Nandini Sood - India

Global Catalyst

Story told by David Wygant

Vision is the ability to think about and plan the future with imagination and wisdom.  It does several important things for us as individuals and for the organizations we belong to.  It points a direction and gives us a push to begin moving. Within an organization it unites everyone’s efforts.  

Here’s Nandini’s reply when I asked her about the Design for Change (DFC) India vision:

“The plan is to scale the DFC Movement in India and work with the institutional partners. The end goal is to develop a bouquet of ‘design thinking’ products and services, and transit DFC India into a sustainable social enterprise.”

She related a plan to me that calls for the creation of a range of design thinking products and services. This effort is well underway.  For example, the Design Thinking Guide (DTG) is currently in the pilot stage in the eighth grades of 60 schools across India. 

The DTG nurtures the natural ability of children and students to imagine.  Using the FEEL-IMAGINE-DO-SHARE framework, it equips them with the tools they will use over their lifetimes to shape a better world.  It will keep alive and grow what we know is true.  Children are dreamers, and they have the vision to see the future completed in advance. 

After the pilot stage, the plan is to offer the DTG to schools across the country.  The final stage will be to adapt and implement the DTG across all grade and age levels. 

When viewed positively, and used properly, mistakes made can lead to lessons learned, and an increase in energy pushing any effort forward.  Nandini quickly identified the single most important lesson.

“The single most important lesson learned has been persistence; to BELIEVE in the cause of DFC and to not give up despite multiple challenges.  YES WE CAN!!”

Nandini’s persistence includes obstinate continuance, or, to always move forward in spite of difficulty and challenge.  She clearly identified the largest challenge that DFC India faces. 

“Funding! Funding! Funding! This has been the biggest challenge yet!  The only way to overcome it is to keep making the pitches and get better at it.  Also important is to seek feedback, refine one’s communication, and ensure that it is more outside in, more user centered.”  

So, I asked her what DFC India has done to raise funds.  What’s worked?  Nandini described fundraising efforts in three categories: Domestic funding organizations, corporate sponsors and high net worth individuals.  The greatest success has been with the second two.  Recently, out of the second category, a three year sponsorship connection was made with an Indian corporation called Parle G.  They are the world’s largest selling brand of biscuits and are a good example of a situation where the vision and mission of the brand aligned well with DFC.  Out of the third category, a number of wealthy individuals have been generous with their resources.  

The combination of vision, lessons learned and persistence often leads to inspiring results.  It did for DFC India in 2014.  There is evidence.  What do you get when you gather 500 students from 85 plus schools?  In Nandini’s own words, 

“Over the last year the most inspiring moment was to see the auditorium teeming over at the I CAN Awards 2014! Over 500 students and teachers joined us. Some of the children had travelled out of their remote villages for the very first time to come to Ahmedabad to be acknowledged and facilitated as Superheroes of CHANGE!”

This year the combination of vision, lessons learned, and persistence was celebrated at the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDI).  1992 projects were submitted from across India representing the largest number received since the beginning of the DFC movement in 2009.  In the first year under Nandini’s leadership DFC India submissions were more than double the previous highest number.  100 schools were invited to the I CAN Awards with over 85 attending.

I asked Nandini what her most personally inspiring moment was.  She recalled a telephone call she received.

“On September 5^th which is celebrated as Teacher’s day in India, I received a call from a very enthusiastic teacher who was participating in the DFC I CAN School Challenge. She brought me to tears with her generous praise of the movement and thanked me profusely for helping her recognize the potential of her students.”

Yes, it was quite a year for Nandini and DFC Team India.  Job well done!  What’s next?  The upward spiral continues.  The vision is still there.  Lessons will continue to be learned, and persistence will build more success.

BIO INFORMATION

Nandini was born in Calcutta in the eastern part of India.  Currently, she lives outside of New Delhi in the suburb of Gurgaon. 

She is a communication designer and graduate of the National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad.

Early in her career, Nandini was in advertising selling detergent and cookies.  Before long, she heard the call from education.  She answered that call and has been in education for sixteen years.  Nandini has applied her energy and enthusiasm across a wide spectrum of education  segments.  She has designed e-learning for the Test Prep industry, and helped set up and scale an urban K-12 school chain.  She lead the design and development of a “school in a box,” aimed at creating a workable social enterprise model for budget schools to serve the poor in rural India.  More recently, in January 2014, Nandini joined Design for Change to lead the India effort, and is CEO of Design for Change-India.

