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About the Designership

The Bridgeable Designership provides students with real-world experience while working on a summer-long design project.

We bring top-talent together from different areas of expertise to provide a unique and enriching experience. Designership interns receive training in design methods through a hands-on bootcamp. Once trained, Designership interns are staffed on one main project for the summer and contribute to other projects as needs arise.

The Team

Stewart Dowdall

strategist

   

Stewart is an urbanist, entrepreneurial thinker and creative problem solver focusing on human-centered design. Stewart has a degree in Urban Planning from the University of Waterloo with a specialization in Urban Design.

 

“Over the summer, I learned about the benefits of a generative design approach. I’ve never worked on a project where user insights were gathered before the first prototype was made. After hosting a participatory research session and co-creation session, I was able to experience the merits of exploratory design research and how it can be used to make solutions that truly address user needs.”

Elinor Keshet

researcher

   

Elinor is a knowledge translator and strategic designer in the healthcare sector, applying the tools of human-centred design to generate sustainable public sector change. She holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, with a specialization in health promotion.


“I spent the first month of this summer just trying to frame the challenge at hand–it’s pretty tough to wrap your head around systemic change. I also learned that no matter how much you try, you can never anticipate all the pivots. I learned to acknowledge these not as frustrations, but as inspiration to push myself to my creative limits. I have a lot of trust in the process now, and understand how valuable it really is to bring the end user in at each step of the process. ”

Cheryl Li

designer

      

Cheryl is a communication and interaction designer who is passionate about creating social change and humanizing the complex through practicing human-centered design. She has a Bachelor of Design from Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver, BC.


“While working on BabyBundle, I enjoyed learning about participatory design by facilitating a co-creation workshop. Helping people ideate early-stage prototypes that addressed their own needs, allowed me to see the power of co-creation–a form of empowerment, and a method of creating effective change.”

Dan Epstein

documentarian

      

Coming from a photography and film-making background, Dan has created a number of documentary projects including Crisis of Distrust (2014) and Defenders (2013). His work has been featured by Canadian Art, VICE, CBC, and Huffington Post. He’s passionate about creating social change through service design and innovation.


“This summer I learned a lot about the design process and how to tell design stories. I also learned how effective interviews with research subjects can be. I was surprised to find out that some of the videos I cut would be seen at the Ontario Ministry of Health. I’m so excited for these amazing mothers’ voices to carry through as MaRS realizes this project.”

Interested in taking part in the Designership?

 

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