Taylor Center offers a lecture for doers
The NewDay Social Entrepreneurship Distinguished Speaker Series is known for hosting organization leaders who share their knowledge on the social issues in which they believe. But this year, the Phyllis M. Taylor Center for Social Innovation and Design Thinking is shaking up the process by moving from a lecture model to a workshop format that allows participants the chance to practice what they learn.
“In the past we’ve had speakers who are behind certain issues like poverty or education, but this is the first time we have a speaker who actually does design thinking,” said Samantha Fleurinor, Taylor program coordinator. “Speaking about design thinking is nothing like doing design thinking, so we decided to give this format a try.”
The free-to-the-public design thinking workshop takes place in the Kendall Cram room of the Lavin-Bernick Center on Friday, Oct. 20, from 9–11 a.m. Registration is not required. Participants will learn hands-on tips and tricks on how to generate creative ideas and bring those ideas to life through prototyping.
The workshop will be lead by NewDay Speaker Justin Massa, an innovator and entrepreneur with expertise in food, big data, housing, open government data and civil rights. Massa is currently a portfolio director focused on the intersection of data and design at IDEO’s Chicago studio. He previously served as president of Food Genius, a venture-backed big data and analytics company in the food industry whose customers include U.S. Foods, McDonald’s, Safeway, Coca-Cola, and Kraft.