Class of Rowdies

Reported and posted by David Wygant.

This video clip appeared on my Facebook News Feed a week ago.  Many thanks to Reena Ramanan for sharing what looks like an original post by Pranjali Madhur.  As the video clip begins, a new teacher is entering her classroom for the first time and finds the students enjoying themselves a little too much.  From that first meeting, she transforms the class and students by what she does next, and by what she doesn’t do. 

I hope you enjoy this CLASS OF ROWDIES.  

Did you identify any FEEL-IMAGINE-DO-SHARE elements?

As this video shows and tells, the education-development of our students and youth is more about setting their spirits free in a safe space then it is about anything else.  This is a universal truth that applies everywhere because all children are really the same. It is only in becoming adults that unimportant things, beliefs and biases begin to overwhelm the truth. What is the truth?  The truth is simply that we are all cut from the same cloth.  Yet, each of us have our own personal set of unlimited possibilities and potential. We can all fly if only no one will clip our wings!

Credits: www.5thspace.in

Natalia Allende - Chile

Global Catalyst

Story told by David Wygant

Natalia used the 2012 Be the Change Conference as her launch pad for blasting into Design for Change.  Indeed, Natalia brings the energy of a rocket to the effort and adventure, although, she credits other people for inspiring her.  In her own words, “I decided definitely to jump on board with this incredibly talented, generous and sweet team of global partners.”

More words from Natalia:  “Our inspiration grows as the children bring results and success. When we received our first batch of videos we were moved and excited by the results.  It was inspiring to see what the children in Chile had done.”

“Apart from the winning story which Semanti has brilliantly called “A CANteen for All,” there was a group that organized a network of schools and municipal entities to care for the elderly in their neighborhood.  A third group of children worked on finding a way to protect the environment in the gorgeous region of Chile where they live.”

When asked about the future, Natalia says, “How can I not think that the future for Design for Change and for Chile holds much promise?  I really want DFC Chile to grow and become strong. I really am looking forward to achieving all the things I have in mind but still have not reached.”

Natalia goes on to say that the largest challenges she and her team face are volunteer recruiting and financing.  In volunteer recruiting, the most difficult hurdle to jump over is the volunteers’ own fear and lack of confidence.  The fear of failure looms large.   Then there isn’t a financing “silver bullet” seen yet.  Nonetheless, Natalia has faith that adding up little amounts here and there from different sources:  workshops, crowdsourcing, and partnerships with bigger organizations will continue to carry the day.

In the end, she seems to just face forward and walk one step at a time.  She uses simple words to describe her solid determination:  “To be brave and to just continue doing what I’m supposed to do, when I’m in the face of difficulties.’

Bravo Natalia!

BIO INFORMATION

Natalia was born in Santiago, Chile and currently lives in Washington DC. She is a teacher with a Masters in Aesthetics and a Masters in Literature from American University.  Natalia worked as a teacher for 15 years in the classroom followed by several years at the Embassy of Chile in the USA.  She has spent the past five years translating, including 2 years with Design for Change.

Natalia’s travels include much of South America, the USA, Italy and India.  She has done some writing beginning with a grant to study for her Masters in Literature.  An English textbook that she and two colleagues wrote won the Chilean Government call for bids and was widely published in the Chilean public school system.

Natalia attended the Be the Change Conference in 2012 and is attending this year (2014). 

Lydia  Madyirapanze-Zimbabwe

DFC Global Catalyst

Big accomplishments begin with big goals.  Lydia is very definite when it comes to her goals.  When asked what her Design for Change goal is, she replied, “To grow Design for Change in Harare, and spread it to all provinces so that it becomes an annual event in Zimbabwe.”

Like other Design for Change programs, Lydia describes how they have to strategize and use low cost options when possible. She continues to push forward whatever steps to be taken towards having fully fledged Design for Change programs in Zimbabwe.  A new step in 2014 is seeking various kinds of support from the corporate world.

Meeting challenge has made Lydia realize the need for being innovative. She has thus drawn many lessons of out DFC. She was also excited about how girls gladly joined the boys; took up the DFC challenge and did “male dominated tasks” holding the trowel and placing sharp glasses on the wall. 

Lydia is quick to declare that she has learned that, “children can achieve more, and that communities where they live provide a lot of support and resources.” Lydia offers the following example:  “When the rest of the school gathered to see the project that they had done, they found that the children had made a plan to ensure that the wall was not a passage way out of the school, no-one could jump over it or had easy access to leave the school through the wall. Everyone remained safe inside the school.

