Design
Empathy is the superpower of systems change.
Creating Solutions for a Stronger Community.
Irvine New Leadership Network members come together to form collaborative design teams, each focused on co-creating solutions to local challenges. But these solutions don’t come easy. In order to solve them, the leaders of the NLN follow a series of steps to create dynamic end results.
Our Design Process
Our Teams Generate Results
The Design Teams have unpacked the possibilities of countless community solutions. Here’s a few samples of our proposals and the solutions they have discovered:
HOW MIGHT WE...
HELP FIRST-GENERATION STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES NAVIGATE THE ONBOARDING PROCESS TO COLLEGE?
The Team:
Marian Kaanon, CEO of Stanislaus Community Foundation
Homero Mejia, Teacher, Aspire Public School (and first-generation MJC graduate)
Yolanda Meraz, Marketing Manager at the Self Help Federal Credit Union
Dr. Janet Nunez-Pineda, Manager of Stanislaus County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services
James Todd, Assistant Superintendent/Vice President of Instruction & Planning, San Joaquin Delta College
NEXT: The Inquiry >
HOW MIGHT WE...
HELP FIRST-GENERATION STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES NAVIGATE THE ONBOARDING PROCESS TO COLLEGE?
The Inquiry:
This team examined how Modesto Junior College and Stanislaus County can help close the achievement gap for first-generation college students through strategic community partnerships.
The team’s focus emerged from their conversations with first-generation college students and their families. From these students, the team heard how difficult it was to navigate the County and College bureaucracies to access services they needed; from housing to financial aid. Through further conversations, team members discovered that there was little connection between the County and the College, creating duplicate efforts and barriers to students.
NEXT: The Experiment >
HOW MIGHT WE...
HELP FIRST-GENERATION STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES NAVIGATE THE ONBOARDING PROCESS TO COLLEGE?
The Experiment:
The team hosted a “Solutions Summit” at Modesto Junior College that introduced County and College counterparts to one another. Participants were able to meet potential allies in other organizations, and brainstorm ideas on building a more integrated system of support for first-generation students.
NEXT: The Outcomes >
HOW MIGHT WE...
HELP FIRST-GENERATION STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES NAVIGATE THE ONBOARDING PROCESS TO COLLEGE?
The Outcomes:
The design team was amazed to discover that none of the Summit’s participants knew their County/City counterparts before the Summit. Since then, several important partnerships have been formed which are positively impacting first-generation students experience.
- MJC and the County forged a partnership worth $150,000 to enable all MJC students to ride the city buses for free, as opposed to using vouchers which increased complexity. One professor told us “Now my students don’t have to decide whether to use their bus voucher to get to work or to school”.
- Self-Help Credit Union is negotiating a partnership with MJC around providing financial support for first generation students.
- MJC has developed a partnership with the County probation office to seamlessly re-integrate parolees into college, including access to a food pantry, mental health services, and free transportation.
None of these solutions required more resources or a significant planning process. Rather the design team realized that tangible outputs result simply by building relationships between key players in the lives of first-generation college students. In essence, the team acted to better integrate the system of support for these students rather than inventing a new program.
HOW MIGHT WE...
INCREASE EMPATHY BETWEEN LAW ENFORCEMENT AND THE COMMUNITY IT SERVES?
The Team:
Melanie Berru, Professor of Sociology, Modesto Junior College
Martha Delgado, Lieutenant, Modesto Police Department
Jim Gordon, Operations Division Captain, Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department
Manuel Rivera, Mental Health Clinician, Stanislaus County Behavioral Health
Gary Soiseth, Mayor, City of Turlock
Kate Trompetter, Consultant
NEXT: The Inquiry >
HOW MIGHT WE...
INCREASE EMPATHY BETWEEN LAW ENFORCEMENT AND THE COMMUNITY IT SERVES?
The Inquiry:
This team explored whether increasing the mutual empathy between community members and law enforcement could be the basis for stronger working relationships.
