BOOM!

BOOM! UNLEASHING THE CREATIVE AND ENTREPRENEURIAL POTENTIAL OF YOUTH IN DISINVESTED COMMUNITIES.

Vincent Purcell, May 2014 Master of Arts in Social Design Thesis Maryland Institute College of Art Baltimore, Maryland USA

INDEX OF MATERIALS Preface .....................................................................................................

Introduction .............................................................................................

Thesis Question .....................................................................................

Problem Definition ................................................................................

Evidence of the Phenominon .................................................................

My Connection ......................................................................................

A Sobering, Humbling Reality.................................................................

Research & Context ..................................................................................

Baltimore Technology ...........................................................................

Baltimore Social Enterprise ..................................................................

The Legacy of Johns Hopkins ................................................................

Rose St Community Garden ...................................................................

Stop, Listen and Learn ..........................................................................

Resident Expressed Needs ....................................................................

Intervention .............................................................................................

Theory of Change ..................................................................................

Levels of Analysis ..................................................................................

Barriers in Baltimore ............................................................................

Models of Design Interaction .................................................................

Audience ...............................................................................................

Levers of Social Change ........................................................................

Implementation & Evaluation ..................................................................

Budget Constraints ...............................................................................

Measurements & Metrics of Success ......................................................

Reflections on Social Design ..................................................................

Long Term Vision & Next Steps .............................................................

Appendix .................................................................................................

5 10 11 12 13 14 17 18 20 22 24 29 31 32 41 42 43 44 46 50 52 89 90 93 92 95 96

Additional research, evidence, and a catalog of my experiences and ongoing research can be found online at my Social Design research blog at http://jadedoto.tumblr.com. I also have a comprehensive catalog of my work in addition to this thesis document at http://vincentpurcell.co.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This year has been incredibly challenging and rewarding. While I put forth many hundreds of hours during my year into creating what is contained in this document, it took an army of support to get me there. In particular, I would like to thank Jonathan Erwin, Amy Yockus Hartman, Beth Myers-Edwards, Dave Harris, London Tellington, Kennard Miles, Tayvon Miles, Amanda Allen, Elaine Asal, Lee Davis, Mike Weikert, Becky Slogeris, Briony Hynson, Gary Dittman, Jennifer Kunze, Andrew Coy, Rodney Foxworth and Dave Roselle, Myra Margolin, Henry Posko, David Sachs, JC Weiss, Dr. G., Bora Shin, Stephanie Geller, all the MASD 2014 Visiting Scholars and the MASD 2014 class for their mentorship and support this year. To all of my family, friends, allies, community partners, supporters and mentors, thank you. Finally, thanks to the Maryland Institute College of Art Office of Community Engagement who awarded me a grant that acted as seed funding for many of the explorations in my thesis work.

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PREFACE

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MY NAME IS VINCENT PURCELL. I AM A HACKER, A MAKER, A DESIGNER AND SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR. Contained in this document is a catalog and reflection of my experiences from June 2013 through May 2014 while I earned my Master of Art in Social Design at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore, MD. Before beginning my studies at MICA, I earned a Bachelor of Science in Media Arts and Studies from the University of Kentucky. I focused my work on digital fabrication technologies, computer science and new media design.

The core of my interests, however, revolved about social justice. I came to the Social Design program with a wide swatch of skills and intended to focus on how I could tune my skills and develop a conceptual and practice-based framework for impacting social issues.

Moving to Baltimore and immersing myself in the communities of East Baltimore opened my eyes to new challenges and opportunities. The economic and social systems of oppression, racism and socio-economic stratification are abundant in Baltimore. My experiences this year, from the very first contact with George and Pryor in the Rose St. community garden, to now at the cusp of launching my own social enterprise incubator BOOM!, have been incredible. All at once, I am motivated by the living legacy of oppression still occurring today, and humbled and in awe by the hundreds of strong and motivated individuals working to change the system. I hope that my time and impact in East Baltimore will stand to mean something to generations going forward.

My intervention takes a systems-level approach to design. I’ve designed a series of components revolving around the idea of empowerment and access.

During the development of this thesis, I worked closely with partners in the East Baltimore community of McElderry Park, as well as branching out to practicioners in the fields of technology, social entrepreneurship, architecture, community organizing, social work and many more. I believe in the power of democratic access of technology and all of the wonderful entrepreneurial and education opportunities it presents. This body of research is only a pause and reflect moment in an ongoing demonstration of the power of collaborative design efforts in create meaningful and sustainable social change.

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INTRODUCTION

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THESIS QUESTION

How might we empower youth living in low resource areas with access to technology and support they need to become entrepreneurs to increase the economic and social stablity of their own community ?

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1.

Youth is defined as an individual roughly 16 years of age through 30. According to my experiences in East Baltimore, this is a high risk group because of a lack of support transitioning into adult life.

2.

Low resource areas means Census Statistical Areas with high rates (>10%) of households living in or at risk of living in poverty, as defined by the United States Census, and little to out-of-school resource centers with comprehensive programming offerings.

I define technology as access to modern computers, software and a broadband Internet connection. I also include ownership or access to hackerspaces and makerspaces as critical components to a sufficiently "high tech" community. These are places with equipment and staff to teach basic circuits, modern computer programming and digital fabrication methods.

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Skilled teachers and mentors with a helpful network.

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Business owners, block leaders, and changemakers for people in their social sphere of influence

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Economic stability meaning access to sustainable, living wage employment for 3 or more years.

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Defined loosely as feelings of safety and wellbeing in the community. Measures include but are not limited to: interaction across socio-economic groups, genders and ages; low crime rates; lower incarceration rates; less people experiencing temporary or chronic homelessness.

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Community is defined by social bonds among people in a similar area. This also includes people who have been removed from their home because of employment difficulties or incarceration, but still have some social connection to home.

“CRIME HAPPENS BECAUSE OF POVERTY. IT'S PLAIN AND SIMPLE. PEOPLE DON’T HAVE MONEY AND THEY DON’T HAVE JOBS.” — David Harris, East Baltimore Community Activist 11

PROBLEM DEFINITION Areas of the United States, Baltimore being an exceptional example, are experiencing income and socio-economic divides unprecedented in previous generations. While some regions of the country are becoming more and more wealthy, a great number of American cities are experiencing poverty in increasing severity and concentration. One of the great equalizers in society is education, but many students in public schools do not have access to the same quality of education as those in private or charter schools. Additionally, once youth “age out” of school programming at around 18 or 19 years old, little programming exists to help make the bridge between school and real life. While some are lucky enough to attend college or university, most students in low resource and low income communities turn to a dangerous and informal economy just to make ends meet. This means that many young people, predominantly men in Baltimore City, sell drugs on the street or otherwise become involved in the underground economy. In 2010, 28 percent of black males between 18 and 24 lived below the poverty line in the United States (that number was 20 percent in 2003).

Studies have shown that black women are entering the workforce more steadily, but the numbers for Black men are not rising due to incarceration, criminal records, and other barriers to employment. 1 Because of a decades-long and continuing legacy of systemic racism and oppression, people of color are disproportionately affected by this issue. Furthermore, policy actions such as “zero tolerance” have created entire generations of incarcerated individuals and single parent homes simply because little opportunity exists for people to break the cycle of poverty. This is a systemic problem that it roots deep in American society.2 A recent longitudinal study3 on socio-economic mobility in the United States indicated that the liklihood of an individual moving up the proverbial socio-economic ladder

depended on the location they grew up. Children born and raised today to parents who experience economic hardship are far less likely to achieve college or sustained living wage employment. Many will never aquire wealth, and almost all will live their lives catching up to debt. It is my experience in East Baltimore that this is the result of decades of marginalization and exclusion. The result for many low income communities and people of color are reduced access to modernized technology facilities, high quality education, and living wage employment. Another key deficit as a result of systemic oppression is a lack of a robust and well connected professional network. Children born outside of privilege must create entire professional networks from scratch, without help from parents' social capital or wealth.

My design intervention is aimed to tip the scales of society in which people live. What if some system existed where people did have the opportunity to evaluate the resources they already have, skills they already posses, and turn them into revenue generating enterprises that allow them to escape the cycle of oppression they are forced into? I believe there are two critical components to making this work: access to technology, and the opportunity to have mentors and a professional network that enables you to grow. These are the core concepts of BOOM! that will be outlined in later sections of this thesis document. A core operating principle of BOOM! is that economic stability and social stability are intricately intertwined. Research shows that living on a low income causes increased stressors in one’s life; by providing an out to economic distress, we can increase the mental and physical wellbeing of an individual. By compounding the experiences of individuals into cohorts of community changemakers, we can slowly influence and sustainably change entire communities.

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Investing in What Works for American Communities. San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank. 2012. http://www.frbsf.org/community-development/files/investing-in-what-works.pdf

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Stuck in Place: Urban Neighborhoods and the End of Progress toward Racial Equality. Sharkey, Patrick. University of Chicago Press 2012.