Inspiration feeds upon itself taking us higher and higher.  It unlocks and unleashes the possibilities of human potential.  To this end, Lydia tells that her most inspiring experience to date has been, “seeing children prioritize when there are many issues and options, but yet come up with a simple yet effective method to secure the school wall.”

BIO

Lydia is currently the National Coordinator for the Forum for African Women Educationalists Zimbabwe Chapter (FAWEZI) in Harare, Zimbabwe. FAWEZI is an affiliate of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE), a Nairobi based pan-African non-governmental organization. FAWE is a network of leading African female educationalists and researchers, among them women Ministers of Education, education planners and managers, and university Vice Chancellors.  FAWEZI’s mission is to promote gender equity and equality in education systems by fostering positive policies, practices and attitudes towards girls’ education. 

She was born in Mashonaland West Province, Zimbabwe.  Lydia holds a Master of Science Degree in Development Studies from the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Zimbabwe.  After 2008, Lydia joined FAWEZI and ever since, she has spent all of her time in development work.  While she has other responsibilities, Design for Change is one of her key projects, and is fully integrated into her current position.

Lydia has traveled in the following African countries:  Zambia, South Africa, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Burkina Faso and Morroco.  She has also traveled to India, attending her first Be the Change Conference in 2013.

     

Carrie Tang - DFC China

Design for Change Global Catalyst

As told to David Wygant

How do you find a person who wants to bring the I CAN spirit to every kid in China?  One that is willing to do their part in reforming the education process at the same time, thereby bringing basic education to the underprivileged kids, and reformation to a system of public examination that creates great pressure and stress.

NOTE:  While on this search, don’t forget that the “dimensions” of China are almost beyond comprehension.  China is a country with a population 1.356 billion, a land area of 9,569,901 square kilometers, the third largest economy in the world behind the USA and EU, and approximately 211 million children attend school, primary through post secondary. 

Answer:  You let them find you.  Indeed, thank our lucky stars that she found herself for us.  

Let me now introduce Carrie Tang.  

Carrie is the Chairperson of the Design For Child Association and Associate Director of Playtao Education.  She publishes a free magazine called DreamMag, and volunteers with Sowergift (to spread seeds of happiness) and “Go Inside Cafe” in Hong Kong (where deaf waiters are hired). Carrie has published two books.  In 2011 she received the ATV Touching Hearts Campaign Award, followed by the Hong Kong Youth Social Entrepreneurs Award in 2013.

Carrie’s first contact with Design for Change (DFC) was at a MAD (Make a Difference) Conference in January of 2012.  Initially, she was interested in what Kiran had to say about Riverside School, but that was soon to change.  

In Carrie’s own words: “Yes, I first heard and met Kiran at the MAD conference in January 2012, but I didn't know anything about DFC. I was just attracted by her concept of Riverside school. At the conference, I didn't chat with her after her talk because of the crowd. However, later, I searched for Riverside School on the internet, and I watched her TED Talk.  At that point, I knew I must spread both her school ideas and DFC in China!”

FEEL - “Think from the heart.”

When I decided to bring DFC to China, several things spoke to me from my heart.  

I’ve always wanted to make a contribution to the birth place (China) of my parents.  We all owe much to our parents and it’s important to give back so that the “chain” isn’t broken.  I also hoped that by catching children in China in the act of doing good I might help change the view of China in other countries.  It is my hope that DFC will help build bridges with the world.  It is also important to me that I fill my life with activities that are consistent with my Christian values.  For me it feels like a “calling.”  

The most important thing is what it does for the children.  DFC builds empathy and teamwork (very weak in China) during the four steps, FEEL-IMAGINE-DO-SHARE.  These are powerful life lessons for the children to learn.

IMAGINE - “Think out of the box.”

From the beginning, using our imaginations has been critical for success.  

In China the education system is very resistant to change.  The children are busy for many hours each day.  It was impossible to add an extra class or find more time at school.  However, because social media is very popular, we used it to reach teachers, social workers and volunteers who in turn brought FEEL-IMAGINE-DO-SHARE to the kids.  Since the DFC program is “open source” and adaptable, we made it work.  It was the virtual world that brought us together.   

