Designers as Allies: a way to Act during times of injustice Register@EventBrite

***Registration OPEN on EventBrite at https://bit.ly/SDP-AlliesMeetup ***
Learn how as a designer you can identify symbolic violence and begin to address injustices through your work.

We may not be able to change the world, but maybe we respond to its challenges. As designers we have the ability to influence cultural dynamics and shine a brighter light on the artifacts, systems and practices that have perpetuated inequities. Recent innovations often overlook large groups of people and communities resulting in disparities within almost every aspect of the human experience.

Are you frustrated by what's going on, but not sure what to do? Come as you are, and understand your role as an ally when it comes to these imperceptible power differences and imbalances. Join our speakers, Dr. Dimeji Onafuwa and Jabe Bloom as they share a framework for allies. Learn how as a designer you can identify symbolic violence and begin to address injustices through your work.

Financially support organizations that fight injustices at a systemic level

This is event is open to all and free. One way to act is to financially support organizations that fight injustices at a systemic level. As part of this event we are collecting donations on behalf of The Equal Justice Initiative. We invite you to donate what you can. The EJI is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society. Learn more at https://eji.org.

About Our Speakers

• Dr. Dimeji Onafuwa * is a designer and researcher with almost 20 years of combined experience in UX design and research, transition design, design strategy, service design, social design and design thinking. He has worked in various capacities in the discipline - from a design studio owner to UX consultant and researcher. He is currently a senior researcher at Microsoft, working to build better end-to-end experiences for its employees. He has also taught and given lectures on design at universities across the globe.

Dimeji earned a Ph.D. in Design from Carnegie Mellon University. While at CMU, his research study sought to understand commons-based approaches to user experience on platforms. He has worked with various collectives to gain perspectives and provide technologies that help them better intervene in social dilemmas through UX design. Before his Ph.D., Dimeji earned an MBA in management from UNC Charlotte and BAs in design and studio art from Concord University.

Dimeji co-founded Common Cause Collective, an interdisciplinary group of designers working for social impact in the Pacific Northwest. He has published papers, a book chapter on design for the greater good, and spoken and conducted workshops on the responsibility of design.

• Jabe Bloom * has been working to illuminate and improve the complex interactions between design, development and operational excellence in organizations for more than 20 years. He is an experienced executive leader of software and product development companies, serving in numerous executive roles.

Jabe is a member of Red Hat’s Global Transformation Office where he focuses on applying scientific and design research methodologies to enable exploration, increase flow, improve software engineering and enable operational excellence. Previously he co-founded PraxisFlow with Kevin Behr, where he was the Chief SocioTechnical Officer.

As an international executive advisor and academic, Jabe teaches students and clients design, strategy, innovation, and flow thinking through a series of lectures, workshops, classes, and coaching.

He is currently writing his dissertation in pursuit of a Ph.D. in Design Studies at Carnegie Mellon, his research focuses on the field of Transition Design and informs an ongoing exploration of the practice of design and strategy.