Kayla (she/her) uses systems thinking, trauma-informed design, and participatory practices to help mission-driven organizations, public institutions, and the people they serve design better services and outcomes by and for the community members directly affected.
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U.S. DIGITAL RESPONSE
Community-Centered Research
Collaborating with an Indigenous community organization to co-research Tribal members' relationships with seeking, sharing, and preserving cultural heritage
DISCOVERY RESEARCH | DESK RESEARCH | LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS | SYNTHESIS | INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
OFFICE OF ENGAGEMENT
Community Engagement
Facilitating connection and resource-sharing among community-based arts organizations
Designing and facilitating a multi-day gathering to democratically set organizational goals and strategies
WORSHOP DESIGN | PARTICIPATORY DECISION-MAKING FACILITATION | STAKEHOLDER MAPPING | ECOSYSTEM MAPPING
Designing a dynamic website for a 4,000+ page open education library that surfaces latent interconnections for didactic exploration, search, and discovery
DESIGN FOR SOCIAL CHANGE
Reading Circle
Leading early- and mid-career designers in a 16-week facilitated study of social design topics and frameworks
FACILITATION | CURRICULUM DESIGN | CAPACITY BUILDING
"Kayla is exceptionally organized, clear thinking, rigorous in her methods and hungry to learn and implement new skills. In addition, her warmth, collegiality, and exceptional ability to make complex, nuanced information clear and accessible has impressed us and resulted in her receiving substantially increased responsibilities at Smarthistory."
Dr. Steven Zucker
Executive Director, Smarthistory
Hi! I'm Kayla
A design researcher and strategist based in Brooklyn, NY.
Motivated by asking brave questions, deep listening, and play, I strive to help people connect with themselves, each other, and transformative ideas.
I often find myself in the in-between, and enjoy working with others to discover the rich insights that can form when multiple disciplines, approaches, and ways of thinking come together.
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