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The PEW Charitable Trusts. "Mobility and the Metropolis". 2013. http://www.pewstates.org/research/reports/mobility-and-the-metropolis-85899523652

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EVIDENCE OF THE PHENOMENON

33.4%

CHILDREN LIVING UNDER THE FEDERAL POVERTY LINE IN BALTIMORE CITY

USA AVERAGE 22%

18.8%

HOUSEHOLDS LIVING UNDER FEDERAL POVERTY LINE IN BALTIMORE CITY

USA AVERAGE 14.9%

20.4%

OVER AGE 25 WITHOUT A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA OR GED IN BALTIMORE CITY

USA AVERAGE 14.3%

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INCIDENTS OF REPORTED CRIME PER 1000 RESIDENTS OF BALTIMORE CITY

USA AVERAGE 28.6

6.4%

CHANCE OF MOVING FROM THE BOTTOM FIFTH INCOME LEVEL TO THE TOP FIFTH WITHIN A LIFETIME IN BALTIMORE

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The Equality of Opportunity Project. "Mobility In the 100 Largest Communiting Zones". 2012. http://www.equality-of-opportunity.org/index. php/city-rankings/city-rankings-100

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National Center for Children in Poverty. "Child Poverty". 2012. http://www.nccp.org/topics/childpoverty.html

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United States Census USA Quick Facts. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html

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Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance Vital Signs 12 Report. 2014. http://bniajfi.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/VS12_Crime.pdf

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Federal Bureu of Investivation. http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-releases-2012-crime-statistics 13

MY CONNECTION I am interested in finding the intersection of technology, entrepreneurship and community empowerment because it is integral to who I am as a person. I grew up in a working class family with an immigrant parent. In the family of six, there were times where we subsisted on federal assistance programs. For the first decade of my life, I remember traveling around our city via the bus system, and I am a result of a public school education. Despite this, I am incredibly privileged as a white male in American society. My parents encouraged me to pursue my interests, no matter what they were. As a result of the incredibly supportive network I built at home and in school, I am a successful first generation college student, and the first in my family to earn a graduate degree.

While in college, I persued a number of interests. I held leadership roles in queer activism groups, founded and hosted Kentucky's first queer news and talk radio show for a number of years. My studies spanned technology, the arts, design and social science. BOOM! is really the culmination of all the moving parts in my life and my attempt at generalizing the advice, mentors and skills that have helped me along the way.

Upon arriving in Baltimore at the beginning of my graduate studies, I elected to live in MICA PLACE, a satellite campus of MICA located in the heart of East Baltimore. It is here that I befriended community members around me, and spent time exploring truly empathetic approaches to social design. Many of the people I've worked with over the past nine months have become personal friends of mine. I am absolutely certain that I've learned more from them then they from me. Attending community meetings, religious services, and even funeral visitations have been the most powerful, inspiring and humbling moments of my life.

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MICA PLACE

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A SOBERING, HUMBLING REALITY On the evening of April 14th, Raysharde Kevin Sinclair was fatally stabbed on the 5100 block of York Road1. As I sat in the funeral home on North Avenue during his visitation a week and a half later, everything I've done this year became suddenly real. Sinclair was murdered just a year after graduating high school, and at the age of 18 should have had a bright career in front of him.

He wanted to start a small business in apparel design.

On the afternoon of February 19th at the intersection of Jefferson St. and Lakewood Ave in Baltimore, a house caught fire and exploded. Troy Douglas, an 8 year old boy walking home from nearby William Paca Elementary school was the unfortunate victim of an unfixed natural gas leak2. The tragedy brought the McElderry Park community together to celebrate the life of the young boy, but also brought to light the conditions that companies and governments are allowing to exist in our city. While I didn't personally know Troy, I am friends with people impacted by his passing.

The stories of both of these untimely deaths crystallize for me the dire situation Baltimore City is in. They are but few of hundreds of young men and women who die on the streets of Baltimore each year at the hands of economic uncertainty and grave social injustice. I am driven by stories like these to push for systemic, meaningful and sustainable social change. In places like Baltimore, it's a matter of life and death.

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The Baltimore Sun. "Two Teenagers Killed in Baltimore This Week". April 18, 2014. http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2014-04-18/ news/bs-md-ci-michael-mayfield-canvas-20140418_1_northwest-baltimore-homicide-victim

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CBS Baltimore. "Boy, 8, Walking Home From School Killed By Debris In Rowhome Fire, Collapse". February 20, 2014. http://baltimore. cbslocal.com/2014/02/20/boy-8-killed-walking-by-row-home-as-it-exploded-in-east-baltimore-ided/ 17

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RESEARCH & CONTEXT

"NUMBER ONE: MOVE YOUR DESIGN STUDIO, YOUR CLASSROOM, CITY HALL, AND YOUR COMMUNITY MEETING TO THE SIDEWALK." —Alex Gilliam, Department of Making+Doing

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BALTIMORE TECHNOLOGY

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OPPORTUNITY AND POTENTIAL Baltimore is a weak city positioned in a strong region. The economy of cyber security, computer programming and digital fabrication rank incredibly high in this region: in a 2011 study, over a quarter of the region's manufacturing jobs were considered "very high tech," and a quarter of the region's overall job 1 market is in computers and technology . This bodes well for Baltimore City, which has a high unemployment rate (as described in Problem Definition). Many organizations in the area, such as Year Up!, the Digital Harbor Foundation (photographed), Baltimore Node, Girl Develop It!, and others all focus on teaching and developing young adults and children into tech-savvy employees.

There are many hacker and maker groups which meet regulary in Baltimore. My personal observation of those in attendance, however, indicated a pecular but not unexpected fact: the participants in high-tech interest groups do not reflect the demographics of the City of Baltimore. In fact, people of color and people from lower socio-economic statuses are vastly underrepresented in most tech groups in the area. While some organizations make an effort to reach out and be inclusive, many do not many such a conscious effort. And while all of them are open to more diverse populations, access is a huge barrier. The transportation system in Baltimore is fragmented and unreliable, making many parts of the city impractical to travel to or completely inaccessible. Time constraints and budgetary constraints are also relevant barriers. These are some of the barriers I realized needed to be overcome in order to have an effective technology community: we need to be inclusive, accessable and supportive.

Early in my research, I advocated for a fully connected network of organizations to share resources and people, where nomadic groups could have the same impact as those with physical spaces. I am happy to see that today we are closer to realizing that goal with increased organization among Baltimore's fragmented technology community.

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"Baltimore area has high share of high-tech manufacturing jobs" Baltimore Sun. 2012. http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-05-09/business/bs-bz-baltimore-manufacturing-20120509_1_manufacturing-jobs-baltimore-region-baltimore-area 21

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

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GROWTH AND SUPPORT Baltimore is also home to a growing network of people interested in social entrepreneurship. This year, I connected with members of the Baltimore Social Enterprise Alliance through the Social Enterprise Breakfasts, SocEnt Hustles, and connected facilitated by the coursework at MICA and the University of Baltimore.

A healthy community of entrepreneurship and people interested in social impact work creates a great environment in which to launch BOOM! programming.

I very consciously this year explored the ins and outs of social entrepreneurship within Baltimore. Because of my lack of formal business or finance training, I completed a course in organizational structure and finance at the University of Baltimore. This helped with my vision of what is possible in entrepreneurship, including business models, structures, and possible renevue streams. I also networked with Ashoka and AshokaU, the Clinton Global Initiative, and other national and international organizations as inspiration and support for my own work.

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THE LEGACY OF JOHNS HOPKINS The Johns Hopkins Hospital has consistently been among the highest rated and top performing research hospitals 1 in the world . There are, however, numerous accounts of unethical behavior and a hotly contested history between the East Baltimore-based medical institution and the population in neighborhoods surrounding it. Most notable are the story of Henrietta Lacks, a poor Black woman who saught treatment at the hospital and is now immor2 talized in cancer research labs around the world .

Other research studies include a study on lead paint conducted in the late 1990's and early 2000's on chil3 dren in East Baltimore , another study that spread potentially hazardous waste on families' property without 4 fully disclosing possible risks . These studies are the recent examples of potentially unethical behavior that have led neighborhood residents to have distrust of their local anchor institution. Many people I've interacted with have colloqially told me of legends of "body snatchers" when they were growing up. Others live with the legacy of substandard medical care from free clinic hours.

Hopkins' actions are greatly overshadowed today by the public-private partnership with the City of Baltimore

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called the East Baltimore Development, Incorporated (EBDI). This project began in 2001 as a $1.8 billion in5 vestment to redevelop 88 acres of East Baltimore. Middle East, the neighborhood immediately east of Hopkins campus and most impacted by the project, led a battle against the project. The Historical East Baltimore Community Action Coalition (HEBCAC) and Saving Middle East Action Coalition (SMEAC), both resident-led activist groups documented and make noise of the struggle.

While I won't go into detail about the project itself, a recent book by Marisela B. Gomez, who was a Hopkins graduate student and community activist during the peak of EBDI, outlines in depth the impact Hopkins developments have had in the past and current state of community in East Baltimore. Below and across this spread, I've included excerpts from her work highlighting the key failure points of Hopkins' redevelopment efforts in the 6 past half century. While Hopkins is not the only force acting upon underprivileged neighborhoods in East Baltimore (gentrification from Patterson Park, Highlandtown and Upper Fells being other major factors), it does play a considerable role in the social fabric of the community.

Both projects [the Broadway Redevelopment Project and Middle East Baltimore/EBDI project] changed plans to construct affordable housing to accommodate return of residents by citing lack of sufficient financial resources to construct affordable housing. Both projects highlight the strong bonding public-private partnership between government and JHMI though city-funded infrastructure updates, acquisition, demolition and preparation of land for the private developer to eventually lease or own, and public subsidies.

The second type of rebuilding […] is the Gay Street I people-lead community development. residents were organized and insistent that the broken promises and lack of transparency of their city and state representatives and their prestigious neighbor [Johns Hopkins] which shut them out before, during and after the redevelopment project was not going to happen again. This redevelopment project resulted in less people displaced, more affordable housing built, and resident participation in all aspects of planning and implementation—a people and place based initiative. It was the same urban renewal strategies, same housing policies, but with community participation before a plan was put together and it maintained consistent community input through organized pressure from residents. What was missing in this people-based initiative was long-term economic opportunities—employment, training, business opportunities—for wealth gain for the residents of the rebuilt place.

— Excerpt from “Race, Class, Power and Community Organizing in East Baltimore” by Marisela B. Gomez

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(Press release). Johns Hopkins Medicine. 2011. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/the_johns_hopkins_hospital_tops_us_ news__world_report_honor_roll_19th_year_in_a_row

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Rebecca Skloot (2 February 2010). The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Random House Digital, Inc.

