Ezio Manzini  is one of the world's leading and provocative thinkers in design for sustainability and social innovation — considered a major driver of sustainable changes. These two joint interests led him to start DESIS: an international network of schools of design specifically active in the field of design for social innovation and sustainability. Currently, Ezio is President of DESIS Network and Honorary Professor at the Politecnico di Milano. He has been guest professor in several design schools world-wide such as Elisava-Design School and Engineering (Barcelona), Tongji University ..read more

Bon Ku is an emergency physician, professor and host of the Design Lab podcast. He is the Assistant Dean for Health and Design and leads the Medicine+Design initiatives at Thomas Jefferson University. As the Director of the Health Design Lab, he created the first design thinking program at a medical school. Bon is creating design-minded solutions to improve patient health. Bon co-wrote the book, Health Design Thinking, with Ellen Lupton and was a regular panelist on the primetime medical TV show Chasing the Cure with Ann Curry. In this episode, Bon talks about the role of design and prototypin ..read more

In this episode, our guest was Laetitia Wolff,  a creative strategist, design curator, published author, and self-described cultural engineer and the former director of strategic initiatives at AIGA in NY. Laetitia lives, works and teaches in the South of France following 20+ years spent in New York. She consults and creates projects that generate new discourses, meaningful practices and experiences using design as a tool for social change, impact, and innovation. She brings design to cities, through research-action projects, curated programs, and citizen engagement initiat ..read more

Karine Sarkissian is a founding partner at Tamar Capital (2016), a single-family office based between the Middle East, the UK, and the US. She oversees the FO’s Impact and Venture portfolio. Designer and Design Strategist by background, Karine has extensive experience in social innovation for urban and economic development initiatives within New York City and Internationally. Leveraging her expertise, she co-founded Le Studio as part of Tamar Capital to actively support portfolio companies and investors alike through design, impact measurement, and strategy development. Since inception 2 years ..read more

Tales of the Field is a podcast series which gives voice to social activists and social innovators who work in and with their communities to create social impact and sustainable change. They share with us their work in the field - where they  tackle complex social issues and aim to create sustainable change and social impact. At its core, their work is human-centered, systemic and always informed by a deep understanding of the context and people’s lives. In this episode, we talked with Tonya Gayle, Executive Director of Green City Force (GCF) and an advocate for economic justice for ..read more

In this episode, I talked with Joana Casaca Lemos, a design researcher passionate about sustainability innovation. Joana runs an independent practice where she supports organisations in ensuring that sustainability is at the forefront of business. She is currently launching Unusual Research - the first global collective of creatives with sustainability expertise. Joana shared with me her view on design for sustainability and related terms like planet-centered design and circular design. The organizations Joana works with are increasingly interested in getting help in making their products and ..read more

Tales of the Field is a podcast series which gives voice to social activists and social innovators who work in and with their communities  to create social impact and sustainable change. They share with us their work in the field - where they  tackle complex social issues and aim to create sustainable change and social impact. At its core, their work is human-centered, systemic and always informed by a deep understanding of the context and people’s lives. In this episode, we talked with Pushpa Joshi, a young Nepalese social activist, passionate about the issues of gender and sexualit ..read more

Lisbeth Shepherd is Entrepreneur in Residence at MIT's designX and Visiting Lecturer at MIT's School of Architecture and Planning. Her work focuses on how "climate corps" in cities can promote environmental and economic justice.  Shepherd co-founded the Green City Force (GCF) in 2009 to address the dual imperatives of youth unemployment and climate change.She previously coordinated the Clean Energy Corps working group at Green for All, and co-founded Unis-Cité, the leading national youth service program in France. She is an Echoing Green alum, Draper Richards Kaplan Fellow, Audubon “Woman ..read more

In this episode, I talked with Ayah Younis, a human centered-designer for social change. With 10-year experience in education in museums, she employs innovative tools and play methods to design learning experiences for children and adults. Ayah shared with me her work using human-centered design to create meaningful experiences in museums as well as in the health centers in Jordan and the region. She emphasized the power of play in reducing boundaries and creating a safe environment. Ayah also highlighted the value of iteration and rapid prototyping in helping create impactful solutions remind ..read more

In this episode, I talked with Megan Marini, co-founder and Principal, Director of Strategy and Outreach  of 3X3, an inclusive and participatory innovation studio designing for systemic change, based in New York City and New Delhi. Over the past decade, they have been bringing communities, the public sector, and private entities together as allies to create social transformation and impact. Megan is a designer, architect and strategist passionate about community-centered design and designing for justice and systemic change. She shared her work helping civic organizatio ..read more