The amount of support DFC received from the school authorities depended on the specific cities.  We found that where they might reject a direct approach from us, if we focused on marketing and creating high quality materials, educators and policymakers would approach us instead.  In the end, sometimes there was acceptance and support, and sometimes there wasn’t.  Either way, we just kept moving ahead.  

We “imagined” three steps to help us begin:  First, I designed the DFC China website, and wrote a long “sharing letter” about my feelings toward education.  I wrote that I thought it was important to bring DFC to China.  Second, I published the “sharing letter” in Weibo (which is like Facebook in China) to look for support and connections.  I asked everyone to send me an email, and give me enough support so that I could visit them with a workshop.  Third, I built my core DFC China team.

DO - “Yes we can!”

I always think of “Soup Bowl with a Prayer” when I think of our first story.  It was really called Red Bean Share, and came out of Shanghai.  A bunch of kids thought that if the community would interact more, they would be more loving and caring.  So, they prepared red bean soup and gave it to anyone passing on the street.  When they gave the soup, they included a blessing.  In the beginning, everyone was hesitant to accept the soup, but soon more would accept both the soup and the blessing.  Through this act of giving, new connections were created.  The highlight was when the students gave greetings and love to nearly 400 staff members of Yan Yiu Factory!

The first year, a total of one thousand students became involved and created DFC stories.  We welcomed both schools and individual groups of students.

In the “DOing” we also faced challenges.  The vague and complicated laws and accounting regulations for running non-profit projects in China were the biggest challenges. 

Our first year strategy included several activities beginning with the four step process (FIDS) and a lot of passion.  We trained volunteers and restructured some of the DFC guiding materials.  Our focus was on the internet and social media.  As a result, DFC has spread to the main cities.  Now our attention has turned more toward the rural part of China.  The energy for what we do comes from our sincere and devoted hearts, and from the examples of our actions.  The energy to continue and grow has come from strangers we have met on Weibo during this entire adventure. 

Our DFC China team has eight core members including me.  We’ve recruited key volunteers as local contacts in cities (18+ now).  These volunteers promote and support the DFC tools and coordinate workshops.  One part time staff member, who is a passionate designer, is in charge of video, graphic design and promotion work. We have a bunch of regional volunteers to promote DFC for us too. 

My focus within the team is fundraising and DFC training.  Again, through social media, our story has attracted local organizations to fund and support our annual prize presentation.  Travel costs and expenses for workshops that we give are funded by the interested organizations.

SHARE - “We Can!  Now you can too!”

There have been many ups and downs.  

Looking back now, the first six months of our DFC China effort was a high point.  In spite of the fact that DFC China was new, many still supported me and my dreams.  For example, after my first “sharing letter,” I received emails from over ten cities within a week.  This was the first step in turning my dreams into the dreams of others.  

I also learned that there is a very practical side.  After the first DFC China prize presentation in 2013, we didn’t have enough money to pay all of our expenses.  With big hearts, several of my core team members (adult superheroes) contributed enough to balance our accounts.  It was a moving gesture and it drove my own dedication to new heights.

In the story of DFC China, I feel that only several lessons are most important.  Only several are most basic. It’s important to be passionate and to have faith.  When you are doing something good for society and you work hard on it, support will come.  Your hard work will earn it, and your faith will bring it.  The more you believe in yourself and your team, the more contagious you all become.

Sanjli Gidwaney-USA: Design for Change Global Catalyst

As told to David Wygant

It was a gorgeous January day, 2009. I was gathered in one of the Riverside School,  in Ahmedabad, India, classrooms with many of the students. I remember how excited the kids were. Kiran had just returned from Mexico and everyone knew she would have stories to tell.  

I’ll never forget the detail of my conversation with Kiran.  Through Design for Change, she has managed to combine education, social change, and design.  These were all things that burned like fires for me.  They ignited me.  So, when she said, “Sanjli, you know I need a partner in the USA.”  I said, “Well you have me!”  

At the time, it seemed like I was living my life waypoint to waypoint.  I had conducted creativity workshops in Kenya and the Dominican Republic, but never would I have imagined that some of my contacts at Design Continuum in Boston would have placed me in front of Kiran at that moment in time.  I was at Riverside School teaching students from the 6^th grade, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) inspired creativity workshops.  Yes, I was really at Riverside School, I was talking to Kiran, and I had just committed to bringing DFC to America. 

What to do?  The first thing I did was find a few people to join the team. We wanted to understand the educational environment in the USA.  We wanted to understand the unique needs of American educators so that we could respond in a way that helped.  Soon we piloted our first DFC project in a school so we could learn and fail quickly.  We knew that if we learned as much as possible in the beginning we would succeed later. Two schools entered the Challenge that first year.

