New Funding for Our Care & Organizing Practices | Design Justice Network Newsletter, 2023 Issue #03

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Banner with title and header text in black and white font, arranged on off-center black and orange circles with black border on a blue background.

Banner with title and header text in black and white font, arranged on off-center black and orange circles with black border on a blue background.

 

Dear DJN Members, Signatories, and Friends,

We are so excited to share that the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and OneProject.org have each awarded the Design Justice Network grants that now help fund our 2023 & 2024 projects and operations.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Pioneering Ideas: Exploring the Future to Build a Culture of Health program funds a two-year focus on designing and dreaming liberatory cultures of care with DJN’s Care Pod team, led by Denise Shanté Brown, Corina Fadel and Jody Chan. A total of $500K over two years supports deepening and expanding DJN’s commitment to care, health equity, and healing justice work.

OneProject.org funding strengthens DJN member and organizational support and asks us to explore how we might navigate just transitions to a post-capitalist world through community-led design. As a hybrid program and project grant, a total of $250K over two years helps fuel ongoing general operating costs of core activities and continued development in addition to activating a new post-capitalist design inquiry within DJN.

DJN’s steering committee and coordinator teams are grateful for DJN members’ deep commitment to our shared principles and expanding our impact on design as a practice – and thank both RWJF and OP for recognizing our community of design justice practitioners with these grant awards. A combined total of $750K now supports this year and our next year of additional development for member-led resources, projects and events.

Where we are now as a Network reflects a clear connection between the earliest dreams shared by founding folk in 2015 and the critical contributions members made leading to DJN’s Mission, Vision & Intentions launch in 2021. This alignment and the support of 500+ paid subscriptions and 3000+ signatories made it possible to hire and sustain paid contracts for Taylor (Special Projects Coordinator) and Rene (Communications Specialist & Storyteller) to join Victoria (Member, Nodes & WG Coordinator) alongside the DJN Steering Committee in building towards this moment for our now-global community.

Where we are now is a result of you – as a Network member, as a Principle signatory, as a supporter – showing up and shaping the collective experience we share rooted in abundance, possibility and joy. DJN’s future continues to be formed and informed by your contributions, subscriptions and guidance as design justice practitioners. 

Full press releases now available on our website announce each of these awards and share more details about the projects and operations they fund. More updates, plus ongoing Care Pod team and Theme-Weaving events, will continue to be shared via our website, newsletters, Slack and social media. Our Care Pod Team curates the moments that make up our collaborative care lineage as a community of design justice practitioners on Are.na. You can always send any questions or comments you may have about these updates to info@designjustice.org.

The Care Pod team’s First Gathering is now available on DJN’s YouTube! Nodes and Working Groups are also now invited to submit interest in honorariums from the Care Pod team for seeding care with their members and community. Members can find more info and the form pinned to the #announcements channel on DJN’s Slack (or in your email for members subscribed to our djn-members listserv.) If you have any questions about this offer, please reach out to our Care Pod team: djncarepod@gmail.com. Please expect 48-72 hours for response. 

With gratitude and celebration, 
Your Steering Committee and Coordination Team
Sasha, Wes, Nour, Elena, Boaz, Victoria, Taylor & Rene

Email: info@designjsutice.org
Instagram: @designjusticenetwork 
Twitter: @design__justice (double underscore)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/designjustice/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/designjusticenetwork
Web: designjustice.org

Note: Our newsletter recently switched from monthly to semi-monthly releases for 2023. As our Network transitions into this next year of activity, the coordination team adapts how we operate and organize our work to support the community’s growth. Shifts like these (and more to come!) reflect an ongoing effort by our team to create more fluidity between DJN members and the experiences available to them through special projects, Nodes and Working Groups.

 

Embedded YouTube video titled Design Justice Network: Care Pod Team’s FIrst Gathering, May 20th, 2023

 

Upcoming Events & Important Dates

A photo of the booklet and Manta Ray card from The Untamed Elemental oracle deck placed on a sun-dappled windowsill next to a potted plant.

Our Care Pod team called on some guidance from The Untamed Elemental oracle deck by Tasya van Ree when meeting just days before our first gathering on May 20th.

Find events happening this month or go to designjustice.org/events for more. We’re working to make our meetings more accessible – requests for accommodations can be sent to info@designjustice.org

Hosting an event but don’t see it on our website yet? Fill out this form! Translate to your timezone using thetimezoneconverter.com or timeanddate.com.