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"Justice and Fairness in the Kennedy Krieger Institute Lead Paint Study: the Ethics of Public Health Research on Less Expensive, Less Effective Interventions". Am J Public Health. 2006 May; 96(5): 781–787.doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2005.063719

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" Johns Hopkins University Responds to Allegations Toxic Sludge Tested as Lead Poisoning Fix in Poor Black Neighborhoods ". Democracy Now!. 2012. http://www.democracynow.org/2008/5/23/johns_hopkins_university_responds_to_allegations

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"Too Big to Fail: Betting a Billion on East Baltimore". The Daily Record. 2012. http://thedailyrecord.com/too-big-to-fail-betting-a-billion-oneast-baltimore/

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"Race, Class, Power and Community Organizing in East Baltimore: Rebuilding Abandoned Communities in America". Marisela B. Gomez.

2012. Lexington Books.

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EBDI ZONE

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JOHNS HOPKINS

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MCELDERRY PARK

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ROSE ST. COMMUNITY GARDEN Photographed is the Rose St. Community Garden, which is on the 600 block of N Rose St. in McElderry Park. The garden is one of several managed by the Amazing Grace Lutheran Church on McElderry St. I participated in gardening days, helped mow the lot during the summer, and adopted a garden plot to cultivate my own vegetables.

On July 17th, 2013, I spent several hours mowing the lot to eliminate a large patch of three foot high grass. While working, I met a group of men who met regularly next to the the block to play cards. I learned that they were repeatedly the victims of bullying from the Police. They told me stories of difficulties trying to find a shaded place to hang out during the day and socialize. Two of the men, George and Pryor, also had plots in the adjacent garden. Both helped me in clearing out tall grass and pulling weeds.

That day, I began to understand the points of contention between community members and officials. That level of distrust extends for many institutions, including the ever present Johns Hopkins Hospital just a few block away. Outside forces, like the East Baltimore Development, Inc., a history of unethical research from Johns Hopkins, redlining, and mass incarceration all play a major factor in the social fabric of neighborhoods in East Baltimore like McElderry Park.

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STOP, LISTEN AND LEARN The most important aspect to Social Design research is direct observation and listening to your audience. The following pages contain fragments of information that I found relevant to the intervention I developed.

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RESIDENT EXPRESSED NEEDS As part of the selection process for funding of the Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Grant that the neighborhood recieved from the United States Department of Justice, residents participated in numerous litening sessions, focus groups and meetings. The image on the preceeding spread is one such meeting in Novermber 2013. Photographed on this spread are posters of the desired types of programs that emerged from the research process. I've also included some key quotes from community members at the Novermber sharing sessions.

"PROPERTY CRIMES ARE BECAUSE OF WANTS AND NEEDS. YOU WANT AN IPHONE 5 AND CAN’T AFFORD IT, SO YOU BUY IT OFF THOSE GUYS WHO STEAL IT. YOU PAY $200, THOSE GUYS MAKE SOME MONEY AND THE SYSTEM KEEPS GOING." — Tayvon Harris, McElderry Park Resident and Community Activist

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"ANY OF THESE BLOCKS [IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD] COULD BE HOTSPOTS [FOR CRIME]. IT’S ALL JUST ABOUT SUPPRESSION TACTICS. IT JUST MOVES SOMEWHERE ELSE." "THE SHOOTING AND THE STABBINGS ARE ALL THE YOUNG GUYS, 16 TO 21 OR 22, 23. IT’S GANG-RELATED. THE OLDER GUYS AREN'T DOING ANYTHING" — Kennard Harris, McElderry Park Resident and Community Activist 33

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A profile: From Prison to Promise Long-term Imprisonment, leads to.. homelessness, disabled, senior citizen and endless frustration

By Claude Simon aka Michael Perry I am far too naïve to suppress the urge to cry, and too aware of my condition to leave it unattended. Therefore, I address my concerns to an an attentive ear. I need HELP!!, tangible help in the form of housing (I am a senior citizen with a verified disability), employment, and working with young men in our community in an attempt to reduce the abhorrent behavior, patterns that lead to crime, violence and ultimately, being problematic rather than pro-active.

My name is Claude Simon (aka Michael Perry) a name that I have disdained for the last four decades, three of which has been spent behind bars. I was released on parole August 20th, 2012, and I presently reside in a transition house. I am unemployed, but eager to begin work as a counselor, mentor, tutor, or working in some capacity with young men who feel a sense of hopelessness.

Therein lies my desire to assist our youth, our returning citizens and society at large, in a meaningful way. Basically I just want to be an asset to my race, to positively impact a generation seemingly “lost” (gone astray). A generation that has bridged the gap with young men who add value to my life, men who have made my freedom actually mean something.

I am a 63 year old with a verified disability, yet after being home for 16 months, I am homeless. Believe me, I understand the process and I have been patient. Nevertheless, I am without a home, having never received a response to any of my inquiries concerning housing and employment. I have a degree in general studies and I am willing to work in a volunteer capacity with our youth.

Again, my letter is an attempt to acquire some help. More than anything, I’d love to have my very own home, a place where I can lay my head, defecate without a constant roommate, shower without being on the clock, and be peaceful, comfortable, and working with a segment of our youthful population who can benefit from my 30 years of imprisonment minus actually being a number. You feel me?? I want to share the love I have been shown and spread the HOPE I feel all around. There are no hopeless situations only those who have grown hopeless about theirs.

Please Help in any way possible, I’ve written, I’ve pleaded my cause, all to no avail.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Claude Simon (aka Mike Perry) 410-262-6083 P.S. Although I am presently unemployed since I have been home, I have worked with the American Friends Service Committee (afsc) as a program assistant and I am now trying to get my own program off the ground “F.R.E.S.H.” – Fully Restoring Every Sons Hope Amen.

— As featured in the April/May 2014 edition of the McElderry Park Star Newspaper 37

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"I MADE SPAGHETTI THE OTHER DAY, AND ALL THE NOODLES STUCK TOGETHER. I CALLED MY SISTER AND SHE SAID PUT SOME OIL IN IT, AND THEN THE NOODLES DIDN’T STICK TOGETHER. BUT PEOPLE AREN’T LIKE SPAGHETTI. PEOPLE NEED TO STICK TOGETHER." — Ronald Rucker, McElderry Park Resident

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INTERVENTION

"ONE FAMILY IS ALL THAT YOU NEED. ONE FAMILY TALKS TO ANOTHER FAMILY, AND THAT'S A START." —Warren Street, Vice President of the McElderry Park Community Association

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THEORY OF CHANGE

If we provide a space for people to have access to technology, resources and a mentorship network to explore entrepreneurship, then we can foster healthy, empathetic, economically vibrant communities.

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LEVELS OF ANALYSIS We can think of the intervention and the specific levers of change as addressing issues at a multitude of levels. Ultimately, a comprehensive solution to any social problem involves looking at all levels and providing wrap-around support for each level. The main strata to observe are: 1.

Individual level. These are issues that are specific to a person and their characteristics psychologically, physiologically or physically.

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Micro level. These are issues relevant in a small group of people, for example within a family, classroom or among a group of friends.

3.

Meso level. These are issues that are affected at the level of entire schools, neighborhoods, cities, religious congregations, etc.

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Macro level. These are the highest order of issues and relate to systemic problems. They occur within cultures, belief systems, mass media, government policy, and social movements.

INDIVIDUAL LEVEL

MICRO LEVEL

Looking at the environment of East Baltimore, the largest problem that affects people on an individual basis is likely a criminal record or previous incarceration. While I do believe that many people posses a criminal record or were incarcerated unjustly due to larger issues (such as zero tolerance policy, informal economies that fill a need in economic stability, etc.), this is a major barrier to employment to many people. Additionally, other individual factors such as the effects of lead paint poisoning and physical disabilities exist.

As a result of political policy and certain law enforcement strategies, many families have difficulty achieving upward socio-economic mobility. A large portion of homes in East Baltimore are single-mother homes, and many men have been imprisoned or detained at least once in their life. This sort of social instability within family life plays a factor in preventing healthy community social bonding, and contributes to a toxic cycle of expectations of poverty within the family.

MESO LEVEL

MACRO LEVEL

This is the level which most concerns my interventions.

At this level, I consider a blanket lack of access of post-industrial economic opportunity. Few to no high tech spaces exist in communities of East Baltimore that are predominantly low income people of color. At the neighborhood level, there is an important aspect of social cohesion that creates resilient communities and prepares the people living within them for upward socio-economic mobility.

By providing access and support within a neighborhood that doesn't exist here but does exist elsewhere, we can change the situation and provide more equal and just communities.

At the very top level, there exists the living legacy of systemic racism and perpetuation of poverty. I believe that by addressing issues affecting the meso level, we can scale up and replicate to eventually push the lever on macro level issues. Baltimore, and in general lower income people and people of color have been the victims of redlining, segregation, social and economic oppression for entire generations. We can only begin to tackle those issues by working at levers that we can change, and hope that as more and more interventions exist and sustain, we can slowly create a tipping point at the macro level.

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BARRIERS TO ADOPTION There are two major factors which drive adoption of my interventions: building trust and sustainable funding. In order to address those barriers in a more tangible way, I've adapted some terminology and methods from the technology sector. Specifically, the five characteristics and the curve on this spread are adopted from the book "Diffusions of Innovations" by Everett M. Rogers.

OBSERVABLE RESULTS The easier it is for individuals to see the results of an innovation, the more likely they are to adopt it. Visible results lower uncertainty and also stimulate peer discussion of a new idea, as friends and neighbors of an adopter often request information about it.

Many of the levers described in this thesis have immediate observable results: launching a newspaper has a physical paper, and entrepreneurs have actual businesses. It is important to be multi-faceted in comprehensive community development and empowerment so that people see some actionable result from their participation.

