui’s work has also explored the implications of caring labor for public health and ways of better incorporating an ethos of care into public health practice and policy. These projects serve as a foundation for making policy recommendations, suggesting programmatic innovations, and provoking broader forms of structural reimagining. Dr. Tsui also collaborates frequently on mixed methods research and evaluation projects.
Rachel L. Thompson, PhD, is a research scientist at the CUNY Center for Systems and Community Design with an interdisciplinary background in environmental health and biostatistics. Rachel’s research broadly concerns the application of innovative approaches to understanding and preventing chronic disease in the context of built, occupational, and social environments. Her recent projects have focused on the health impacts of urban parks and greenspaces, with an emphasis on how improvements to the built environment shape mental health, physical activity, chronic disease risk, and health equity in low-income communities in New York City.
Megan Marini oversees 3×3’s creative planning work, focusing on practical applications of systems thinking to develop design strategies for urban needs. Prior to 3×3, Megan specialized in design research for development programs internationally at organizations such as Reboot, the Earth Institute’s Center for Sustainable Urban Development, and ARCHIVE for clients including the World Bank, UNEPS, UNOPS, and Internews. With an interest in community and capacity building in challenging contexts, Megan has lectured at IIT Institute for Design, Columbia University, Barnard College, and the Johns Hopkins University Program in Latin American Studies. Her work and writing has been featured in GOOD, Public Interest Design, and DWELL magazine. Megan holds an MS in urban planning from Columbia University where she received the Planning Challenge award for her thesis on technological innovation in post-disaster Haiti; she also holds BS in architecture from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Moderator
Rajesh Sankat is an Urban Strategist at 3×3, where he leverages his trans-disciplinary approach located at the nexus of inclusive design and urban placemaking to translate community insights and aspirations into strategy development and the built environment. Rajesh is passionate about creating democratic and inclusive processes for communities to drive public agendas, priorities, and change. Prior to working at 3×3, Rajesh was one of the founding members of the Ontario Cabinet Office’s Policy Innovation Hub. He has also played pivotal roles as part of the City of Toronto’s Park’s Forestry and Recreation Community Engagement Team, StrategyCorp’s Municipal Affairs Practice, and the Ontario Cabinet Office’s Strategy and Innovation Team. Rajesh has had his work and writing featured in AZURE and Afternoon Magazine. He holds a Master of Public Policy with a specialization in Urban Policy and Municipal Governance from the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto.
Facilitator
Thomas Bond is an engagement and communications designer at 3×3 and an advocate for social change who believes that all people are designers in their own right. With a deep commitment to community engagement, Thomas prioritizes working alongside communities to foster mutual aid, shared knowledge, and empowerment.
About 3×3
Drawing from over a decade of experience developing methods that center communities in design, policy, and planning decisions, this event is part of a larger learning series for teams to integrate critical reflection and collaboration into their everyday work.
