Design for America

DFA welcomed some of our new studio leads to NYC this past June for our Leadership Summit. We are excited to start the 2025-2026 academic year with 31 committed studios across the US.

⭐️ SIGN UP TODAY ⭐️ Are you an incoming Studio Lead? Join the Leadership Launchpad to learn essential studio leadership skills for goal-setting, prioritization, and timeline management. Prepare yourself with foundational skills for running a successful studio on your campus. 🌟 Sign up at the link in bio! 🌟

Join us in celebrating 2023 highlights from across the Network! 🎉 Read about our highlights at the link in bio! 💫

We can't wait to see what the next year brings and we're already off to a great start!

This post is dedicated to the amazing students of who are working to revitalize their studio 🛠️📈🎉

Sophomore Lily, Gabby, Kelly, David and Anita worked with local DFA Fellows to harness wisdom and dreams into actionable next steps. We also had the added benefit of hosting our favorite partners at the

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Today’s the last day for submitting your team applications! ⭐️
Why you should apply:
You want to influence young people to learn about social impact and encourage them to make a difference
You want to practice your design skills in a real-life experience working with community partners and peers
You want to help DFA and Y-USA develop a better understanding of the qualities needed to influence people to make positive social change
You want hands-on support and mentorship from design practitioners
You want a structured, paid, professional design project to work on while in school

Link and details in bio!

👋Hey DFAers! 👉We're recruiting 7-10 students to join the Student Tech Advisory Cohort (STAC) and contribute to the development of DFA’s new national technology platform. 💻⚡️

You'll be working directly with DFA National's Tech Team as research consultants, collaborating with other DFAers to surface deep insights about how DFA National can better support the studio community. ⭐️How can a digital platform be a vehicle for learning, practicing, and getting feedback on social impact design projects? ⭐️

We want empathetic researchers, self-initiated team players, and user-focused wizards—aka, you! 👋

Fill out a simple 5-10 minute application that describes why you want to be a part of this unique opportunity. Apply ASAP: the deadline is this Sunday at midnight. Application link in bio!

Questions? Email Glory @ [email protected].

DFAers across the country were responding to crisis this past year, from topics like public transportation and covid-19 to voting rights and community activism. Check out this project by the MIT Team Transportation. Their journey started with the big question: "How can we help restore faith to encourage people to return to public transportation?"
Through surveys, interviewing Keolis Commuter Services and TransitMatters, and examining current solutions, the team learned that the issue is not just about increasing public transportation ridership. With COVID-19, public transportation ridership has exposed the communities who need good public transportation the most: Inner city commuters and essential workers. From their midterm critique, their new question was: How can we alter Boston’s public transportation system to better serve the people who need it the most?

To support students tackling meaningful projects like this, please consider donating to Design for America. Our giving goal is to reach $15,000 by January 1st. Your support matters–donate today!

Check out MIT's projects, website, and donate to DFA via the link in our bio.

Sneha graduated in Spring 2020 with a double major in Cognitive Psychology and Economics. She’s currently a Fellow at the Siebel Center of Design. At DFA UIUC, she worked on topics in accessibility and with the . She’s obsessed with Avatar: The Last Airbender, dogs, and reading.

Meet Sneha and hear her journey from DFA into finding her passions in design research at the next Alumni Panel on Tuesday, December 8, 5-6pm CT. Link to RSVP in bio!

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Learn about Rohan’s journey from comp sci 💻to DFA ⭐️to co-founding a startup 💡to surfing🏄‍♂️ in the next Alumni Panel on Tuesday, December 8, 5-6pm CT. All are welcome -- Link to RSVP in bio!

Rohan is currently a co-founder of Explo, a YCombinator backed startup, where he leads tech and product. He studied Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University and helped found the DFA CMU chapter. Prior to Explo, he taught Computer Science in a lower-income school in Washington D.C., worked on government projects at Palantir, and worked on education technology at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. He is currently learning to surf (it's not going well) and improving his chess game (shoutout Queen's Gambit).

For our upcoming Alumni Panel on Tuesday, December 8, we’re featuring our panelists and highlighting how far they’ve come after graduation. Meet Iyad:

Iyad is currently a Product Design Engineer at and creator of on . Graduated in Fall 2017 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. Spent 6 great semesters in including 1 year as studio lead. Worked on projects related to driving accessibility, elementary school attendance, public transit wayfinding, and sensory play for kids of all visual abilities. He’s obsessed with the ocean, urban planning, and all things related to food.

Learn about Iyad’s journey through engineering and DFA to producing uniquely Arab spiced pickles at the next Alumni Panel on Tuesday, December 8, 5-6pm CT. Link to RSVP in bio!