ADOPTION CURVE All new innovations are adopted by different people with different characteristics. When considering implimenting or layering on additional community programming, it is important to create and evaluate metrics in the short and long term according to the anticipated rate of adoption. In the diagram below, the proportion of the total number of people who will adopt agiven set of programming at any time is outlined. This means that until a program is well established, it is okay to have smaller enrollment numbers.

INNOVATORS 2.5% 44

EARLY ADOPTERS 13.5%

COMPATIBILITY WITH EXISTING VALUES AND PRACTICES The degree to which an innovation is perceived as being consistent with the values, past experiences, and needs of potential adopters. An idea that is incompatible with their values, norms or practices will not be adopted as rapidly as an innovation that is compatible.

By spending most of the upfront time learning and engaging within a community, I as a designer can mitigate this barrier by making sure I understand the cultural and social context in which the intervention occurs. Specifically, I partnered with existing resident-led initiatives and layered programming into them. This means that by working in partnership with residents, I gain community trust and do not thrust new ideas into their lives. The McElderry Park Star and the approach to BOOM! Academy workshops happens in this way.

EARLY MAJORITY 34%

LATE MAJORITY 34%

LAGGARDS 16%

SIMPLICITY AND EASE OF USE

TRIALABILITY

The degree to which an innovation is perceived as difďŹ cult to understand and use. New ideas that are simpler to understand are adopted more rapidly than innovations that require the adopter to develop new skills and understandings.

The degree to which an innovation can be experimented with on a limited basis. An innovation that is trialable represents less uncertainty to the individual who is considering it.

This barrier is a challenge for much of the BOOM! proposal. Many people in low income communities attend understaffed and under-resourced schools and do not have access to cutting edge technology and people who can teach how to use it. To address this, BOOM! emphasizes low-tech entrepreneurship in conjunction with high-tech approaches. The hope is that by harnessing the entrepreneurial spirit of participants, the digital aspects of the intervention will become more relevant because there is a clear purpose to learning them.

Outside of the mixed approach, initial BOOM! programming will be low cost or free to prevent people who would otherwise feel financially excluded from participating. I believe that if the program gains traction, then we can start charging fees for the program moving forward. This is in line with behavioral characteristics of early and late majority adopters.

By lowering the costs to participate and providing space and time to those who are willing to participate, I hope this intervention is seen as something trialable and ultimately gains traction. One of the core tenants of the design process is rapid iteration. Each of the workshop and levers of change is done low-tech first, and the cirriculum should build and become more advances as we discover more effective methods of teaching and doing.

RELATIVE ADVANTAGE The degree to which an innovation is perceived as better than the idea it supersedes by a particular group of users, measured in terms that matter to those users, like economic advantage, social prestige, convenience, or satisfaction. The greater the perceived relative advantage of an innovation, the more rapid its rate of adoption is likely to be. There are no absolute rules for what constitutes “relative advantage�. It depends on the particular perceptions and needs of the user group.

I'll make little claim that BOOM! methodology is better than any other existing example. I've approached my design intervention in a different way by focusing most on community empowerment and elevating previously unheard voices in disadvantages populations. Rather than compete for resources, I've elected to partner with organizations and share. This has been mutually beneficial by making my costs leaner and their programming richer. To that end, the need for positive community development is sufficiently great that any thoughtful intervention is good.

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MODELS OF DESIGN INTERACTION I've worked closely this semester with Jonathan Erwin, an MA Social Design 2013 graduate and the 2013-2014 Robert W Deutsch Foundation Social Design Fellow. Our work has intersected in McElderry Park, and we have worked together to find new methods of design work in contemporary social design practice. He often helped facilitate the BOOM! workshops, and played an important role in helping make the McElderry Park Star newspaper.

While thinking about how the role of the designer is shifting today, we created a matrix of design interactions.

We define three broad models: traditional design with designer as creator, participatory design with designer as translator, and empowerment design with designer as facilitator. We've defined the "designer" being a trained individual, "client" as the recipient of some creation, and a box representing some creation. We do not define whether the creation is physical or ephemeral; in fact, for the future of social design, we believe that more and more creations will be of the latter. Once definig the players in design, we devised three metrics for evaluating the interactions. Each metric corresponds to a broad generaliza-

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tion and not a specific or guaranteed trait. Those three metrics are ownership of the creation from the "designer" or "client", the amount of time and effort required to produce a creation, and finally the ease of adoption of said creation by the "client".

Intuitively, there are many more nuances to the models of interaction than the three presented in this thesis document. We have generated a table of 27 variants on three basic models. However, I believe that three broad generalizations are sufficient for this thesis publication. We intend to publish the full set at a date later than the completion of this thesis document. Finally, I must note that we do not necessarily advocate for one particular model of interaction over another. We contend that each model is appropriate for a different situation. As you analyze the levers for change expressed in this thesis, you will notice that a single interaction can compose of multiple models.

I do think that as we move forward into an era of more socially-conscious designers, collaborative and empowerment models will become more and more the norm.

TRADITIONAL DESIGN: DESIGNER AS CREATOR

Iterative

Authorship: Client length of process: slow

.

Ease of adoption:

In this model of design interaction, a client approaches a designer with a given set of parameters and expected output. Oftentimes the designer will put forth a variety of solutions and a client will choose one. This model is characterized by high authorship on the designer end and little on the customer side. Every time that a customer needs an alteration or new product, they must hire a designer repeatedly. This also means the client is likely getting exactly what they set out to attain with minimal difficulties on their part.

high

Designer fast low

The benefits of this model is that ease of adoption is high as the creation is specifically requested by the client and the turnaround can be fast because the designer is an expert in their field. However, authorship to the client is low and the client is now able to create their own solutions to a given problem. Good business for the designer, but potentially expensive or the client. The designer also risks creating inappropriate solutions for the designer due to lack of communication, or a lack of social and cultural understanding.

COMMON EXAMPLES Traditional Web Design Traditional Product Design Traditional Print Design Corporate Social Responsibility

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COLLABORATIVE DESIGN: DESIGNER AS TRANSLATOR

Participatory

Authorship: Client length of process: slow Ease of adoption:

In this model of design, a client still approaches the designer with a problem parameter, but rather than relying on the designer to create the final product, the client plays a major role in the creation. I would argue this is a common type of design today with community development coporations and other NGO-type organizations.

Here, people who will be affected by the creation participate in the final product creation. This model is characterized by high iteration and constant communication between the client and the designer. Authorship is there-

COMMON EXAMPLES Non-Governmental Organizations Community Development Organizations Government Outreach (Comment Periods, etc.)

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high

Designer fast low

fore shared among the two groups. This process can take much longer than the traditional approach. In fact, processes which would take shorter periods of time than the traditional model can be stretched to months or years.

While the ease of adoption is high for whatever the final outcome is, this model often does not move from planning stages into implimentation. Ultimately, this model also relies on the trained designer to create the final product.

While clients participate in the conceptualization and ideation, the designer still creates the final outputs.

EMPOWERMENT DESIGN: DESIGNER AS FACILITATOR

Empowerment

Authorship: Client length of process: slow Ease of adoption:

The final of the three major categories of design is empowerment design, with the designer as facilitator of a set of ideas. This approach means that a client may approach a designer with problem parameters, but the designer does not create the final product. Rather, the designer sets up a situation in which skills are transferred to the client, and then guides or mentors the client in creating their own solutions. A core principle of this model of interation is that problems are not a scarcity. By allowing skilled designers to pass on their trade, we can democratize design and break down barriers of education and money to those who can do it. Ultimately, we can create an army of designers that can tackle some of society's most challenging issues. This is a systemic approach to design issues: rather than recognizing an individual's lack of ability to create a final output, the empowerment approach recognizes that the social situation the client is in has disallowed them from accessing the power of design. The designer's role is now to help people create

high

Designer fast low

solutions for situations they experience themselves, and are therefore the experts in.

The weaknesses of this model is that the timeline is extraordinarily longer than the previous two models. However, I believe that this model has the highest potential for creating sustainable design changes, particularly when we are working on complex or social issues. Authorship is ultimately on the client. Ease of adoption is very high because those people adopting the change are the very ones creating it.

It is my opinion that this is the frontier model of social designers. For that reason, the following section of implimentation and levers of change explores how empowerment design can become relevant in an East Baltimore community. The six interventions I conducted and propose to move forward are a combination of all three models, with an emphasis on creating lasting and meaningful social change by empowering people to become designers in their own communities.

COMMON EXAMPLES Community schools Trade Schools and Colleges BOOM! (This Thesis)

— Diagrammatic representations drafted by Jonathan Erwin 49

AUDIENCE The primary audience that I want to impact are young adults just out of high school age, who exhibit one or more of the following characteristics: 1.

May or may not have completed high school or GED

2.

Have little to no college experience, and no formal college degree or certificate

3.

Have been previously incarcerated or have some criminal record as a barrier employment

4.

Ages 18 - 30 (Broader definition of "youth")

5.

Have little to no opportunity for employment or socio-economic mobility otherwise

6.

Are unemployed or underemployed

7.

At risk of or are experiencing poverty

These are the defining characteristics I've identified through attending community groups and researching data collected by the Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance. For the initial group attending BOOM! Academy workshops component of my intervention, most people matched most of these criteria. I worked early on with David Harris, a community activist, founder of the McElderry Park Basketball League and #Reconstruct #Rebuild to find participants for BOOM!. This symbiotic relationship worked well as an exchange: I had access to my targeted demographic, and I facilitated much needed skills exchange.

Moving forward, my audience is broadening. I have found that a more holistic approach to technology and entrepreneurship education is necessary. As such, I partnered with the Mayor's Office on Economic Development and the Baltimore Development Corporation to work with small businesses, community groups in need of communication strategies with the McElderry Park Star, and grassroots organizations in need of branding strategies with #Reconstruct #Rebuild. The audience for each intervention component (outlined in Levers for Change) is specific to the goal, task, and needs of the community with which I work.