Our first school was Pearl River Middle School in New York.  Their project was to reduce negative messaging in the media.  Their goal was to add positive ideas and messages.  The project’s link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_yfrZh9kS0

We started by approaching individual schools where we saw opportunity.  We quickly learned that it was hard to get schools onboard with little credibility and backing.  We didn’t have an educator on the DFC USA team at the time to help us better appreciate the challenges teachers experienced when implementing such a program in terms of time and other resources.  On the teacher side, they didn’t fully comprehend the value that DFC could bring to their schools – the idea of “design thinking” was new.  Touching all of these pieces was the fact we were a team of volunteers.  There were limits to the amount of time we could give individually, but we were very committed nonetheless. We are partnering with colleges and universities through our ‘Change Agent Initiative’ to recruit students who act as mentors tasked to support projects in their communities.

  

We drew energy from our belief in what DFC had to offer the schools and students who participated.  For example, the Share component gives students who are already changemakers a way to Share their accomplishments.  Then inexperienced change makers could see the lessons already learned and move ahead more quickly with their projects.  Share is a virtuous circle of support.  

Through the DFC curriculum, classrooms and schools can once again focus on service learning while they also work on and meet the required educational standards.  The DFC curriculum is flexible and it easily overlays the core education content like reading, writing, math and many others.   We created tools that can be used to document the academic accomplishments as the service project is implemented.

There have been high points and low points.  Without a doubt, the high point thus far has been watching a team from a very resource constrained community, work its way through the DFC framework to design and implement a project they are passionate about; and then go on to win the DFC-USA challenge.  Look for them at the BTC Conference.  They’ll be there!  I’m not sure if it is a low point, but certainly one of our greatest challenges has been meeting the demands of all the schools and organizations we are working with – at a certain point, it becomes very difficult to customize our programs, given the limited size of our team – especially since we’re all volunteers.

Another highlight going for us is the hosting of two major celebrations in Dallas and Boston in May, ’14. We are also piloting a DFC USA Online portal for teachers/ mentors/ students can fully engage with DFC resources and lesson plans. The feather in the hat has really been the fundraising of $150,000 for the DFC USA operations and hiring permanent staff; while simultaneously and rapidly growing our reach through partnerships with Ashoka, Teach for America, United Way and many others. 

I think we’re learning our lessons.  

Now we know building a team and organization is a continuing effort.  So we continue to enlarge the DFC-USA team as our work requires, or, as we find dedicated people who bring a strong work ethic, a passion for the DFC mission, and a desire to do what is necessary to provide our students with the support they need. It is essential to recognize and appreciate the challenge faced by teachers in their daily lives, and how we can offset those challenges through DFC. Find the right partners, whether they are schools or other organizations.  As examples, we are currently working with Ashoka and Teach For America.

Also, build a network of supporters who understand that you are a new, growing organization and are still learning and perfecting your model. Know that there are a gazillion people out there who believe and support you – that’s what we realized through our fundraiser!

We are learning how to ask for money.  Recently, we raised $15,000 in eight weeks so that we could send the DFC team to India.  As part of that effort, we conducted our first fundraising event.  Next we are developing a compelling case to approach wealthy funders and granting organizations. 

We have learnt that visibility is important to inspire, and thus, lead change by inspiring others.  With this in mind, we are creating our own DFC USA promotional film. Also, we are redesigning our website for launch in May ’14.

 We have a lot to look forward to.  I am most looking forward to how DFC USA is going to grow and how the “I CAN” bug will continue to catch on here! We can already feel it, change is in the air and our students are going to lead that change across the country, and in the world!

Sanjli Gidwaney - Co-Director, DFC USA
Sanjli recently graduated from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, with a focus on curriculum design and non-profit management.  As Co-Director of Design for Change USA, she manages a national team of designers, educators and technologists.  Under her leadership, DFC has forged partnerships with notable organizations such as Teach for America, Strong Women Strong Girls, Ashoka, Harvard’s Good Work Team and Stanford Design School. Sanjli has also collaborated with research groups at MIT’s Media Lab, industrial design firms and various NGOs to develop and conduct several hands on creativity workshops for children around the world including India, Kenya and the Dominican Republic. She believes in a pedagogy embedded in experiential learning and cross-curricular approaches.