MFA Design for Social Innovation to Host Design Summit

Welcomes Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as sponsor for symposium on social design and health

January 24 – 25, 2017

SVA Theatre, 333 West 23rd Street, New York, NY 10011

Jan 9, 2017, New York, NY—MFA Design for Social Innovation (DSI) at the School of Visual Arts in New York will host Measured Summit, a two-day gathering in January 2017, to mark its fifth anniversary as the only master of fine arts degree in Social Innovation Design.

Although the field of social design is gaining popularity among funders, designers and social sector practitioners as a practical way to solve complex social problems, there has never been a collaborative approach to measure its benefits. To celebrate the five-year milestone as well as gather leaders to examine the process of measuring the impact of social design, DSI is hosting its inaugural Measured Summit. More than 150 leaders and practitioners from the business, philanthropy, technology and design sectors are anticipated to attend.

On the second day of the summit, DSI—in partnership with Worldstudio Foundation—will host the Measured Symposium, called Design+Health, which will examine how social design impacts and improves our health. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) will be the lead sponsor for this January 24 event.

"We're thrilled to welcome RWJF as a sponsor for our first symposium. As the nation's largest philanthropy devoted to health, we're looking forward to learning more from RWJF about the ways design can support a Culture of Health," said Cheryl Heller, founding chair of DSI.

At the January 24 Design+Health symposium, leading funders, designers and social innovators—working both in the United States and internationally—will deliver short presentations as well as guide participant discussions around key questions: 

1. Does human centered design lead to better health outcomes? 
2. Does it make patients smarter and more informed?
3. Can it encourage healthcare companies to be more innovative and successful and improve the delivery of products and services?

This is the first of an ongoing platform to be organized by DSI to help evaluate and scale the field of social design. To attend on January

24 and to read more about the program, please visit http://measured.design.

MFA Design for Social Innovation at the School of Visual Arts in New York is the first MFA program at the intersection of design, social innovation and enterprise. Our two-year program is for people who want to become leaders of change in business, the non-profit world, communities or government. To read more about the power of design to tackle pressing social problems and to apply, please visit http://dsi.sva.edu.