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X-FELONS UNITED AWARDS CEREMONY On January 18th, 2014, the Amazing Grace Lutheran Church and the Rose Street Community Center hosted an awards ceremony to congratulate several men who have made the mark to three years out of prison. Mr. C, who runs the Center gave a talk about how 1.1 billion dollars of the Maryland state budget is earmarked for returning offenders, and the state banks on ex-felons to return to prison within three years. He spoke of the expected recidivism and institutionalization particularly of black men in Baltimore City, and the cycle that is expected in the prison pipeline.

He then highlighted these men as examples of what can happen when you take matters into your own hands. One man in particular, Errol, who is on the right in the front row of the image, spoke of how he was in for 27 years, and this April he will celebrate 4 years out.

After the ceremony in the sanctuary, we all went down-

stairs to the fellowship hall to share a lunch. I sat at a table with Errol, Pastor Gary, and another man whose name I didn’t pick up. Errol spoke about how he believes that you have to want to change from within, and that it’s possible to change, but society makes it hard. There are many men who are skilled and can work, but their criminal record automatically excludes them from employment. Errol has found work currently at a McDonalds, but wants to see himself and his peers move up in society.

It was really just heartbreaking and irritating to remember the institutionalized prejudice out there against people like these men. There is a lot of (really almost justified) hate and anger on both sides of the issue. Opportunity is one of the answers, I whole-heartedly believe that.

Just getting everyone to talk to each other and then pony up with real economic opportunities and living-wage employment is really difficult.

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LEVERS OF CHANGE

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DIGITAL MANUFACTURING MADE IN MCELDERRY PARK The Makerspace movement has empowered a generation of make-it-yourselfers, enabling mass customization of physical products through digital fabrication techniques like 3D printing, CNC mills and Laser cutters. BOOM! provides basic knowledge and skills of low-cost, open-source tools to inspire local residents with barriers to employment to be 3D modelers and create boutique-style, customizable furnishings, jewelry or other items.

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Made In

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BOOM! WORKSHOP: INTRODUCTION TO 3D FABRICATION On Saturday, February 15th, a group of five community members from the East Baltimore neighborhood of McElderry Park came to MICA PLACE to participate in the second BOOM! Academy workshop: Introduction to 3D Fabrication. The planning stages for this workshop have been ongoing for several months, but finally came to life at this workshop. By partnering with community organizations (particularly with David Harris from the resident-led #Reconstruct #Rebuild movement and the Center for Grace-Full Living), I’ve been developing a platform to teach high-tech skillsets to at-risk young adults.

The goals of this workshop were to conduct an introductory course in digital fabrication and 3D modeling and connect the skills directly to monetization.

The entire session was planned to last five hours, but we completed it in three. The day was divided into three main sections: an introductory process whereby each participant learned how to use the Kinect sensor and Skanect software to create 3D scans of each other. I led the first scan, explaining the process and what was happening as I performed the first scan. Each subsequent subject then scanned the next person and so on, enforcing the learning goals and allowing each participant the moment to teach the next a new skill.

After we scanned each other, we enjoyed a brief lunch and talked a little bit more about what 3D fabrication was. Nobody in the room really understood what the process was or how it worked. Together, we watched a short TED talk on the technology, and I showed off some objects that were 3D printed on a small fused filament printer I had in the studio. The third section of the class then allowed each person to use a free online software called TinkerCAD to create their first 3D model.

This workshop was a great learning experience on multiple levels. I was hesitant at first to hold the workshop because it seemed a little design imperialist to drop in a solution. However, I made very clear the entire experience was simply about exposure to a concept, and not necessarily a solution to any given major problem. To my surprise, many of the participants responded positively. During our discussion session, several started to discuss business plan opportunities to capitalize on the technology. One young man in particular, the late Raysharde Sinclair (photographed opposite holding the Kinect Sensor), expressed an interest in incorporating 3D fabrication into a line of apparel he wanted to design. As part of my goal to connect to monetization, we opened up a Shapeways storefront that sells our creations in a variety of materials for zero capital cost to us. Upon completion of the workshop, each participant recieved a certificate and a 3D printed medallion to celebrate their work.

In a followup meeting I had a few days later with David Harris, we talked about the potential to make BOOM! Academy a place to bring together teaching digital fabrication and entrepreneurship and community development as a way to empower young men in the neighborhood to make a living with legitimate enterprises. Furthermore, we discussed using low-fidelity plastic prints as a way to lure in customers from Monument Street retailers. There exists potential to partner with groups like #Reconstruct #Rebuild to layer in this sort of digital entrepreneurship education as part of a holistic strategy to community development. In conjunction with open source software and hardware platforms, open source cirricula, and tech educational organizations like the Digital Harbor Foundation, BOOM! Academy is a promising prospect for McElderry Park.

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— Photographs courtesy of Jonathan Erwin 61

BRANDING & IDENTITY #RECONSTRUCT #REBUILD #Reconstruct #Rebuild is a resident-led movement in McElderry Park offering youth and adult sports leagues, youth mentorship, and other programs to encourage local youth to see opportunities beyond drugs, gangs and violence. BOOM! refined #Reconstruct #Rebuild’s visual identity to help reach potential funders and partners.

The workshop photographed here happened on December 7th, 2013 at the Center for Grace-Full Living in McElderry Park. The workshop facilitation guide appears in an appendix to this thesis document.

A writeup that appeared in the January/February 2014 edition of the McElderry Park Star is on the following spread.

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BOOM! Academy workshop Community residents gathered at the center for grace-full living on december 7th to work on strategizing and organizing neighborhood initiatives, focusing on #Reconstruct #rebuild On the morning of December 7th, about 15 people residents and stakeholders in McElderry Park gathered at the Center for Grace-Full Living to attend the first BOOM! Academy workshop. The workshop was facilitated by both myself and Jonathan Erwin and focused on using design thinking methods to organize and push forward the #Reconstruct #Rebuild movement. We began the morning with a listening session, spending about an hour and a half introducing ourselves to each other, and then talking about issues that affect the community. Several new faces showed up--thanks in no small part to the distribution of the first McElderry Park Star newsletter.

One voice in the crowd, Quandra Gaines from the Men & Families Center expressed her desire to see community associations and churches “work together and step up” to ignite real positive change in the neighborhood. Others talked about the deep divisions in the neighborhood.

James, a neighborhood resident, mentioned that people who are “up the hill, down the hill, we don’t talk to each other!” and questioned, “How do we break that?”

Dave Harris, Kennard Miles, and Tavon Miles have spent many months trying to rally the troops of the neighborhood do just that. The trio introduced the #Reconstruct #Rebuild movement, including the summer basketball league, and more initiatives they hope to launch this year. Dave explained that five core tenants define the movement: 1. Faith; 2. Character; 3. Education; 4. Sports; 5. Health. While the group took a break to eat lunch, Dave took the initiative to invite several youth in the neighborhood to enrich the conversation.

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After we finished eating, each member of the group was invited to share stories that influenced them in the neighborhood. On the wall of the room, a 4ft x 8ft map of McElderry Park hung; each participant put a dot where they lived, and a dot indicating a spot that had significance to them in the neighborhood. One of the more moving stories came from Kennard Miles, who remarked that the “alley right here is the alley where I got my start… and now I am trying to show people how to live better, in this building, on the same alley.”

Once the group finished sharing stories, we broke into three groups to develop action plans and next steps to move #Reconstruct #Rebuild forward. The three groups were: building bridges across the over 38 organizations and churches working in the area; figuring out how to increase community trust from all residents in the neighborhood; and how to make a visible impact improving the physical condition of the neighborhood, especially repairing the basketball court and playground in front of Tench Tilghman.

The day concluded with each team sharing their action plans. Since the workshop, a working group has formed to advocate on the neighborhood behalf to repair the court and playground at Tench. This newsletter is part of the progress—if you are interested in using this as a platform to express your voice and opinions of the newsletter, please do so!

— As featured in the January/February 2014 edition of the McElderry Park Star Newspaper

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— Photographs courtesy of #Reconstruct #Rebuild 69

3D TECHNOLOGY VISUALIZE YOURSELF IN 3D Few individuals in low resource communities have access to digital technology. BOOM! organizes workshops that make digital fabrication interesting and relevant to local young adults. Recently, we conducted workshops with local youth using Kinect 3D scanning technology to visualize themselves and to begin to explore the practical and playful applications of digital technology.

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COMMUNICATION MCELDERRY PARK STAR The McElderry Park Star emerged from a neighborhood leadership training in 2013. The newspaper provides a unified platform and voice for all community members, including those historically excluded such as currently and formerly incarcerated individuals. An open editorial board of 30 residents gathers content and hand-delivers the 3,000 copies across the neighborhood.

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RE-IMAGINING THE NEIGHBORHOOD NEWSLETTER In November 2013, a local organization called the Citizen’s Planning and Housing Administration hosted a two-day leadership training for residents of McElderry Park. One of the sessions talked about the importance of community newsletters: not just the utilitarian benefit of distributing information, but also in terms of the social impact and community building.

As a result, several residents formed a working group to create such a newsletter for their neighborhood. Because of our relationships through our work in the community, myself and Jonathan Erwin, a Social Design fellow from the Robert W Deutsch Foundation, got involved with the effort. We proffered our design knowledge and the weight of our respective institutions to help launch the paper.

What happened since then is an overwhelming amount of support from community organizations and neighborhood residents to contribute, design, and distribute the McElderry Park Star.

Here’s how it works: Every two months, a working group for the newsletter meets and discusses content for the paper. Our editorial board is open for anyone to participate. A few core members of the team that regularly attend to make the effort grows, and many other community members have varying levels of commitment.

