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Here’s the story of my work and learning so far.
In 2013, after graduating from Oxford with a degree in Art History, I was itching to get my hands dirty. Following a stint working for a theatre company in Paris, I enrolled on Year Here, a 9-month fellowship in social innovation.
The premise of Year Here is that you can’t create meaningful social change from an ivory tower. Instead, you need to work with and empower people to create their own solutions.
During the programme, I worked frontline in a 115-bed hostel for homeless 16-22 year olds in Lambeth. There, I witnessed first-hand many of the traps created by poor policymaking and service design, traps that drag young people into a vicious cycle of homelessness.
In direct response, I co-founded a social enterprise called Settle, which designs & delivers support to young people who have been homeless and are now moving into their first home.
As well as being one of the first support workers, I was Settle’s Service Designer – creating the brand, resources and curriculum. Turned off by the drab world of hostels, my ethos for Settle’s design became ‘vulnerable people deserve beautiful things’.
So much of what service users come into contact with is ugly and confusing: good design is seen as a luxury.
However, the award-winning design of Settle’s programmes was reflected in our impact. This affirmed to me the real value of design: when you put effort into resources being intuitive and interactions empowering, people understand and respond to that investment.
As well as being one of the first support workers, I was Settle’s Service Designer – creating the brand, resources and curriculum. Turned off by the drab world of hostels, my ethos for Settle’s design became ‘vulnerable people deserve beautiful things’.
So much of what service users come into contact with is ugly and confusing: good design is seen as a luxury.
However, the award-winning design of Settle’s programmes was reflected in our impact. This affirmed to me the real value of design: when you put effort into resources being intuitive and interactions empowering, people understand and respond to that investment.
I’m excited about putting beautiful, thoughtful design at the centre of projects for social change. I am convinced that, as an indicator of thought and love, design changes the way people feel and interact with the world.
Since 2012, I have seen through many creative and strategic projects, including...