DJN Member Feature: Susana Beltrán-Grimm

This month we are featuring member Susana Beltrán-Grimm. Susana Beltrán-Grimm is a postdoctoral research associate in the Human Development and Family Studies at Purdue University. Susana holds an Ed.D. in education and learning technologies from Pepperdine University. Her program of research and practice includes the study of community-based research through participatory methods like co-design approaches to produce equitable learning environments for Latine families and children.

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DJN Member Feature: Mina Kouvara

This month we are featuring member Mina Kouvara. Mina is currently a Junior Research Fellow at the Tallinn University of Technology in Estonia, where she is also pursuing a PhD as a core member of the 'Cosmolocalism' research group. Her thesis explores sustainability in the context of an alternative mode of production and technology development based on the commons. She focuses on vernacular, grassroots and non-western perspectives. Mina’s background is in architecture, and she holds a MSc in Environment and Development of Mountain Regions from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece. She is a founding and former core member of an NGO which conducts research on traditional building techniques, and the co-creator of the art initiative 'Quokka'. Mina is affiliated with the research collective P2P Lab.

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DJN Member Feature: Kk Naimool

This month we are featuring member Kk Naimool. Co-founder and principal of Collective Justice Consulting, Kk is a writer, activist, and educator living in Beacon, NY where they currently serve on the city's Human Rights Commission. Kk is a queer, non-binary Indo-Caribbean transplant passionate about creating safer spaces for all. They are an avid advocate for equity and justice, predominantly in the areas of racial justice, gender justice and LGBT health equity. They have over two decades of experience in working with trauma impacted communities and developing curricula for collective healing. As a community organizer and pursuer of justice, Kk firmly believes that any meaningful change must include ALL of us and simultaneously hold space for our full selves. They currently serve in leadership roles in a number Queer AAPI collectives and racial justice collectives. As a former external auditor and trained accountant, Kk leverages their experience and knowledge to help growing organizations build in efficient processes and systems. Kk has helped nurture many grassroots collectives to formalize organizational structure and build internal capacity.

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DJN Spotlight March: Jorn Bettin, New Zealand

This month, we are featuring the work of Jorn Bettin, an autistic anthropologist by birth and a knowledge archaeologist by autodidactic training. He has a background in mathematics, and has put his understanding of formal symbolic reasoning to good use in the co-design of ecosystems of visual domain specific languages, working closely with domain experts from a broad range of industries in transdisciplinary contexts. Jorn has been involved in operating S23M since 2002. His current work focuses on the co-design of new community-oriented and patient centric models of care, including supporting software tools. Jorn has co-authored a number of books on creative collaboration and model driven product line engineering, and he is part of the Autistic Collaboration Trust – a global mutual support hub for neurodivergent individuals and ventures.

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DJN Spotlight February: Valérie Lechêne & Lindsay Miller - Critical Utopian Action Research Article & Drawings

This month, we are featuring the work of Valérie Lechêne & Lindsay Miller, who are DJN members who both attended Dr. Lesley-Ann Noel’s DJN Member Stories Share session.

Valérie Lechêne wrote the article below, and Lindsay Miller drew the illustrations and supported with documentation.

Valérie Lechêne - Val practices design, research, and organizing at the nexus of climate action, housing justice, and information architecture. Among other activities, she is an active member of The-Architecture-Lobby where she co-organizes the Architects Beyond Capitalism school and the campaign for an internationalist just transition (Green New Deal). She loves the poetry of Stella Nyanzi.

Lindsay Miller - Lindsay Miller is an applied technology and video game design researcher and artist/illustrator working out of San Diego, CA in the USA. She loves finding spaces where her design research and illustration skills can intersect, especially to support the creation of more accessible and inclusive futures. You can learn more about her applied design research work here or her illustration here.

If you are a DJN member doing interesting work, and would like to be featured in a future newsletter or blog post, please email us at designjusticenetwork@gmail.com.

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Member Spotlight: Sarah Fathallah (December 2020)

This month, we are featuring the work of Sarah Fathallah, a designer, researcher, and educator who specializes in applying design to the social sector, with impact-driven clients like the International Rescue Committee and Open Society Foundations, to name a few. Sarah also co-founded Design Gigs for Good, a free community-driven resource to help more people use the tools of design to create positive social change.

You can connect with Sarah Fathallah directly at: https://sarahfathallah.com

If you are a DJN member doing interesting work, and would like to be featured in a future newsletter or blog post, please email us at designjusticenetwork@gmail.com.

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Member Spotlight: Pierce Gordon, Ph.D. (December 2020)

This month, we are featuring the work of Dr. Pierce Gordon, an interdisciplinary researcher, facilitator, evaluator, and change catalyst impassioned by the intersection between transformation and liberation. His research and consultation work has tracked and supported design+international development's spread, complexity, and emergence: by developing reviews of human-centered design for international development, by conducting ethnographic analyses and facilitation projects in the Botswana innovation ecosystem, and by developing mixed-methods analyses of educational design spaces like OpenIDEO and UC Berkeley's DevENG Minor that unpack the efficacy of their platforms….

You can connect with Pierce Gordon directly at: piercegordon1.medium.com/about

Below is one article (of many), featuring Peirce’s work: A Hundred Racist Designs, and as well, a Podcast (Oct. 22, 2020): Racist designs, Design Justice and Mycelium.

If you are a DJN member doing interesting work, and would like to be featured in a future newsletter or blog post, please email us at designjusticenetwork@gmail.com.

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Member Spotlight: Lesley-Ann Noel (November 2020)

This month, we are featuring the work of Dr. Lesley-Ann Noel, a Design Justice Member. Dr. Lesley-Ann Noel is Associate Director for Design Thinking for Social Impact and Professor of Practice at the Phyllis M. Taylor Center for Social Innovation and Design Thinking at Tulane University. She is also the co-chair of the Pluriversal Design Special Interest Group with the Design Research Society. Dr. Lesley-Ann Noel designed a deck of cards (A Designer's Critical Alphabet) [available for purchase!] to introduce designers and design students to critical theory and to help them reflect on their design process. Each card introduces theory under that letter.

(This originally appeared on Hyperallergic, on November 17, 2020)

You can connect with Lesley-Ann directly at: https://lesleyannnoel.wixsite.com/website or on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesleyannnoel/) or Twitter (@mamaazure)

If you are a DJN member doing interesting work, and would like to be featured in a future newsletter or blog post, please email us at designjusticenetwork@gmail.com.

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Member Spotlight: Leila Sidi (October 2020)

This month, we are featuring the work of Leila Sidi, of TuneTone Instruments. For the past 10 years, Leila Sidi has been studying woodworking and luthiery. Building mid-century inspired, high fidelity electric guitars, she focuses on environmental and design justice as it applies to her work. You can read more about her work below - Leila will take us through her journey into craft and discuss design priorities throughout her process!

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