Most importantly, all the content of the paper—text, photographs, maps—is generated by community residents.

We spotlight positive movements and hope in a community that has experienced and is overcoming decades of crime, drugs, gangs and socio-economic and racial

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discrimination. We believe that highlighting individual changemakers in the community is vital to achieve our goal. Each issue, we also feature a “Meet Your Neighbor” section, where we profile community members who are making a positive social impact in their neighborhood.

Once the paper is laid out and content assembled, we print and publish 3000 copies of the 16-page tabloid newspaper. On distribution Saturdays, 20 to 25 community residents come to a local church and for a quick breakfast and social time. Over coffee, participants divide up on a block-by-block basis and over the course of the following two to three hours distribute over 2000 copies of the paper—by hand, personally—to every home in the community.

We believe that the value of our approach is incredible.

Since we’ve begun publishing, we’ve observed a marked increase in attendance of community meetings and functions. We’re getting residents of the community who otherwise didn’t know how to get involved participating with their neighbors. We’re connecting people to services they didn’t know existed—be it educational, workforce training, after school activities for youth, or healthcare.

Residents love our personal hand delivery process.

People inspired by the fact that someone respect them enough to interact before delivering the paper. We encourage conversation and meeting neighbors. It’s a notable and sharp contrast to traditional delivery methods that operate on the principle of efficiency and end up with papers dropped on stoops or thrown at doors.

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As the papers are all sorted, folded and prepared for distribution, community members select blocks they will deliver to according to a map similar to the one below. Each person is responsible for delivering papers to entire blocks or stores as they choose. Papers are delivered to places of businesses in addition to residential homes and community centers.

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“

Help us! Give this newsletter a name!

Send us a catchy title no later than January 2nd, 2014 and make your mark on McElderry Park!

A McElderry Park Newsletter, made by and for the Residents of McElderry Park

”

November & December 2013

Basketball League Champions

2013 McElderry Park Basketball League Champions

The McElderry Park Basketball League was an 8-week basketball tournament that was held over the summer. The League was sponsored by Johns Hopkins, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Safe Streets East, and the Center for Grace-Full Living. Six teams, with guys in the neighborhood ages 16-30, played each Saturday afternoon on the outdoor courts at Tench Tilghman. We’ll be starting up the league again soon and we’ll be soliciting registration materials from all participants.

The Team Top Row, Left to right: Terrelle Martin, Brian Lewis Sr., Kennard Miles, Sean Mapp, Jason Carr Kneeling, Left to right: Alan Carr, Jr., Tavon Miles, Charles Bowman

Photograph: Amy Yockus Hartman

Block-by-Block for Health and Hope

Neighborhood Navigators to get started in East Baltimore

By Mike Rogers and Leon Purnell

Someone may be coming to your door soon! Starting this month, East Baltimore residents will begin going block-by-block to make sure neighbors can access health care when they need it.

We all know someone – maybe a family member, friend, or neighbor – who has had trouble getting what they need when their sick. We know what can happen in those situations, when people are worried about how to pay their BGE bill or buy school clothes for a child or grandchild. They might put off going to the doctor, or not get their medication, because there is simply so much going on. These everyday social determinants cause East Baltimore residents to get sick more and die earlier than residents of other neighborhoods. For example, there is a 20 year difference in life expectancy between McElderry Park and Roland Park. We believe that this is a fundamental injustice, and that with the right partnerships, residents of East Baltimore can lead efforts to improve the health of our neighbors by doing what we do best – caring and building relationships on our blocks.

For more than a year and a half, a group of East Baltimore residents from McElderry Park and nearby neighborhoods, as well as community-based organizations, churches and health care providers that work in the area, have been collaborating to improve the health of the community. We developed a community-led plan to reduce health disparities by improving support for health in our neighborhood.

As part of this effort, we are beginning to recruit and train more than 30 individuals – some of whom live in McElderry Park – as neighborhood navigators. Neighborhood navigators are East Baltimore residents who have a strong interest in improving the health of our neighbors and of the East Baltimore community broadly. These individuals will work “block-by-block” as a volunteer community health organizer to build relationships and promote health and wellbeing on and around their own blocks. Their activities will include weekly outreach to raise awareness about health and social service resources; assisting and accompanying neighbors in making and maintaining connections to resources; supporting adherence to care; providing social support; participation in training and support meetings with program staff; and regular participation in community organizing activities. A strong familiarity with health and social service resources is preferred.

They will receive a stipend for a commitment of 7-8 hours of work weekly.

We are just getting started, but we believe this effort will make a big difference for McElderry Park, one block at a time.

This program developed is part of the Tumaini (Hope) for Health Partnership, which is a new component of the Johns Hopkins Community Health Partnership and emerged from resident-driven planning for an East Baltimore Health Enterprise Zone.

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McElderry Park Star A McElderry Park Newsletter, made by and for the Residents of McElderry Park

Winter 2014

Northeast Market Grand Re-Opening

By Jeff Thompson of the Historical East Baltimore Community Action Coalition On December 11th the Northeast Market celebrated tion, Johns Hopkins, and the Historic East Baltimore its Grand Re-Opening after completing a $2 million Community Action Coalition (HEBCAC). Additional renovation of the market’s exterior and interior. The funding for the project has been provided by East project included a new façade, energy efficient exte- Baltimore Development, the Abell and France Merrior and interior lighting, new banners and signage rick foundations, the State of Maryland, Baltimore designed by MICA students, and renovated market City and Mr. Wally Pinkard. stalls. Market patrons will also now have more pub- En Español lic seating for dining and a new shared-use space will be available for community services and for lo- En el 11 de diciembre el Mercado Noreste celebró cal farmers to market their produce. Brown Craig su gran reapertura después de completar una renoTurner, architects for the project, sought to return vación de $ 2 millones del exterior y interior del the look and feel of the market to its historical roots mercado. El proyecto incluye una nueva fachada, and in the process helping to strengthen the Mar- la iluminación eficiente del exterior e interior, nueket’s role as a community anchor that brings people vos carteles y señales diseñadas por estudiantes together. The market renovations are also part of a MICA, y puestos de mercado reformadas. Clientes broader effort by the Baltimore Public Markets Corp del mercado ahora tendrán más asientos públicos and others to highlight healthy eating and improve para cenar y un nuevo espacio de uso compartido access to healthy food at the Northeast and other estará disponible para los servicios comunitarios y para los agricultores locales para comercializar public markets.

The Northeast Market renovation project is a part- sus productos. Brown Craig Turner, los arquitectos nership of the Baltimore Public Markets Corpora- del proyecto, trató de volver la mirada y la sensación

www.mcelderryparkstar.com

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del mercado a sus raíces históricas y en el proceso, ayudar a fortalecer el papel del mercado como un ancla de la comunidad que une a las personas. Las reformas del mercado son también parte de un esfuerzo más amplio por el the Baltimore Public Markets Corp y otros para resaltar la alimentación saludable y mejorar el acceso a alimentos saludables en el noreste y en otros mercados públicos.

El proyecto de renovación del Mercado del Noreste es una asociación del the Baltimore Public Markets Corporation, Johns Hopkins, y la Coalición de Acción Comunitaria Histórico Medio Baltimore (HEBCAC). Fondos adicionales para el proyecto ha sido proporcionada por by East Baltimore Development, las fundaciones Abell y France Merrick, el Estado de Maryland, la Ciudad de Baltimore y el Sr. Wally Pinkard.

Below: While most of the renovation included updates to the outside of the market, additional seating was added near the Monument Street entrance.

Winter 2014

The McElderry Park Star

McElderry Park Star A McElderry Park Newsletter, made by and for the Residents of McElderry Park

April & May 2014

Celebrating the Life of Troy Douglas

Family Photograph

As you walk up the 400 block of Lakewood Ave, one can’t help but notice the house at the end of the block which is scorched with black soot on the building and in the cavities of the burned brick — the house with no wall on its side. Now this house only echoes the memory of what happened earlier this year to an eight year old boy whose name is Troy Douglas. His name will live forever in McElderry Park and surrounding communities. Earlier this year, a house exploded because of a gas leak and a brick wall fell upon Troy as he came home from school. Friends and family would tell you this was the way Troy often walked to get home. This tragic event brought our community out to mourn the loss of this young child. We’ve seen this event bring many people out and bring unity throughout the East Baltimore community. At the funeral service, even as City Hall officials came out, one could see the unity. I couldn’t help to think at that time— wow— it shouldn’t just be a tragedy to bring a community together. We should stand together at all times. I can’t help but believe that through this, GOD allowed this young man to fulfill his purpose.

Thanks to the family for allowing us to write this article and we love you. — Your East Baltimore family.

www.mcelderryparkstar.com

Celebrando la Vida de Troy Douglas — Al caminar por la cuadra 400 de Lakewood Ave, uno no puede dejar de notar la casa al final de la manzana que se quemó con el hollín negro en el edificio y en las cavidades del ladrillo quemado - la casa sin pared de su lado.

Ahora esta casa sólo se hace eco de la memoria de lo que ocurrió a principios de este año a un niño de ocho anos que se llamaba Troy Douglas. Su nombre vivirá por siempre en McElderry Park y las comunidades circundantes. A principios de este año una casa explotó a causa de una fuga de gas y una pared de ladrillo cayó sobre Troy como él llegó a casa de la escuela. Amigos y familiares le diría que esto era el camino en que Troy caminó a menudo para llegar a casa.

Este trágico suceso trajo a nuestra comunidad a llorar la pérdida de este niño pequeño. Hemos visto este evento traer mucha gente y unirnos a través de la comunidad de East Baltimore. En el funeral, así como funcionarios del Ayuntamiento salieron, uno puede ver la unidad. Yo no podía dejar de pensar en ese momento -vaya - no debe ser sólo una tragedia para juntar una comunidad. Debemos permanecer juntos en todo momento. No puedo dejar de creer que a través de esto, Dios permitió que este hombre joven cumplio su propósito. Gracias a la familia para que nos permita escribir este artículo y te queremos. — Su familia este de Baltimore.

