DSI - MFA in Design for Social Innovation

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DSI - MFA in Design for Social Innovation

The first MFA program at the intersection of design, social innovation and enterprise. dsi.sva.edu Do you want to become a leader for change?

MFA Design for Social Innovation at the School of Visual Arts in New York is the first MFA program at the intersection of design, social innovation and enterprise. This two-year program focuses on the application of the design methodologies to solutions for complex human problems, such as poverty, climate change, planetary health, food insecurity, injustice, inequity and human health. Whether you're interested in business, the non-profit world, communities or government, we have a place for you here. Apply at https://dsi.sva.edu/apply/.

08/26/2026

🌱 RSVP in bio 🌱
What would it look like to design stronger businesses and economies around community, place, and ecological resilience rather than extraction?

School of Visual Arts MFA Design for Social Innovation Program (MFA DSI) hosts an in-person conversation with Sonali Mehta-Rao, Founder of Ahaana Ventures, and Rinzing Choden Bhutia, Founder & CEO of Agapi, moderated by Mari Nakano, SVA MFA DSI Faculty, civic designer and ecologist. This event is in harmony with Climate Week NYC.

08/10/2026

Join us in welcoming Liangjun (Liam) Shi to the MFA Design for Social Innovation Class of 2028! Swipe through to learn about Liam’s interest in entrepreneurship and Liam’s social issues of interest.

Welcome, Liam!! ⚡️

More on Liam’s background and interests ✍️

Liam’s social issues of interest⚡️

07/28/2026

Next up please welcome Helen Hu to the MFA Design for Social Innovation Class of 2028! Swipe through to learn about Helen’s interest in experience design, Helen’s book recommendation, and Helen’s social issues of interest.

Welcome, Helen!! 🥳

07/20/2026

When Everybody Designs✨Xin “X” Peng is joining the SVA MFA Design for Social Innovation Class of 2028 this Fall. With a background in UI design, interests in social equity, inclusion, and public health, X is ready to start her journey as a DSI eco-social design grad student. X shares her foundational summer reading by Ezio Manzini 📖 Read more about X’s social issues of interest by scrolling through!

Excited to see what you will share with the world, X!! ⚡Follow SVA - MFA Design for Social Innovation and School of Visual Arts for more.

07/16/2026

If not now, when?

Future-building doesn’t wait. There’s still time to apply and begin Fall 2026.

Apply at the link in bio.

Photo credit Anushka Kumar MFA DSI ‘26 Anushka Kumar

07/13/2026

Join us in welcoming Vivian Olsen to the SVA MFA Design for Social Innovation Class of 2028! Swipe through to learn about Vivian’s background in industrial design, book recommendation, and social issues of interest.

Welcome, Vivian!! 🌟

07/07/2026

To kick off our SVA MFA Design for Social Innovation Class of 2028 welcomes, meet Sita Lakshminarayan! Swipe through to learn about Sita’s background in architecture, book recommendation, and social issues of interest.

Welcome to the DSI community, Sita! 👋

06/18/2026

Shape change. Apply today - link in bio.

Meet Candice Walker (MFA DSI ‘26), who just exhibited and led her co-design workshop and digital platform, Jersey City Equity Nexus (JCEN), at MakeShift: Accountable Tech by Design conference. JCEN is an interactive digital platform designed to combat housing displacement by bridging the gap between complex municipal data and community action.

Read our interview with Candice on her experiences in housing development and designing with community at the link in bio.

Photo credit: Aqua Hsu, SVA Alum

06/01/2026

Thank you to all who joined us for this year’s expansive, reflective, and thought-provoking SVA MFA Design for Social Innovation Thesis Show. The presentations illustrated the extent to which social design succeeds in proximity. Their eco-social collaborations respond to the issues that ring true today, and affect tomorrow, including: media literacy, water access, transit inequality, overconsumption, community displacement, STEM education, gender inequality, aging, and social isolation.

In case you missed it, watch or rewatch the full show online today! Link in bio.

A special thanks to the MFA DSI Class of 2026 and their communities, DSI Thesis Show team, faculty, alumni, and the School of Visual Arts for their support, care, and commitment.

We have a few spots open for Fall 2026. If not now, when?

05/24/2026

SAVE THE DATE 🗓️Join us June 21 for creative conversations on solidarity, legacy, activism, and art with Akemi Kochiyama-Ladson, traci kato-kiriyama + special guests ✨ RSVP Eventbrite link in bio or dm us

⚡️Akemi Kochiyama-Ladson .kochiyama speaking on the Yuri Kochiyama Solidarity Project which honors Yuri’s legacy and carries on her commitment to bring people together and build cross movement, cross racial solidarity in support of human rights, dignity and self-determination for all oppressed people.

⚡️traci kato-kiriyama reading from their book of poetry, Navigating With(out) Instruments, and talking about a new installation-performance-community organizing project linking actions and conversations on provenance, Reparations, solidarity, collective healing, and the reclamation of “items” that are missing/stolen/lost.

✨MFA Design for Social Innovation is excited to host this event at the DSI studio, to share projects, engage in conversations, mingle over snacks, and stimulate meaningful interaction and connections among all present.

Address

136 W 21st Street
New York, NY
10011

Telephone

+12125922205

Website

http://dsi.sva.edu/

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