Giving Tuesday is upon us again. I have to admit, before this year I always thought of this day as a nice idea that would encourage people to remember that the holiday season is about more than just buying gifts, but now I see it as much more. In January Design Cause Inc will be 1 year old. I have learned a lot about non-profit work in these past 12 months. Some things have been awesome, like working with the community in Cameroon, and some things have been less than awesome,

Three days ago I was making my way home from Lausanne Switzerland. The 24 hour trip back to Boston made me want to scream, cry, and light something on fire, but my time at The Good Festival made it all worth it. Over the course of two days I spent time with innovators from around the world who brought their fresh, world changing ideas to be showcased at The Good Festival in Lausanne Switzerland. It was an inspiring few days that gave me new hope for Design Cause. I was lucky

Hello Design Cause community. I know there hasn't been a blog in a few weeks and I am about to tell you why. Things have been crazy- like I thought I was going to have to drop our first project and two weeks later i'm calling Cameroon to tell them we are ready to get construction started- kind of crazy. It has been a whirl wind of emotion and i'm about to give you the inside scoop. So about three weeks ago I received the news that a major fundraising partner, who had agreed t

In the last decade education in North America has undergone a transformation. This transformation has been centered around the buildings that comprise educational institutions across the continent, from elementary schools to universities. Educational institutions are now just as focused on the design of each space and how it will affect each student as they are on the location and size. Studies have shown that various components of architectural design can have a positive or

Recently, I've noticed what a difference it makes to know even a little bit about a topic. There are so many things to know about in this world, things you can research and delve into - and one person can't possibly know it all. But if you know just a little bit about something, it becomes much easier to connect with people who know a lot and have deeper conversations with them and learn things. My goal with this post is to give you a bare-bones education on Cameroon - its hi

The business world is always talking about the importance of flexibility- can a business be agile and respond quickly to situations that arise? It is seen as one of the calling cards of a successful startup. But does flexibility play a part in humanitarian architecture? As I have mentioned in other posts, I look at nonprofit work as a business. It's really the business of doing good, and because of this I see flexibility as one of the primary factors of success. There is neve

Africa is a huge continent, made up of over 54 countries. The landscape ranges from desert to beach to jungle to savanna to subarctic mountain, and everything in between. As such, it should go without saying that Africa is an incredibly diverse continent, both in terms of landscape and culture. Despite that fact, many people often get the same images in their heads when they think "Africa": -Safari animals -Mud huts -Tribal music/ drumming -Corrupt, violent governments These

The summer is a slow time for nonprofits. People are preoccupied planning vacations and spending long summer days enjoying the sun. We knew this going in and decided to spend most of the summer planning our next moves. Our online campaign is set to finish on August 5th ( if you haven't contributed you can here: https://www.crowdrise.com/Build-A-Classroom/fundraiser/kelseybradley1 ) and after that we are in full strategy mode until the fall. So here is a little snap shot of w

Participatory design is very hot in humanitarian architecture right now and it seems every project is boasting about their collaborative approach, but why has it all of a sudden become so popular? Participatory design is an approach to the design process which actively incorporates all individuals involved in the final structure. This means that designers and architects are now working with teachers, students, and communities to design schools, and working with doctors, nurse

Get ready for a very heartfelt and honest blog post. Design Cause is my baby and the thing I care most about in my life right now, but I would be willing to bet most people don't know that. This is because I never talk about it. I spend at least 75% of my day thinking about our first project in Cameroon; how the money can be raised, how to involve more people, how to get people excited about it, and how to further that into more projects so we can help more people, but I hard