Step into design changemaking

Design has shaped the systems around us—and the injustices we inherit. What would it take to design futures where all of us can thrive?

Creator: Sandra Camacho (aka Sandra By Design)

On a computer monitor is a woven bag with a long strap, decorated with black patterns, filled with squares featuring various designs and a circular compass next to a person's hand holding a bright yellow star, surrounding by smaller stars and a 2 clouds and the dcm logo in the top right

Welcome!

The Design Changemaking Portal is a visual journey through the foundations of design changemaking—each one an invitation to reclaim design as a force for collective liberation and justice.

Our systems urgently need dismantling and reimagining. This portal offers a glimpse at possible pathways of change.

Happy exploring!

Sandra Camacho smilingSandra Camacho (She/Her)
aka Sandra By Design

Design has long been a tool of oppression...

Ever wonder why the products, services, and environments we design seem to create unequal outcomes? How some repeatedly benefit...while others experience harms?

It's not a coincidence. It's a pattern, indicative of larger power structures. Oppressive patterns are embedded in almost everything we design.
Newspaper clippings highlighting various biases and social issues: Black and Latino homeowners face higher chances of receiving low home appraisals compared to whites. Houston faces walkability issues affecting both the environment and disabled individuals. UK passport photo verification software exhibits bias against dark-skinned women. A South Korean AI chatbot was removed from Facebook due to producing hate speech against minorities.

What if we designed futures free from these patterns?

That’s the vision of collective liberation. Designing futures where care, justice, and joy shape the systems around us, not oppression. Futures where all of us—not just an elite few—thrive.

That's where design changemaking comes in.

A person stands in a dark, leafy jungle, looking toward a brightly lit area filled with colorful plants and abstract foliage

What is design changemaking?

Design changemaking helps us break cycles of oppression and forge pathways to liberatory futures.

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An ethos

Shaping how we show up: mindsets and behaviors
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A practice

Transforming how we design: methods, tools, and processes
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A movement

Sparking systemic change led by communities
A person's hand holding a bright yellow star, surrounding by smaller stars and a 2 clouds

Its core elements

Guiding how we design for change together
Questioning whose histories, presents, and futures are privileged within and beyond the design process.
Embracing multiple ways of imagining and creating that break with Western industry standards and gatekeeping.
Accepting responsibility for real-world impacts, committing to justice, and answering to those impacted.
Honoring community wisdom, nurturing trust, and restoring harmony with the Land.
Cultivating conditions where collective joy, self-determination, pleasure, and care can flourish.
A woven bag with a long strap, decorated with black patterns, filled with squares featuring various designs and a circular compass

Foundations of design changemaking

Design changemaking is built on three interwoven foundations. Think of them as a pack of collective wisdom—as well as invitations for you to seed change in novel ways.

Explore these in depth in the The Grove: Foundations of Design Changemaking.

A set of six abstract illustrations set against a beige background, each featuring plants, curved lines, circles, or geometric shapes
Design Changemaking Principles
Principles etched across generations, grounding us in shared values.
Explore
Various colorful flowers and plants blending together in a field with a light beige sky.
Design Changemaking Ecosystem
A living field of design approaches, revealing pathways of change.
Explore
A circular design with a brown border, beige background, central star pattern, and black symbols (leaf, waves, swirl, arch) around the edge.
The Reflexive
Compass
A wayfinding tool, guiding us to design more liberatory conditions.
Explore

Design Changemaking Principles

Principles grounding us in shared values
A person stands in front of a large screen displaying a wireframe face and various design tool icons, reaching out as if interacting with the interface
"Design isn't neutral. What if we rooted design—and its principles—in a collective vision of liberatory futures?"

Reimagining principles

Design Changemaking Principles invite you to let go of oppressive defaults and design in alignment with justice, collective wisdom, and expansive ways of knowing and creating.

Etched into time like hieroglyphs, they carry generations of wisdom of resistance and liberatory possibilities.

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A set of six abstract illustrations set against a beige background, each featuring plants, curved lines, circles, or geometric shapes

Impacts

By embracing these principles, you can...

Break free from Western design norms, embracing multiple forms of creativity
Design in relationship with all living beings, honoring community and ecological balance
Live your values, anchoring care, justice, and liberation in design and everyday life
A beige background with abstract brown and ochre shapes, including a half-circle, a small circle above it, curved lines, and leaf-like forms
embody radical humility
Two sets of concentric circles connected by a diagonal ochre-colored bar, on a beige background
share & cede power
Abstract design with curved lines, brown leaf shapes, and two ochre circles, one large and one small, on a beige background
lead with compassion
A single brown plant stem with leaves, two ochre circles, and wavy lines at the bottom, on a beige background
honor emergence
A brown half-circle at the top with curved parallel lines extending downward, resembling an arch, on a beige background
go beyond the surface
A large ochre circle at the top with concentric curved lines inside, and a brown half-circle at the bottom with similar curved lines, on a beige background
subvert dominant defaults
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"To transform design, we must embody liberation—and let it steer our choices."

