Blog Events
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Designing with and for communities

We are a group of designers, strategists, urban planners, and previous government workers working to center the expertise and agency of historically underinvested communities in how our cities are designed. Is your organization equity ready? Schedule a consultation to learn more.

 

We use collaborative design methods to help mission-driven organizations and grassroots communities co-create projects that improve social equity. By putting technical experts and experts with lived experience on the same team as peers, solutions come from transformed relationships between institutions and the communities they serve.

Our Services

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What We Do

Reflex Design Collective is a group of creative problem solvers who look at the roots of social problems. We use design thinking to fight social inequity. We open up new possibilities to those who need it most to build trust and relationships in communities. We support equitable outcomes and impact to create social innovations. Through community planning, we can change systems for the better and impact the future. Partner with us to become equity ready and accelerate change.

 
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Reflex Design Collective in Action

Learn more about what this looks like with our Case Studies:

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Case Study 1: Community Driven Co-Creation

Community Driven Solutions to Homelessness Encampments in Oakland District 3

The Challenge: Many existing solutions address the homelessness emergency require the slow involvement of city bureaucracy or large amounts of funds to be implemented. In the meantime, immediate solutions are needed.

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Case Study 2: Organizational Capacity Building

Aligning Organizational Capacities within the East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC)

The Challenge: The Economic and Security Opportunity program (ESO) is composed of three departments all designed to provide holistic services around economic justice. However, the three branches of the program were operating independently rather than collaboratively, due to a lack of understanding and processes around how to work together.

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Case Study 3: Healing

Healing Through Creativity and Fellowship at Empowering Women of Color Conference

Our Approach: We explored the intersection of design and healing at the 32nd annual Empowering Women of Color Conference at UC Berkeley in 2017. Around 25 participants were invited, within their comfort level, to use design thinking to work through a personal challenge that was troubling them.

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TESTIMONIAL

Their work is not about identifying exceptional
individuals among us but activating what is exceptional in all of us - a much more powerful force for change.

-City Councilwoman Lynette Gibson McElhaney

 

Who we’ve worked with