 

Presentations & Appearances

Network Resources + Materials 

Members of the Network’s Local Nodes, Working Groups, Coordination Team and Steering Committee present DJN’s principles and practices as guest speakers, panelists and interviewees many times throughout the year. Links to any available recordings and materials from these opportunities are shared here and on DJN’s resource page. 

care lineages + possibilities playlist for DJN’s Care Pod

Shared on Social Media & In the News

Have you recently presented or spoken on design justice as a framework, practice or set of principles and have a recording or materials to share? Do you want to connect more directly with our social media campaigns? Would you like to write about Design Justice Principles or DJN? Send a message to comms@designjustice.org!

 

Network Updates

Access & Accommodations

We’re working towards more accessible events, materials and experiences. Guided by the Design Justice Principles, we’re interested in working with accessibility service providers led by and benefiting living experts directly. 

Do you know any community-based and equitably organized providers that may align with our Network? Send them our way! Submit your entry here or email Taylor directly: specialprojects@designjustice.org

We’re developing this resource list to share with members and add to our website’s resource page. If you would like to be credited as a contributor to this database, please email (or include) your name, pronouns, and if you are a current member.

⚠ Message from Slack developers: “Beginning September 1, 2023, Slack will be ending support for certain app, browser and OS versions. As a result, users on those app and browser versions will need to update to continue using Slack. Users on an unsupported OS will still be able to access Slack if they’re using a supported app version, but they will not receive app updates. Learn more about Slack's system requirements and support lifecycle.”

Node & Working Groups

All of our current Nodes and Working Groups are listed on our website. If you’re thinking of starting your own, learn more about how to organize a local node and read our local nodes zine that was created to support and give guidance to local nodes. (much of it applies also to Working Groups).

  • Nodes and Working Groups can now submit interest in honorariums from the Care Pod team for seeding care with their members and community! The form is pinned to the #announcements channel on DJN’s Slack (or in your email for members subscribed to our djn-members listserv.) Questions: djncarepod@gmail.com; please expect 48-72 hours for response. 

  • The Communications Working Group continues to accept new members. Volunteers support member needs for DJN-specific comms materials/guidance and receive a 1-year paid DJN subscription.

*** You can sign up for Node events and other open meetings on DJN’s website. ***

Opportunities

Ongoing Opportunities

Member Stories

Interested in sharing your Design Justice story? Are you inspired by another member’s practice of the Design Justice Principles? Sharing member stories is a powerful part of honoring our community’s history and building a more just and joyous future together.

There are no prerequisites (which means a traditional background in design isn’t necessary!) Past stories have featured members working in a variety of fields such as social work, community organizing, and handicrafts. 

We shape the storytelling process around what works best for you and will only share what/how/where you consent for us to share. As our Network grows globally, we’re particularly interested in elevating stories from new and international members!

Please contact info@designjustice.org to share your story or ask questions!

From Our Members, Partners and Peers

If you know of any upcoming opportunities, please email us (info@designjustice.org) or share directly in the Design Justice Network #opportunities Slack channel.

  • Invitations for Proposals, Support & Engagement from DJN’s Member Network:

    • Support riseup: riseup provides worldwide services to activists, journalists, human rights defenders, and… us! We use riseup to send this newsletter to you! 

      • “Riseup is inherently opposed to using the tools capitalist tech companies develop to analyze and exploit the "customers" that use their "free" services. Riseup doesn't have customers, we have allies and comrades. For us, the important work is making communication services available as we build the world we know is possible, rather than gathering data to exploit you for profit.”

    • New book discount! Collaborative Social Design with Mexican Indigenous Communities: Critical Craft and Transformative Practices by Carmen Malvar; use EFL02 at the checkout; expires Sep 30th 2023.

    • Rodenberry Fellowship: A 12-month program that provides fellows with a $50,000 grant and access to an exceptional community of peers. Application deadline is June 16th 2023.

    • Social Movement Technologies - Graphic Design for Organizing Apprenticeship: Enables participants to level up significantly in their design skill level and in their ability to scope out the design needs of an organizing moment + build a community of practice in this design work. Program runs Sept 26th – Nov 16th 2023.

    • New course discount! Introducing Designing Africa and the Diaspora: 6-Week Course explores the possibilities and challenges of shaping African and diaspora futures in this dynamic and interdisciplinary course. DJN Members, use DESIGNJUSTICE for a 10% discount at sign up!  Course starts June 7th 2023. 

Banner image with a black background and text in orange that reads, "Online Course" & white text that reads, "Designing Africa & the Diaspora" are arranged on either side of profile pics for 8 master practitioners from Across Africa

Recent Work Opportunities Recommended in DJN’s Member Slack:

 

For First-Time Subscribers

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