ONEder Podcast

Can there be design without community? Can complex social and design challenges be solved independently? How might true curiosity, conversation, relationship connection, and social justice values advance the work of any organization? If questions like these resonate, you need to meet Sloan Leo. The possibility, honesty, joy, and creativity shared in our conversation with the committed and brilliant founder of Flox Studio will brighten your day and might help you recognize a connection.

What drives a design career? Obviously, designers have many different paths to choose, and we invite you to spend this Oneder Podcast with us and Yana Ronin, hearing her personal journey. A designer, strategist, community builder, entrepreneur, world citizen and lifelong learner, Yana details the first half of her career and hints at what else the future may hold. Enjoy the story, her insights and energy are infectious.

As the cost of housing development continues to increase across the Bay Area, the homeless community also continues to grow. Additional pressure from the pandemic has only amplified the need. Dr. Brian Greenberg from Life Moves, a non-profit providing interim housing and supportive services for homeless families and individuals, shares his observations on the immediate need to scale these services and program resources.

There’s a growing mental health crisis in the US, and a growing need for behavioral health resources. Listen in to this fact and experience filled conversation with a provider, Charity Holmes from the University of Washington Behavioral Health Services and a behavioral health designer/planner, Lori Epler from SRG Partnership. Learn with us more about their challenges, their successes and their hopes for the future of behavioral health resources.

The need to address inclusivity and belonging in the workplace along with recognized wellbeing attributes drove the team at QA to consider how and where to insert that in the design process. Kate Albee and Roderick Allen joined the ONEder podcast to describe their research process and learnings, as well as the toolkit they developed to integrate corporate values and holistic wellness into workplace design. The conversation is mind expandingly specific!

Can mass timber construction successfully meet the rigorous requirements for life science buildings? The structural engineers, sustainability leaders and designers at DES Architects & Engineers have done research, calculations, and designs to suggest it can. Listen in to Kenny Hung and Tom Parrish enthusiastically describe their journey of discovery.

A consortium of concerned built-environment professionals created the CARE tool enabling users to compare the total carbon impacts of renovating an existing building vs. replacing it with a new one. Listen in to this fast-paced conversation with Erin McDade from Architecture 2030 and Lori Ferriss from Goody Clancy, describing the CARE tool features and benefits to effect climate action in the build environment.

How might the K12 library evolve to meet the needs of 21st century students and school communities? A team of K12 design experts from EHDD tackles this question and actively involves student populations to generate new design thinking. Emily Bello, Charlotte D’Acierno and Lalyn Yu explain how research suggested that an analog gaming approach might be the perfect solution to engage students in their research. Listen and learn how your school and students might participate.

Three percent of manufacturing businesses are owned by women, and just imagine the leadership style they bring to their organizations. Susan Pilato, CEO of Mantra Inspired Furniture, shares her story of commitment, concern and celebration of American craftsmanship on this ONEder podcast. Modeling a simple code of behaviors, partnering with Amish maker workshops, creating sustainable, legacy, solid wood furniture and paying it forward in support of women entrepreneurs, Susan and her team are making manufacturing history.

What can make students be, and maybe more importantly, feel safe in schools today? How might design thinking and community engagement contribute to successful student learning, growth and wellness? Stanford d.School colleagues sam seidel and Barry Svigals share their exploration, thinking, tools and design solutions to empower collaboration between schools and their broad communities to deliver safe and nurturing environments for all students.