Care is everything that is done to cultivate, maintain, and repair. This year, we aim to unearth the critical role of Care by Design in transforming society, organizations, and individuals — it is in and through care that we design outcomes of meaning and connectivity. Confronted by the wear and tear of diverse systems and communities, we invite creatives to explore the fruits of unsung heroes and sow seeds of care through uncharted, emergent practices in design, health, policy, education, and the environment. Join us in reshaping our interpretations of care and be empowered to grow in gestures of humility.
Team
Co-chairs
- Cherry Wu, MDES '23
- Dishi Gautam, MDE '23
- Felicia Liang, MDE '23
- Jenny Yi, MDES '23
Conference Team
- Abigail Swallow, MDE '24
- Blake Li, MBA '23
- Cayden Zayne Abu Arja, M.ARCH I '26
- Holly Hodge, MUP '24
- Jinyi Ouyang, LDIT '23
- Mike Kaneshiro Chou, MPH/MUP '25
- Mike Lidwin, MUP '23
- Phoebe Canagarajah, MPP '24
- Ragini Bhattacharya, MPA I '24
- Rob Nilsen, MDES '23
- Sophie Liu, LDIT '23
Branding and Design
Sponsored by
Speakers
Panel 1: Take Care
What populations, systems and environments go unconsidered when designing care? Established procedures often result in which communities receive care, but who or what tends to get designated the proper or improper objects of care? This panel aims to lean into the notion of access and discuss what it means to be a receiver of care.
- Edward Salonga / Senior Product Designer, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
- Kathleen Brandenburg / Co-Founder, Co-CEO at IA Collaborative
- Khahlil Louisy / Senior Data Smart Fellow, Bloomberg Center for Cities
- Moderated by Audrey Scagnelli / Founder, Cherish
Panel 2: Share Care
We tend to hold rigid definitions of who can be a caregiver, yet seldom question the hands in the backstage and the position of the carer. This panel aims to challenge and redefine the role of a care provider. What are unique and undiscovered avenues of providing care and who has the power to care?
- Anmol Mehra / Co-Founder of Plugin House, PBC
- Juhan Sonin / Creative Sandpaper, GoInvo & MIT
- Michael J. Bobbitt / Executive Director, Mass Cultural Council
- Moderated by David Dockterman / Lecturer at Harvard Graduate School of Education Principal Consultant Dockterman Learning LLC
Panel 3: Forms of Care
Care is personal. Care is designed. What forms does care take in various cultural, situational, and experiential contexts? Can we reinterpret the definition, processes and practices of care? Can we unearth novel methods of providing care?
- Raleigh Tomlinson / Senior Product Designer, Headspace Health
- Tina Grotzer / Principal Research Scientist in Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education
- Tyler King / Senior UX Researcher, SAP
- Moderated by Ana Lucía Merla / Harvard GSD & SEAS
Care Conversation with MIT Educational Justice Institute
An intimate conversation where a philosopher and a currently incarcerated Justice Studies student engage in a profound dialogue discussing the nuances and intricacies of care.
- Lee Perlman / Ph.D., Co-Director, Educational Justice Institute at MIT