Learn more about the Design for Social Innovation MFA at SVA. dsi.sva.edu

1. What is DSI
Design for Social Innovation

2. DSI
Design for Social Innovation
In the past decade, the number of designers working in Social
Innovation has grown exponentially. Creative firms of every
type include social design in their core offerings. Meet-ups and
accelerators pop up everywhere. Business schools incorporate
design thinking into their curricula. AIGA, the professional
association for design, has created a signature national
program dedicated to it. Countless non-profits are founded for
the sole purpose of pursuing it. New businesses are launched
on its principles. Mature companies include it in their strategies
for the future. And design is needed everywhere.
Design for Social Innovation at SVA is the first MFA
program for people who want to lead this essential new
movement.
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3. DSI
Design for Social Innovation
The traditional designer is an individual creator – with a singular vision and
expertise. Raymond Loewy, Frank Lloyd Wright, Paul Rand are examples, each
with their own vision of what the world needed. Experts play this role in many
fields – engineers, scientists, academics, inventors like Henry Ford, Margaret
Mead, E.O.Wilson or Steve Jobs.
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4. DSI
Design for Social Innovation
While this individual visionary role will always be a component of what design
is, we have reached the point where the power of single individuals to solve the
complex problems humanity faces, regardless of how brilliant they are, is
unrealistic. To make cities vibrant places for all citizens, to help multi-national
corporations be a force for good, and to create for-profit businesses built on
products and services for a sustainable future requires adapting the traditional
skills of experts to the transformation of complex systems at great scale.
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5. DSI
Design for Social Innovation
Designers are evolving from creators to creative transformers, from authors to
partners. For our students, DSI is the map, the tool kit and the community of
mentors and partners – the doorway into a life of purpose, impact and
fulfillment. Our graduates will lead transformation in industry, government,
creative services, philanthropy, non-profits and as entrepreneurs.
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6. DSI
Design for Social Innovation
DSI at SVA is a model
and resource for how
design can solve
human problems, and
a source for the next
leaders in design for
social innovation.
Students immerse in
all complex systems
that affect the future:
Food
Equality and Justice
Poverty
Environment
Health
Economy
Education
Graduates work wherever
transformation is needed:
Business
Government
Philanthropy
Social Sector
Entrepreneurship
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7. DSI
Design for Social Innovation
Our faculty are professionals from business, technology, research, game
design, transmedia, ethics, design research, entrepreneurship, development,
big data, science, museums, grant making, leadership coaching.
Cheryl Heller, Chair
Rachel Abrams
John Bielenberg
Jamie Cloud
Archie Lee Coates IV
Patricia Dandanoli
Jeffrey Franklin
Bill Gordon
Karen Proctor
Marc Rettig
Maggie Breslin
Schuyler Brown
Asi Burak
Steve Daniels
Hannah du Plessis
Julie Engel
DK Holland
Lee-Sean Huang
Despina Papadapoulos
Tina Park
Lina Srivastava
Julie Steele
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8. DSI
Design for Social Innovation
Design for Social Innovation at SVA prepares students to extend the roles that design
plays in larger engagements and complex systems, beginning with the invisible systems
of beliefs and mental models that drive behavior, and extending to more traditional forms
of visual design. We build on core traditional design skills, adding tools and experiences
that are relevant at larger scales.
Skills common to all effective social
impact participants
Traditional design skills:
Visualizing
Critique
Form giving
Design applications
Project management (individual or small team)
Identity Development (visual)
Social design skills:
Mapping
Storytelling
Iteration/Prototyping
Communication Design
Research, ethnographic methods
Innovation
Critical thinking
Writing
Cross-disciplinary problem solving
Identity Development (systemic)
Synthesis/analysis
Facilitation
Project Management (large scale)
Presentation/Persuasion
Relationship building
Sympathy (listening)
Humility
Partnering
Collaboration
Entrepreneurship
Explain a Theory of Change
Negotiation
Leadership
Systems thinking
Contextualizing
Prioritization
Habits
Financial management
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9. DSI
Design for Social Innovation
We work in teams with client partners on real world problems.
Graduates will not only be prepared to play transformative roles in business
and society, they will already be skilled and experienced in doing so.
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10. DSI
Design for Social Innovation
Students come from diverse backgrounds, and each has unique plans.
Sara and Sebastian, Class of 2014
Renzo and Haya, Class of 2015
Sara focuses on corporate social
innovation, creating impact-driven
strategies for cross-sector
communication and partnerships.
Sara worked on the Communications
and Partnerships team at United
Nations Global Pulse, a UN research
and innovation lab exploring how to
use Big Data for development, and
also worked with NYC agencies in
account management and design
strategy developing brand identities
for global healthcare clients including
Pfizer, Lilly, Nestlé, and Medtronic.
Renzo is a product designer
and design researcher. He has
designed sustainable products,
services and tools that facilitate
daily living skills for the
disabled. Renzo is interested in
strategies to inspire through
dialogical objects/products and
participatory and publicengaging business realms. He
earned his undergraduate
degree in Product Design and
Development at Parsons.
