Conference Themes

The conference’s focus is drawn organically from the engagement that you and your peers have in its corresponding community hosted by Rosenfeld Media. With help and facilitation from our curation team, the conference is essentially a polished snapshot of the community’s ongoing, year-round conversation.

Theme One

The Decade Cycle: 10 Years Back, 10 Years Forward

What have we learned from the last 10 years? And what do the next 10 look like? How do we continue to break down silos and institutionalize design? In the span of 10 years, what was once new and agile becomes bureaucratic and baked into the system. There can be a multitude of political shifts. Leadership changes cause rapid change in priority, growth, and direction. And the thing that was once new and experimental might not be the vehicle for change anymore — another reformation is needed.

View Full Program

D.E.A.R.R. Diaries (Discipline, Experience, Architecture, Reflection + Revolution)
Frances Yllana
Senior Manager, Design Operations, Coforma
Ann Buechner
Director, Content Design, Coforma
Jess Jones
Director, Product Design, Coforma
Betsy Ramaccia
Director, Design Research, Coforma

That Quiet Little Voice: When Design and Ethics Collide
George Aye
Co-Founder and Director of Innovation, Greater Good Studio

Understanding the Strategy for Civic Design in a Complex City: Istanbul
Onur Kocan
Design Strategist, Studio Karun Inc.
Ayhan Ensici
Chair, Dept. of Industrial Design, Vice Dean at Kadir Has University, Director, MA in User Experience Design

The First Fifty Years of Civic Design
Sha Hwang
COO, Nava Public Benefit Corporation

Co-Designing New Power in Australia’s Public Sector
Natalia Radywyl
Head of Research and Capability, Today

Zero Hour: How to Get Far Quickly When Starting Your Digital Service Unit Late
Magdalena Zadara
Head of Product, DigitalService GmbH des Bundes

Theme Two

Power Structures: Shifting How and By Whom Design Gets Done

Many civic designers work on a spectrum of “Design For/ Design With/ Design By” to fit the opportunity for influencing change. Some civic designers have been able to become the facilitators for communities designing their own solutions, while others are having to fight to engage the people who use and deliver the service they are working on. As these power structures continue to shift, how do civic designers navigate within their own organizations, communities, and field of practice to know when to employ the right methods? Where does design provide craft that is different from other types of expertise? How do we care for our communities, our colleagues, our teams, and ourselves as we design?

View Full Program

Create a Cohesive Civic Design Practice Across Agency, Vendors, and Contracts
Shawna Hein
VP of Design, Code for America (Former Ad Hoc)
Kevin Hoffman
Digital Services Expert, United States Digital Service

A Civic Designer’s Guide to Mindful Conflict Navigation
Sylvie Abookire
Civic Design Researcher, The Lab @ DC
Susan Abookire
Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and Executive Coach at QMED Resources LLC
Caitlyn Nalder
Conflict Navigation Coach & Specialist, Caitlyn Nalder Consulting

Let’s Talk About Money
Chelsea Mauldin
Executive Director, Public Policy Lab

Power to Heal: Civic Design in the Aftermath of Tragedy
Kyria Stephens
Director of Inclusion & Community Initiatives, The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus
Marlon Kerner
Small Business Supporter, Entrepreneurs Forever

Research is Only as Good as the Relationships You Build
Deirdre Hirschtritt
Qualitative Research Manager, Code for America
Cesar Paredes
Qualitative Researcher, Code for America
Marie Perrot
Senior User Researcher, Code for America

Risk and Reward: How to Diversify the Field of Civic Innovators and Designers
Justin Entzminger
Innovation Practice Director, Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins University
Terrance Smith
Bloomberg Public Innovation Fellow, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center For Public Innovation
Tracy M. Colunga
Civic Engagement Director, Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins University
Mai-Ling Garcia
Digital Practice Director, Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation

Theme Three

Physical Environments: Interactions Beyond Screens

The work of civic designers increasingly spans the blurring lines between the public and digital worlds. Designers must consider how people spend their time in and moving through these spaces as they navigate personal, family, community, and commercial needs. We’ll examine the innovative strategies, tools, and technologies designers employ to pursue equitable, inclusive, and connected public spaces.

View Full Program

Building Bridges Across Organizational Silos
Kristin Taylor
Director of Product Design, MBTA Customer Technology

Design, Consequences & Everyday Life
Ron Bronson
Design Leader & Strategist

Incremental Steps to Drive Radical Innovation in Policy Design
Sarah Auslander
CX Expert, Payoneer

Inspire Progress with Artifacts from the Future
Sarah Gallimore
Director of Design and Innovation, The Ohio State University

Designing for Liberation, Rehearsing Freedom
Amahra Spence
Co-founder, Creative Director, MAIA