April & May 2014

The McElderry Park Star

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DISTRIBUTION DAY

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ONLINE PRESENCE GET YOUR BUSINESS ONLINE Creating an online and social media presence helps local retailers expand their potential customer base, attracting business from within and outside the neighborhood.

BOOM! enables small retailers to heighten their online presence by using free and low-cost solutions like Google’s Get Your Business Online initiative and through partnerships with the Baltimore City Office of the Mayor and the City of Baltimore Development Corporation Main Streets program.

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IF YOU DON’T EXIST IN GOOGLE YOU DON’T EXIST IN REAL LIFE 85

ENTREPRENEURSHIP STARTUP SPRINTS Individuals in low-opportunity communities need access to support to launch a business. With a focus on technology-related ventures, BOOM! teaches low cost, open source tools through workshops on 3D fabrication. Participating residents open online storefronts selling their creations. We are exploring Startup Sprints that empower residents with financial, business and organizational support to launch a business within a week at a cost of under $100.

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IMPLEMENTATION & EVALUATION

"WE ARE SEEING AN EVOLUTION OF THE DESIGNER IN THE PAST FEW GENERATIONS FROM PRESENTER OF CONTENT TO AUTHOR OF CONTENT TO ENABLER OF CONTENT." — Doug Powell, Studio Lead IBM Design, Former President of the AIGA

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BUDGET CONSTRAINTS The costs to impliment various aspects of this framework vary. Below, I've outlined a few different aspects of the programming. On the following spread is the projected cost proposal I submitted to keep me funded to continue this research for another year through the Robert W Deutsch Foundation Social Design Fellowship. The other budgets are breakdowns of the costs of publishing the McElderry Park Star, and a budget adapted from MAKE Magazine on the costs of a starter makerspace for digital fabrication education, and finally a proposed budget to run the Startup Sprints programming.

MCELDERRY PARK STAR (PER YEAR / 6 ISSUES) TYPE OF EXPENSE

PURPOSE OF EXPENSE

PROJECTED COST

Designer Stipend

Small stipend for two graphic designers at $400 per issue.

$4,800

Printing Costs

Cost for printing each issue at 24 pages, full tabloid in black and white newsprint (Linco Printing is the historical printing partner).

Priced at $530 for a run of 3000 copies per issue.

$3,180

Shipping Costs

Priced at $255 per issue.

$1,530

TOTAL $9,510

COMMUNITY MAKERSPACE COSTS1 TYPE OF EXPENSE

PURPOSE OF EXPENSE

PROJECTED COST

3D Printers + Supplies

Rapid prototyping facilities

$2,400

Laser cutter

Rapid prototyping facilities

$2,100

CNC Machine

Rapid prototyping facilities

$5,000

Hand tools

Rapid prototyping facilities

$1,000

Electronic tools (Arduino, etc.)

Electronics exploration

$4,000

Computers and software

Support

$6,000

Rent, Utilities and Furniture

Place to house programming and materials

In-Kind * TOTAL $20,500 + In Kind * At the time of this writing, overhead cost may be covered from a partnership. Costs for this portion exceed $80,000 per year.

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"Kickstart a Kids' Makerspace". Make Magazine. April/May 2014, Vol 38. 2014.

STARTUP SPRINT COSTS TYPE OF EXPENSE

PROJECTED COST

PURPOSE OF EXPENSE

Living Stipend

$3,500

Provides funding for me to continue this work. Includes housing, food, and occassional travel to partner organizations.

Material Expenses for workshops and demo days

$2,000

Pays for materials for our fabrication equipment used in various community activities.

BOOM! Academy Curriculum toolkit production costs

$1,000

Costs associated with creating curriculum toolkits for distribution.

Resident Entrepreneur support funds

$2,000

Allows us to give small capital investment to start up resident entrepreneurs.

Advertising and Marketing materials

$1,500

Funds to create consumables for advertising and fundraising activities (i.e. launching a crowd-sourcing campaign)

TOTAL BUDGET $10,000

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FELLOWSHIP BUDGET TYPE OF EXPENSE

PURPOSE OF EXPENSE

PROJECTED COST

Living Stipend

Personal salary to allow for recurring expenses. This affords me the opportunity to work on the fellowship full-time.

$12,500

Conference,Travel and Research Stipend

Travel stipend to cover expenses related to attending events and representing the Center for Social Design at various design conferences throughout the year. Including but not limited to: ›› Association for Community Design, June 2014 (Presenter) ›› Skoll World Forum, April 2015 ›› A Better World by Design, September 2014 These funds will also cover the purchase of any research materials I need during the year, such as books, prototyping materials, subscription costs, professional association fees, etc.

$5,000

Project Implementation Funds

Primary expenses are basic portable makerspace tools: ›› Tabletop CNC ›› Small laser cutter ›› 3D Printer supplies ›› Post-It notes and markers ›› Design thinking games ›› Various supplies as necessary I am seeking other grant applications (noted later) to help support the startup sprint and mentorship programming. What I don't receive in matching funds or in-kind support may come from this section of the fellowship funding.

The next largest portion of these funds will support organizational, legal and financial services I may need to create BOOM!.

$10,500

Advertising and Marketing materials

Support for printed materials and promotional content to leverage for fundraising and sustainability of BOOM! programming. Including but not limited to: ›› Apparel ›› Printed Posters ›› Newspaper Inserts ›› Documentation services (photography, video, etc.) ›› Online presence

$2,000

TOTAL $30,000

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MEASUREMENTS & METRICS OF SUCCESS As will all properly facilitated social impact projects, it is important to remember the intended outcomes and measurements for change. I have adapted my measurements from a variety of exemplary projects including the Digital Harbor Foundation in Baltimore, the Department of Making+Doing in Philadelphia, Project H in California, as well as my own metrics. Keeping in mind the adoption curve philosphy I outlined in the barriers to adoption section of this document, I've divided my objectives on short term and long term scales.

I believe that various levels of impact can be had with different levers, and each one requires a specific set of metrics for a given population and context.

SHORT TERM METRICS

LONGER TERM METRICS

1.

What do participation numbers look like for workshops? Are the numbers increasing over time?

1.

2.

Does the population of participants retain people and grow, or is there high churn?

Are BOOM! programs generally adopted by community members, or does the idea not gain resident momentum?

2.

Do we have regular participants that then take leadership roles in mentoring new people?

3.

Is there a measurable increase in sustained, living wage employment in the two to three years following participation in BOOM! programming?

3.

Are specific learning objectives and goals for individual events actually understood by participants?

Does general feedback seem to indicate that people understand the material?

4.

Do repeat participants build cumulatively on previous knowledge or skills gained with a high retention rate?

4.

Is there a measurable decrease in the amound of property crime and/or violent crime in the neighborhood?

5.

Is qualitative feedback from participants generally positive or negative?

5.

6.

How many contact hours do people have with given concepts or technology?

Would residents of the neighborhood generally describe positive changes in their communities as a result of BOOM! related programming in the years following implimentation?

6.

Is there an increase in civic participation from younger generations of the community?

And other metrics as specifically outlined for a particular event. These are generally at the top of my facilitation guides.

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REFLECTIONS ON SOCIAL DESIGN I believe that this project is a Social Design project because it uses design principles to explore how we can collaboratively work to impact social issues. I've built out a network of mentors and collaborators across various disciplines from art, business, finance, social work, community organizing, and others. With this network of individuals and organizations, I have created BOOM! as a platform where we can work together to address issues of racism, poverty and lack of socio-economic mobility in an economically and socially distressed neighborhood in East Baltimore. This intervention has gained notariety among social changemakers in the Baltimore region and abroad, and I believe that given the right funding and leadership, can be successful and influencial.

Early in the year, we examined texts that outlined certain principles of innovative ideas. Below is a list of characteristics of "catalytic innovations" that appeared in the Harvard Business Review in 2006. I have designed the BOOM! platform with many of these ideas in mind, and I believe that we've been successful in achieving many of them: 1.

They create systemic social change through scaling and replication.

2.

They meet a need that is either overserved (because the existing solution is more complex than many people require) or not served at all.

3.

They offer products and services that are simpler and less costly than existing alternatives and may be perceived as having a lower level of performance, but users consider them to be good enough.

4.

They generate resources, such as donations, grants, volunteer manpower, or intellectual capital, in ways that are initially unattractive to incumbent competitors.

5.

They are often ignored, disparaged, or even encouraged by existing players for whom the business model is unprofitable or otherwise unattractive and who therefore avoid or retreat from the market segment.

Finally, I believe that the framework of empowerment design is essential to the frontiers of social impact design.

Social issues are not a scarcity, and there is value to enabling people who have lived in opressed communities for generations to create their own change. As I mentioned in previous sections of this document, there is a legacy of "community development" that has not benefitted the people who ostensibly need it the most. The discipline of design and social design is at the forefront of a tipping point in society. By adopting core design principles of ideation, iteration, rapid prototyping, testing, with ideas from agile management and lean startups and empowerment design, designers and their inter-disciplinary teams can be the catalytic change-agents for a more just society for tomorrow.

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Christensen, Clay et al, Disruptive Innovation for Social Change. Harvard Business Review (December 2006)

LONG TERM VISION & NEXT STEPS Upon completion of my thesis, I intend to carry on components of BOOM! programming and empowerment design with me professionally. Ultimately, I envision BOOM! transforming in a connected network of nodes where community groups, professional mentors and potential employers can work together towards positive community development.

Below are sketches of different models for that vision.