Sebastian is a born and raised
Colombian and through DSI,
works as an Innovation Intern at
the Rockefeller Foundation.
Sebastian’s research interests
include technology and new
media to promote economic
opportunities, migration as a
cultural and historical
phenomenon and collaboration
between diasporas and their
countries of origin.
Haya is a Saudi with Palestinian
heritage who has conducted
research projects in India and Saudi
Arabia on the formation of
communities and gender roles.
Haya previously worked with Edge
of Arabia, an arts initiative
promoting contemporary art in the
Arabian Gulf and has a Bachelors of
Arts degree in Geography at King’s
College London.
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11. DSI
Design for Social Innovation
DSI connects students to the most important people and organizations in
social innovation.
A public exhibit of student work at the
Winter Show x2
Putting It All on the Table, an art for social
innovation exhibit reviewed by the New York
Times
Design for 100%, with Marfa Dialogs and the
Bucky Fuller Institute
DSI hosted a TEDx event on Cities:
TEDxSVA
Executives from IBM came to meet our
students at a Speed Networking event
In collaboration with NYU Wagner and Columbia
SIPA, DSI hosts a Social Enterprise Bootcamp
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12. DSI
Design for Social Innovation
DSI guest speakers are pioneers in creating a economy and society.
Jeffrey Hollender - Founder, Seventh Generation on What Business Needs to Be
Dr. Upmanu Lall - Director, International Water Center, Earth Institute, Columbia University
Erica Block - Founder of Local Orbit on Fixing the Food Chain
Bill Browning - Founder, Terrapin on Designing Environments that Enhance Nature and Humans
Dr. Joel Cohen - Professor, Rockefeller University, Author of Book, "How Many People Can The Earth Support?"
Jen Cohen - Music producer and Principal, SongMasters
Susan Davis - BRAC founder and author of "Social Entrepreneurship, What Everyone Needs to Know."
Jane Diplock - Former President, SEC of New Zealand discusses Integrative Corporate Reporting: Why the Triple Bottom Line is Good for Companies
Amy Hall - Director of Social Consciousness at Eileen Fisher
Emily Jacobi - Co-founder of Digital Democracy on using Technology for Human Rights
Dr. Tish Jennings - Research scientist at Penn State and an authority on social-emotional learning
Jorge Just - RapidFTR Founder/Project Lead at UNICEF
Yolanda Kakabadse - President, World Wildlife Fund, former Minister of Environment for the Government of Equador
Matt Klein - Executive Director, Blue Ridge Foundation, on Life as a Funder
Nathaniel Koloc - Co-Founder and CEO, ReWork Jobs on Finding Work with Purpose
Dr. Roberta Lee - Integrative Health
Lance Lindblom - Foundation leader with Nathan Cummings Foundation, Ford Foundation, Open Society Institute, and MacArthur Foundation
Nancy Lublin - Founder of Do Something
Dr. Don Melnick - Director, Center for Environment, Economy, and Society, and Director of the Miches Project
Aimee Morgana - Founder, N'Kisi Project
Michael Murphy - CEO, MASS Design Group
Dr. Suzana Padua Machado - President, IPE Brazil, Ashoka Fellow, and environmental entrepreneur and social innovator
Dr. Miguel Pinedo-Vasquez - Director of International Programs, Center for Environmental Research and Conservation, and native Amazonian villager
Dr. Paul Polak - Founder, IDE and Design for the Other 90% on The Business Solution to Poverty
Jason Rzepka - VP of Public Affairs, MTV
Jonah Sachs - The Power of Storytelling
Zainab Salbi - Founder, Women for Women, International
Raj Sisodia - Co-Author, Conscious Capitalism
Marguerite Smith - Chief Counsel and tribal member, Shinnecock Nation
William Spear - Founder of Second Response, feng-shui master
Julie Steele - DSI Faculty and Author, "Beautiful Visualization"
Loree Sutton and Laurie Leitch - Embodied Leadership
Ann Veneman - Former Secretary of Agriculture and former Director of UNICEF
Darryl Young - Program Director, Summit Foundation
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13. DSI
Design for Social Innovation
Read what others say: dsi.sva.edu/program/press/
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14. DSI
Design for Social Innovation
MFA DSI is for:
Designers seeking relevance in the future of design, not the past, and looking for
professional work that matters.
Graduates in other disciplines who want to learn to harness the power of design
to create positive impact.
Social Entrepreneurs who want the skills and knowledge to achieve their mission
more quickly and fully.
Professionals who have been working in business and want to play a more central,
strategic role in their industry.
We are looking for visual thinkers with passion, ethics, creativity, broad
curiosity, perseverance and a desire for a life with purpose.
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15. DSI
Design for Social Innovation
If you want a better future, design it.
Apply: dsi.sva.edu/apply
We accept applications on a rolling basis for Fall 2014.
dsiinfo@sva.edu
212.592.2205
136 West 21st Street, Fifth Floor, New York, New York
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