NEXT: The Experiment >
HOW MIGHT WE...
INCREASE EMPATHY BETWEEN LAW ENFORCEMENT AND THE COMMUNITY IT SERVES?
The Experiment:
The initial prototype brought together new police recruits and college students who had history with law enforcement for a facilitated dinner conversation. Typically, new police officers learn about community relations in a classroom setting taught by a veteran police officer. This time, police recruits and students were given the opportunity to tell their stories and reflect on the bias they bring to interactions with one another. This was not an easy conversation and ignited strong reactions on both sides. The police present saw the power of exposing new recruits to fuller story of community members in the early stage of their training. And community members stepped into a greater awareness of how often police officers face down threats to their personal safety.
NEXT: The Outcomes >
HOW MIGHT WE...
INCREASE EMPATHY BETWEEN LAW ENFORCEMENT AND THE COMMUNITY IT SERVES?
The Outcomes:
The team emerged committed to finding more ways for co-creation between the community and law enforcement. This team was expanded to include more network members and outside community members. Several outcomes have emerged but this design team continues to expand and deepen its work.
- The Stanislaus Sheriff’s Department funded a curriculum design team made up of community members, new cadets and senior law enforcement from the County. The stated goal was to redesign how new police cadets are prepared to interact with the community. This scope quickly expanded to other issues that benefit from collaborative solutions. For example, community members were asked to help redesign the protocols that guide police when they respond to call from a community member who is mentally ill.
- Last month, this team was asked to present their work to the statewide California Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training. The hope is that this curriculum will be fully integrated into the training of police officers across the state.
HOW MIGHT WE...
SUPPORT LOCALLY-BASED ENTREPRENEURS TO DRIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL MOBILITY AND EQUITY?
The Team:
Emmanuel Escamilla, Founder of CodeXP Program
Renaldo Rucker, Teacher, Davis High School
Jose Sabala, VP CRA Officer, Oak Valley Community Bank
Elizabeth Wight, CEO of Interfaith Ministries in Modesto
Hilary Zwahlen, Entrepreneur
Next: The Inquiry >
HOW MIGHT WE...
SUPPORT LOCALLY-BASED ENTREPRENEURS TO DRIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL MOBILITY AND EQUITY?
The Inquiry:
This team was curious about what entrepreneurs needed to grow successful businesses in Stanislaus County. Early conversations about the role inequity is playing in accessing funding and powerful networks pushed the team to explore what entrepreneurial efforts were taking place outside of the region’s traditional business district downtown.
Next: The Experiment >
HOW MIGHT WE...
SUPPORT LOCALLY-BASED ENTREPRENEURS TO DRIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL MOBILITY AND EQUITY?
The Experiment:
The team hosted a pop-up co-working space in the basement of a church in a residential neighborhood in South Modesto; a chronically under resourced part of the County. They remade the entire space with new furniture, rugs, plants, etc so that it no longer resembled the church’s spare room. They recruited entrepreneurs from the neighborhood to attend for the a full day of co-working with their peers with the option for free coaching from local business coaches. Twenty local entrepreneurs participated in the co-working day.
Next: The Outcomes >
HOW MIGHT WE...
SUPPORT LOCALLY-BASED ENTREPRENEURS TO DRIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL MOBILITY AND EQUITY?
The Outcomes:
The team was amazed to discover just how many local part-time entrepreneurs exist in this community. They quickly recruited 20 entrepreneurs; many of whom are running full business in addition to their day jobs. The feedback they got from this experiment confirmed the need for coaching and peer support outside of traditional business pipelines. The team confirmed that there does seem to be a sidelining of entrepreneurs in the County along geographic and racial lines -- and that these entrepreneurs need opportunities closer to home to move their work forward. The team continues to look for aligned partners and opportunities outside of traditional forums to help grow support for the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Stanislaus County. Currently they are exploring how to support food entrepreneurs in the County.
That’s not all!
To learn more about the Irvine New Leadership Network Design Teams and read their case studies, click below: