More/Than/This (Blog) ™

Today Here, 2/15/13: Design workshop with graphic design students at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.

140+ Characters of Impact

I will be anxious to see whether or not this new app grows a fast following. I have a feeling it will, largely because I think all the do-gooding millennials out there have finally realized that ‘likes’ and ‘follows’ actually have very little to do with impact. Thank God. Amen.

Careers for Good

A recent blog post appeared on Good.is written by Andrew Benedict-Nelson of Insight Labs. I’ve read it twice now to ensure that I’ve actually and accurately gathered the point. And the point, insofar as I understand it, is this: Want to make a difference in the world and in the lives of others? Good. Great. Just don’t expect a/any career path to guide you towards such a pursuit. Astonishing.

Flint: In Progress Since 1855

If you grew up anywhere near Flint, as I did, you’ve probably been to the Flint Local, (and likely to see your brother or your brother’s best friend’s band play).

The Change You Want to See

The always insightful Dan Pallotta gives us some more valuable fodder on the change-the-world sector, suggesting that this new “era of limitless,”—that which began in the post-war era with the likes of Woodrow Wilson’s League of Nations, Eleanor Roosevelt’s Freedom House and formation of the United Nations, and President Kennedy’s talk of a “new world society,” and continues today with entities like the Peace Corps., Americorps, and the proliferation of a sea of new do-good sectors (social enterprise, B corps., design for good, public interest design, human-centered design, etc)—may in fact be limiting the imagination of the young people it attracts. Pallotta warns that by placing an increased emphasis on the change-the-world sector, we run the risk of obscuring any young person’s real and natural calling, stifling their potential to truly contribute to a better world.

Quote No. 029

Social problems deserve realistic solutions; the community will not benefit from idealistic promises.

Andrew Shea, Designing for Social Change

Neighborhood > Regional > Global

Very good overview of the changing landscape happening here in Detroit. Midtown Detroit Inc. is an influential CDC that has been working diligently to transform several aspects of Detroit’s Midtown cultural corridor. They are also the engine behind the Whole Foods store (sign of the bourgeoisie times?), which broke ground in May in an otherwise vacant lot.

Today, Here 7/16/12: Signs in Cincy

Team meeting in Cincinnati, where we continue work on CoSign. CoSign is a project designed to enhance economic activity in Greater Cincinnati neighborhood business districts by pairing artists, small businesses, and professional sign fabricators to design and install unique handcrafted signage for local retailers; and in the process, create an infrastructure to train the next generation of local signmakers.

Things learned/reminded of this trip:

1. Collaborative efforts fall fast without a well-designed and well-managed process.
2. Community ‘betterment’ efforts need buy-in and investment from community.
3. To do it right…well…this shit is hard.

Seek not the glory but the task

Emily Pilloton and her operation in rural North Carolina, continue to be a great source of inspiration for me. Earlier this month, Ms. Pilloton delivered the commencement address at the College of Environmental Design at UC Berkely. Read.

Her advice rings true for me on a daily basis: Ideas are worth little without action. The best way to start is simply to start.

Grown in Detroit

Last week the Detroit Film Theater screened Grown in Detroit, a powerful documentary that looks inside the urban farming efforts being conducted at the Catherine Ferguson Academy, a Detroit Public School for teenage mothers and young woman who are expecting. One of only three other schools in the country of it’s kind, CFA was created to help encourage young mothers to stay in school, despite the pregnancy, helping them prepare for a better future for themselves and their child.

To me, the most interesting component of the school’s daily operations is the Ferguson Farm. Complete with goats, horses, chickens, bees, and vegetable gardens, young female students gain experience growing their own food while learning the importance of nutrition when raising a child.

I remain in continued awe of the teachers working everyday to educate these young women. Filmmakers Mascha & Manfred Poppenk capture an incredibly compelling story, showing once again that innovation and human ingenuity is happening around us everyday.

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