Design Changemaking Ecosystem

A living field of design for change approaches
A long list of design approaches in bold black font, each separate by the term "versus". Some example terms include "inclusive design," "design justice," and "social design"
"Design for change is siloed. How can we design for liberatory futures in ways that unite us across movements?"

Reimagining approaches

The Design Changemaking Ecosystem weaves together design approaches for change, amplifying their impact by rooting them in liberation and justice.

Like a living field of wildflowers, design approaches find balance here. Those in service of liberation—whether deeply rooted or newly sprouting—intertwine and evolve, while others naturally fade.

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Various colorful flowers and plants blending together in a field with a light beige sky.

Impacts

With an ecosystem approach, you can...

Move beyond silos, connecting long-standing approaches with emerging methods
Critically examine methods, evolving them to align with liberation and justice
Combine and rearrange approaches, adapting to shifting needs of people and planet
A bold yellow flower with a speckled center and lush green leaves, set against a light beige background. The words "liberation & justice" are written below.A single blue flower with sharp, pointed petals and green leaves on a beige background. The word "accessibility" is written below.A pink poppy-like flower with black stamens and green leaves on a pale pink background. The words "diversity & inclusion" are written below.A cluster of round, purple flowers with dark green stems against a warm beige background. The word "ethics" is written below.A delicate white flowering plant with green stems against a soft pink background. The words "care & healing" are written below.A minimalistic black and red flower with thin, curved stems on a soft green background. The word "regeneration" is written below.
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"Design should always be in service of collective liberation—no matter the pathways you choose for change."

The Reflexive Compass

A wayfinding tool for systemic change
A tree with extensive root structures, set against a warm, earth-toned background.
"We reinforce oppressive systems with surface-level change. How can we can use design to reshape relationships, structures, and systems?"

Reimagining change

The Reflexive Compass helps you navigate the complexities of systemic change, guiding you to disrupt oppressive patterns and design conditions for liberatory futures.

Like a compass attuned to your values and liberatory futures, the Reflexive Compass invites you to make systemic change slowly and astutely with others.

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A circular design with a brown border, a beige background, and a central dot pattern surrounding a star-like shape in the middle. Small black symbols, including a leaf, waves, a swirl, and an arch, are placed around the edges.

Impacts

With introspection and shared responsibility, you can...

Discern how oppression and liberation shape design, identifying leverage points for change
Stay grounded in your values under oppressive systems, while advancing justice, accountability, and repair
Intervene with intention, dismantling oppressive structures, shifting power, and centering healing and joy
A circular design with a brown border, a beige background, and three black wavy lines (like waves) in the center. Dotted patterns radiate outward.
discernment
A circular design with a brown border, a beige background, and a black leafy branch in the center. Dotted patterns radiate outward.
accountability
A circular design with a brown border, a beige background, and a black arched shape (like a rainbow) in the center. Dotted patterns radiate outward.
imagination
A circular design with a brown border, a beige background, and swirling black lines (like winds) in the center. Dotted patterns radiate outward.
engagement
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"Even small shifts can have cascading effects when you act at key leverage points."

An open booklets on a textured surface, featuring illustrations and text about Design Changemaking Principles.

Get a free visual guide

Experience design changemaking in a visually rich booklet. It includes expanded insights and resources that you won't find in the web portal!

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Activate the foundations

A whole series of tools, games, and learning experiences (including The Grove and Design Changemaking Bursts) are in the works to make these foundations actionable.

In the meantime, I invite you to explore our library of free resources on designing for change.

A person holding a card that says equity-centered design. In the background with a slight blur, we see a pile of cards that say restorative design, socially responsible design, co-creation and trauma-informed design
Sandra Camacho, a light-skinned Latina woman with dark hair smiling and sitting on a couch

Looking for ways to bring this to your team?

Hi, I'm Sandra Camacho (She/Her), a.k.a. Sandra By Design, the creator of these foundations & Design Changemakers. I've spent nearly 15 years enabling people to use design-led methods for innovation and social change.

As a design strategist, consultant and educator, I work closely with teams to build their capacity—and create the conditions—for designing change that shifts systems. If your team is ready to do this work, I'd be thrilled to support you.

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