FOR NON-PROFITS, FOUNDATIONS & GOVERNMENTS

We help better define community needs, develop strategies, and design life-changing solutions to social problems.

Our mission is to eliminate multi-generational poverty and uplift Black, brown & low-income communities.

Trusted By

WE ARE A SOCIAL IMPACT CONSULTING FIRM

We help you gain the clarity needed to make the biggest impact possible.

Then we help you execute.

OUR SERVICES

01. RESEARCH

IDENTIFY YOUR COMMUNITY’S BIGGEST NEEDS

Programs and services fail when they do not address the deeper needs of the diverse set of people facing unique challenges. We engage with communities to identify the needs, gaps and opportunities to create effective change.

02. STRATEGY

DEFINE WHAT TO DO AND HOW TO DO IT

We help you define the unique role your organization can play by turning insights into strategic plans focused on improving existing programs or developing new ones to reach your goals.

03. DESIGN

BUILD INITIATIVES THAT CAN CREATE LASTING CHANGE

We help you design solutions co-created and tested with the communities you serve to ensure their voices are centered and needs are addressed. From developing new services to apps that enrich communities, we can help!

CASE STUDIES

OUR IMPACT

HEAR WHAT OUR PARTNERS SAY ABOUT WORKING WITH US

"DC Design has the experience and expertise to tackle complex issues. They always ask the right questions and push us to think deeper. Their team is really great at engaging with stakeholders at all different levels, and making something complex and boiling down to a simple process."

LAUREN EVERETT, Associate Director, Cradle Cincinnati

"We knew the 'What', DC Design helped us uncover the 'How'. They use a design-thinking approach instead of putting band-aids on problems. They help leaders think through a process of empathy and better defining what a real problem is, and then helping them generate ideas. We've ended up with a tool that is going to be extremely useful to school leaders."

JACQUELYNE WILSON, Executive Director, NPBEA

"DC Design has become such a trusted partner. They have helped our team to push our thinking towards solutions that are more sustainable. They are very communicative regarding each step of the process. They are innovative, friendly, communicative and thorough."

DR. BEVERLY HUTTON, Deputy Executive Director, NASSP

HOW WE WORK

OUR APPROACH

COMMUNITY-CENTERED

We believe that real change cannot be achieved without involving people with lived experience of the issue. Through each step of our process, we center the voices of communities and co-create solutions with them.

MULTI-STAKEHOLDER

Social problems don't exist in a vacuum. We believe that in order to make sustainable solutions, it is imperative to engage with various diverse stakeholders existing in a given system, and identify how they affect each other.

DESIGN THINKING

We recognize that solutions need to change with changing needs, contexts. That's why we use a design-thinking approach - which means to lead with empathy, consistently check our assumptions, and keep iterating.

5 SYSTEMS OF BLACK INEQUALITY

CREATING SYSTEMIC CHANGE

Through our decade of experience creating social change, we've come to see that there are 5 key systems that link together to create multi-generational poverty in America. We work alongside organizations in these 5 systems to create the change America needs.

The 5 Systems of Black Inequality details what’s broken within America’s social systems, resulting in a perpetual cycle of violence, protest, and unrest.

The six-part video series highlights how each of the five systems discussed – housing, education, employment, health, and criminal justice – are set up in a way that results in multi-generational Black poverty and unnecessary death.

The series is a call to action for all Americans to focus on the broken, but often overlooked aspects of our social design to finally address the issues that have harmed us for generations.

THE FOUNDER

Durell Coleman