Creativity holds enormous power to spark positive social change. Through a range of initiatives, we support creative professionals and college students, who want to use their abilities to improve the lives of individuals and communities.

  • Financial support for social design projects

  • Symposium at the School of Visual Arts

  • Social design at the School of Visual Arts

  • Scholarships for college and university students

Explore our original website, an archive of our activities from 2009–2016: we have provided over $135,000 in social design awards; created mentoring programs and workshops; offered visibility for over 650 project case studies from 74 schools; provided non-profit status to organizations through our fiscal sponsorship program and much more!
LEARN ABOUT OUR CURRENT PROJECTS
Sylvia Harris Citizen Design Award Professional designers that have developed a strong project concept to ignite change in their community are eligible to apply for the Sylvia Harris Citizen Design Award for $10,000 toward the implementation of their project. This program is in partnership with AIGA.

Check back in February for the 2017 application dates.
Measuring the Impact of Social Design on Human Health Does human-centered design lead to better health outcomes? Does it make patients smarter and more informed? Can it make healthcare companies more innovative and successful? Can it improve delivery of products and services? Come find out on January 24th, 2017. Seating is limited, register today! View Website
Impact! Design for Social Change This annual summer program at the School of Visual Arts in New York, explores the many roles creative professionals can play when executing socially-minded work and focuses on two critical areas: social entrepreneurship and community engagement. View Website
Worldstudio AIGA Scholarships In collaboration with AIGA, we provide college scholarships for aspiring artists and designers from minority and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. To date we have awarded over one million dollars to 705 students. View Website