By partnering with government entities, non-profits, and private industry, we use our expertise to guide teams through opportunity spaces and to comprehensively address challenges. We have a dedicated team of industry leading professionals in Innovation, Design, and Systems Thinking and we involve front-line experts from a variety of fields to bring cutting-edge approaches to the work. This provides hands-on and in-context opportunities to current students and recent graduates who are eager to take on projects with real impact in a professional environment. Since the start of the External Program group in 2020, our projects have ranged widely, from digital applications and products, to in-depth research and systems mapping of entire ecosystems. We are always interested in taking on new areas of need and helping bring about and implement solutions for our community.
We believe that the best solutions come from designing with our clients and not just for them. We find success in creating impactful projects through working in tandem with the experience, perspectives, and expertise of our partners and community members. Through empathetic inquiry and continued testing and involvement, we ensure that there is alignment to the needs of the end users and all the stakeholders along the chain. We hope to further grow the community of thinkers and problem solvers by involving our collaborators, students, staff, and educators in these real-world applications of Design Innovation methodology.
We have worked with industry leaders in innovation, product development, digital experiences, and public and private organizations to drive for solutions.
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Westminster launched CommunityRISE to increase the strength and equity of its neighborhoods by listening to, learning from, and taking action with community members. The project kick-started an ongoing process that will continue to empower residents to solve challenges in their neighborhoods, take ownership of public spaces and processes, and strengthen collaborative networks across the City and beyond.
During the Covid-19 crisis, the importance of finding ways to reopen and make critical centers of aid safer to use and work at capacity became apparent. If, and when, we are faced with another health crisis, we realize that we need to have better solutions and change how we look at our public spaces and the critical need for access by the communities they serve.
Homelessness is a visible outcome of a system that does not consistently work for everyone and the ecosystem that impacts people experiencing homelessness is vast. It includes individuals, organizations, perceptions, social and societal factors, economic factors, technology, historical factors, and environmental factors.