Social Innovation Design Lab

Spring Semester 2015 at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles

I am almost half-way through one of the most interesting courses I have ever taken at USC: BAEP 471 Social Innovation Design Lab. For the course, 21 students are split into 7 groups of 3 and go through the design thinking process to learn about our community, identify problems, find opportunities, and design a product that can be implemented in a for-profit, financially sustainable business model to have a positive social impact.

Our community is Pacoima, CA in the North San Fernando Valley. We are working with a fantastic organization called MEND (Meet Each Need with Dignity). Look out for more updates on my team’s progress on our design of our final product. Here are some photos from our visit to the community in late January.