Pathways to Equity Graduation

This 9-month program aims to support designers (of all kinds!) to learn best practices for community engagement and equitable design and put those lessons into direct action with the support of a local experienced guide.

The cohort was divided into community project teams, and i had the opportunity to get to know Oakland’s Chinatown in partnership with two great organizations: Oakland Asian Cultural Center (OACC) and Chinatown Improvement Initiative (CII). The staff from those two orgs, plus my awesome teammates, collaborated for many months — honestly, our team had imagined results seemingly more substantial than the tangible reality after so many months. What we learned above all is that this kind of work must move at the speed of trust, and that sometimes process reveals much more value than outcome.

For OACC, the team created a mobile “culture cart” that celebrates the diaspora of Asian culture through art-making, and supports the organization’s presence outside of their office and cultural space.

With CII, we developed strategic language and organizational structure visioning that would help the grassroots organization in its fundraising efforts.

Leading up to the community project development phase, we had a fantastic crew of facilitators from a wide array of disciplines and backgrounds. The Pathways to Equity curricula was a truly holistic offering that brought useful lessons i didn’t know i needed.

So grateful that i jumped into this Pathways to Equity experience (somewhat blind) and received so many insightful surprises and lasting relationships. Thank you to my cohort, and especially my teammates: Ramy Kim, Louise Mackie, Kion Sawney, and Jason Su. And the biggest gratitude goes to the program’s Co-Directors: Shalini Agrawal and Garrett Jacobs. True superstars with hearts of gold.