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Design for Civic Change

Design for Civic Change is a professional development program for government workers interested in using community-engaged design within their work. This program is for people working within city, state, regional, or tribal governments in the United States, who engage marginalized communities in planning or policy-making. 

To support the successful implementation of the skills and knowledge learned during the program, applicants are asked to apply as teams of 2–3 individuals working in the same agency or program. Throughout the program, teams will workshop a specific project at their agency through peer-to-peer feedback sessions and one-on-one coaching sessions with CUP.

During this program, participants will learn about effective community engagement, principles of inclusive and equitable engagement, and build a network of support for ongoing implementation and development of this work in the field.

After the program, you’ll be able to deepen your work with new techniques for stakeholder analysis, facilitating trauma-informed conversations, communicating in plain language, and advancing equity. You’ll be able to build trust with communities you work with and feel more confident engaging marginalized communities.

About CUP

The Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) is a nonprofit organization that uses the power of design and art to increase meaningful civic engagement, in partnership with historically marginalized communities. We use design to make public policy and social justice issues easier to understand so people impacted by them can better navigate and change them.

CUP’s methods center the self-determination of marginalized communities, by organizing our work around efforts communities have initiated and asked for support in. Our practice is a nationally-recognized, community-engaged design process that engages the expertise of our multidisciplinary teams — CUP staff as facilitators and communicators, a design team as translators of information into visual form, organizers as experts on the social justice issues our projects address, and community members as experts with lived experiences of the systems we are working to explain.

Program Structure

Cohort Gatherings

The cohort will participate in two, 2.5-hour virtual gatherings, unless otherwise noted, per month. These gatherings will include workshops led by CUP staff, conversations with guest speakers, and space to develop and refine team projects with peer feedback. These sessions will have interactive, hands-on activities that will teach participants how to engage community members in the planning and decision-making processes that impact them. Workshops and activities will help participants practice skills related to defining project stakeholders, choosing research methods, trauma-informed facilitation, managing conflict, and integrating community feedback.

This 6-month program will run on Wednesdays from July-December 2023. Most cohort days will run for 2.5 hours, with some gatherings running for 3 hours. We will confirm exact times once the cohort has been selected.

Required dates:

• July 12
• July 26
• August 16
• August 30
• September 13
• September 27
• October 11
• October 25
• November 15
• November 29
• December 6
• December 13

Participants are expected to attend all required dates and to notify us in your application if you anticipate any schedule conflicts. Participants should expect to spend up to 10 hours per month on the program outside of structured program time.

Coaching Sessions

Teams will have three opportunities for one-on-one sessions with CUP staff for additional support and advice as they implement their projects. Coaching sessions are one hour long and will be offered after every few gatherings. These sessions are optional for teams.

Project Team Criteria

Project teams should apply with a specific project in mind that involves engaging or communicating with a marginalized community. Projects should involve creating tools to engage community members such as toolkits, workshops, or print/digital materials.

Participants will be selected based on their commitment to advancing equity and social justice, their identification of a project to workshop throughout the program, and their ability to integrate community-engaged design approaches and community feedback into your work. 

This program is most appropriate for teams who have the authority and capacity within their duties to implement the project.

Project teams should:

• work in a city, state, tribal, or regional government agency in the U.S.

• include 2-3 people from the same agency with one person working in design or communications.

• be tasked with engaging community members as part of the project. • work directly with marginalized communities. • commit to having full team participation at every gathering.

How to Apply

All applications are due by Monday, June 5, 2023 at 12:00pm EST.

We will NOT review applications that don’t provide all requested materials. No phone calls, please.

In early May, CUP will post a recorded webinar on our website and Vimeo reviewing the program and answering frequently asked questions. If you have additional questions about the program, please reach out to [email protected].

CUP staff will update applicants on their status by the end of June.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to be based in NYC to apply?

No. This program will be held virtually. We welcome applications from government agencies working in local, regional, tribal, and state contexts all across the United States!

Are the dates flexible?

Each cohort date will cover a different skill or topic so full participation is very important. Participants are expected to attend all required dates and notify us in your application if you anticipate any schedule conflicts.

Do I need to be a designer or familiar with design?

No. We know not everyone may have the resources or familiarity with design and our process will teach you our methods and how to use them in your work.

What if I have more questions?

We’ll be posting a webinar in early May on our website and Vimeo that will cover an overview of the program and answer some questions. You can also email [email protected] anytime during the open call.

The Team

Team Member 1

Team Member 2

Team Member 3

Provide a short biography for each team member that lists each member's title and describes their role within your organization. (150 words)

The Organization

Tell us about your government organization, the work you do, and the services you provide. Please list the name of the town/city/county, etc. that you work in, for example, Brooklyn, NY. (100 words)

How does your agency work towards advancing equity? How does your team's participation/work contribute to this? (200 words)

Which marginalized communities do you plan to engage in your project? How is your organization currently engaging this community? Or how has your organization engaged with this community in the past? (200 words)

Please provide a letter that demonstrates support from the leadership of your organization for your participation in this program.

The Project

Please describe the project you'd like to workshop throughout the program. How do you think the project would benefit from participating in this program? (500 words) Please address the following in your response: • What issue or community need is it addressing? • Who is the target audience for the project? • How do you plan on engaging them? • What are the barriers to understanding or addressing the issue? • How will this project impact your work/your audience?

What are some (internal and external) challenges that you anticipate in implementing this project? (200 words)
What is each team member's role in the project? (200 words)
What work has your organization already done on this issue? How does this project connect to past or present initiatives? (200 words)