The most immediate next steps are to fully impliment the Startup Sprints in McElderry Park. I believe that will little capital investment, we can begin to empower entrepreneurs in the neighborhood to act upon their ideas and abilities.

Outside of this, there is currently funding in place to continue the neighborhood newspaper.

I plan to continue to find places where BOOM! concepts can be implemented at vairous scales. The future sustainability of BOOM! relies on a consultancy model that both connects resident entrepreneurs into a larger network as well as helps create more impactful social responsibility from governments, for profits and non profits. For resident entrepreneurs that are incubated in the startup sprints and furter programs will give equity stakes or percentages of future profits in order to feed funding back into the larger programming.

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APPENDIX

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BOOM! ACADEMY WORKSHOP 1: #RECONSTRUCT #REBUILD Across is the facilitation guide for the #Reconstruct #Rebuild workshop. This was early in the process of BOOM!, and were very low-tech in how we approached the workshop. All the facilitators worked from this hand-drawn guide. The experience was a great learning moment in doing a design workshop with people who are not formally trained designers. This small bet, enabled by funding I received from MICA's Office of Community Engagement paid off: this workshop was influential in the way that I approached programming moving forward.

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BOOM! ACADEMY WORKSHOP 2: INTRODUCTION TO 3D FABRICATION I worked to develop a series of workshops for teaching digital fabrication and entrepreneurship within McElderry Park. For future iterations of these workshop structures, I will be partnering with the Digital Harbor Foundation and Girl Develop It! to adapt existing curricula to BOOM!.

The next several pages include the workshop guides I used and their respective handouts.

BOOM! Workshop #2: Introduction to 3D Fabrication Saturday, February 15th, 2014 12pm­5pm MICA PLACE Basement Computer Lab

Lead facilitator: Vincent Purcell Support: Jonathan Erwin

LEARNING GOALS

1. Basic introduction to 3D printing. participants should be able to answer the following questions: a. What does it mean to make something in 3D? b. What are the potentials that I can imagine for such a technology­­ what things could this enable me to make myself? c. How can this affect my life and what specific applications can I think of?

2. Learn how to make a basic model in 3D software (We’ll use TinkerCAD online). By the end of the workshop, the participant should be able to: a. Launch the 3D software in the browser b. Create basic primitives c. Perform basic modifications to the shape, such as rotate, scale and stretch. d. Connect two primitives to create a more advanced shape

WORKSHOP OUTCOMES

1. Each participant will leave with a 3D printed takeaway and certificate of completion upon demonstration of achieving learning goals.

2. Participants will share a personal story for how they see this impacting them (if at all). Participants will be 3D scanned via Skanect during this process. This material will be saved for use in thesis publication / exhibition / further materials.

3. Participants will have created personalized objects to be 3D printed between the end of this workshop and the start of the following workshop.

4. Collect roster and contact information with photo releases of workshop participants. This will be saved for tracking participation in future workshops.

LOGISTICS AND MATERIAL NEEDS

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Prepared certificates and affiliated BOOM! nametag or trophy (15 copies) 3D printer with prepared gcode file and filament to demonstrate the printing Various printed objects to show Copies of media release forms (15 ­ 20 copies) Videos cued up showing the potential of 3D printing (organs, companies, TBA)

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Lunch ready to order (Pizza Bolis), dependent on size of crowd.

SCHEDULE

PREPARATION

1.

2.

3.

4.

Log onto computers and cue website Prepare scanning area in the hallway (lights, stool, tape floors) Prepare projector and other making materials Print video release and photo sheets

WORKSHOP

NOON ­ 12:15pm

Gather at the Center for Grace­Full Living.

12:15pm ­ 12:30pm Walk to MICA PLACE. 12:30pm ­ 1:00pm

Scan participants in the hallways setup. Individually, groups, poses, etc. I will scan the first person, and then have each subsequent person teach the next on how to operate the scanner.

1:00pm ­ 1:30pm

Lunch time.

Show the models we scanned in the hallway. Pick the top one, and prep it for printing and have it print during class.

Pass out and make sure everyone signs a media release form. Also collect contact information (particularly social media / twitter / instagram / phone / email for future contact)

Short lecture from Vincent on what is 3D fabrication. Talk about the invention, methods, additive manufacturing and what it’s used for (custom prosthetics, DIY projects, show Thingiverse, businesses, etc.)

1:30pm ­ 2:00pm

Story share. Record this discussion! Have an open discussion of the potential for 3D manufacturing. Talk about what kind of objects could you make? What kinds of things could you repair? Replicate using scanning technology? Business potentials?

2:00pm ­ 4:00pm

4:00pm ­ 4:30pm

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1. Open TinkerCAD and model objects together.

2. Create an account on TinkerCAD (or use someone else’s if they are unable to register their own for some reason) 3. Create a new TinkerCAD project 4. Place a basic cube object in the workspace 5. Scale the object to be 30mm x 80mm x 5mm 6. Create a cylinder object and place it in the workspace 7. Scale the cylinder to be 6mm in diameter, 10mm tall 8. Place the cylinder near the edge of the box 9. Use the cylinder to cut a hole in the box 10. Place letter objects spelling your name in the workspace 11. Arrange the letters to be in correct order 12. Scale each letter so that it fits “on” the box 13. Move each letter in Z­space to sit on top of the box 14. You’ve now created a personalized name tag. Make sure that all the objects are “touching” and it looks OK visually.

15. Save the object by clicking Design > Download for 3D Printing Concluding discussion of the experience. What did you learn? What kinds of things could you do now that you know how to operate basic modeling software?

Hand out sheet with information about what we did, and where to find the software. Advertise the next workshop on this sheet (scanning analog to digital? Customizing and commercializing?)

SHAPEWAYS STOREFRONT As part of the BOOM! Academy goal of connecting skills directly to monetization, we have a Shapeways storefront to sell our creations. This online service allows us to create and sell digitally fabricated goods in a variety of materials with no capital expenses or inventory costs. All the products can be purchased online at: http:// www.shapeways.com/shops/boomacademy

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ASHOKA CHANGEMAKERS: CLOSING THE FEEDBACK LOOP COMPETITION Ashoka is an international organization founded in the 1980’s that supports social entrepreneurship around the world. BOOM! was featured as a semi-finalist for the Closing the Feedback Loop competition sponsored by the Rita Allen Foundation. We were selected from a pool of hundreds of social enterprise startups from around the globe. As a result of our placement, we've received recognition from Ashoka and attracted business and financial mentorship support from American Express.The entire case study, including our sustainability plan, impact assessment and opportunity assessment can be found online at: http://changemakers.org/project/baltimore-boom-academy. Below are elements from our application.

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DESIGN IGNITES CHANGE 2014 PROPOSAL BOOM! was selected as a finalist for the Design Ignites Change 2014 Student Innovation Award. We applied with the digital fabrication workshop concept for low-resource communities. Excerpts from the entry are below, and the entire case study can be found online at: http://www.designigniteschange.org/projects/1174-baltimore-boom-academy

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PRESENTATIONS AND TALKS ASSOCIATION FOR COMMUNITY DESIGN EMERGENCE CONFERENCE 2014 BEYOND THINGS: DESIGNING SYSTEMS FOR CHANGE. Our world is plagued with social problems. Designers often focus on place itself, creating physical outcomes like street furniture, community gardens, and neighborhood centers as a means to solve community problems. But physical location is only part of a solution. What if designers focused more on social dynamics of a community? We propose a new model of community focused design, where designers facilitate social connections among members of a community. What happens when we shift the model of designer as service provider to providing a platform for communities to create their own solutions?

June 12, 2014, Detroit MI . 90 Minute panel talk and workshop. Co-Presenters: Jonathan Erwin, Robert W Deutsch Foundation Social Design Fellow 2013-2014; Briony Hynson, Deputy Director of the Neighborhood Design Center.

IGNITE BALTIMORE 14 WHY THE NEXT STEVE JOBS SHOULD BE BLACK A case for re-inventing the concept of a hackerspace or makerspace to connect information economy employment to people who need it the most. How have centuries of racism created a disconnect between people of color and economic opportunity?

March 13, 2014, Baltimore MD. The 5-minute Ignite presentation is online via the Ignite Baltimore website, or YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mnh6e0Ts0Hc

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NATIONAL COLLEGIATE INNOVATORS AND INVENTORS ALLIANCE OPEN WHY SIZE DOESN’T MATTER: ENABLING ENTREPRENEURSHIP, INNOVATION AND INVENTION IN SMALL PRIVATE DESIGN AND LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGES The rapidly evolving fields of design, entrepreneurship, innovation and technology invention present a unique challenge to the limited budgets and capacities of small, private design and liberal arts colleges. While their larger university peers benefit from having diverse disciplines and departments all represented under one roof, small design and liberal arts colleges face real, practical constraints. But small colleges are responding with innovative solutions to integrate design, entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology invention into both graduate and undergraduate education. Through the development of interdisciplinary centers, student-led initiatives, partnerships with larger universities, nonprofits and companies, small colleges are reinventing design education, challenging the limits of traditional disciplines, and demonstrating the power of design and liberal arts education to enable the next generation of innovators and inventors.

March 21, 2014, San Jose CA. Co-Presentors: Lee Davis, Scholar-in-Residence at MICA; Kunal Parikh, founder of the Baltimore Social Innovation Lab; Penny Herscovitch, founder of Padlab and Associate Professor of Design at Art Center College of Design; Andrea Wollensak, Associate Director at the Ammerman Center for Arts and Technology at Connecticut College

CONFERENCE ACCEPTANCES & APPEARANCES Other events and groups where I've represented MICA Social Design as a participant include: AshokaU Exchange, February 2014, Providence RI Clinton Global Initiative University, March 2014, Phoenix, AZ Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design National Conference, December 2013, Baltimore MD A Better World by Design, October 2013, Providence RI

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