Sasaki Foundation

Interested in our Design Grants program? Don't miss our Design Grants Mixers next week! You'll learn about the program and meet potential team members. We've got two options: online at noon on Tuesday, April 1, and in-person at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 2. Register today: https://lnkd.in/ebv6-ba

Congratulations to Eastie Farm on cutting the ribbon on their new Hydroponic Freight Farm! Our Designing Environmental and Social Impact (DESI) interns had the amazing opportunity of learning about the history of Eastie Farm, how it was designed, and it's use of geothermal heat. It was an incredible opportunity for our youth to see the innovative ways food can be grown to make a community more resilient. Thank you for the invitation and the delicious food!?

2023 Design Grants alum Survival Guide to Living and Staying in Roxbury from Reclaim Roxbury is continuing to advance their community advocacy work, including building out the online version of the survival guide. Last summer, they worked with a SEED teaching assistant to 3D print Nubian Square from City of Boston - Planning Department data files. These 3D prints are now in their office space to support their community advocacy. And earlier this month, they hosted their first annual Celebration of Roxbury Legends, an event honoring the figures behind community-driven development. Have an idea to impact your own community? Apply for one of our 2025 Design Grants! Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eGGYJxac

Throughout the semester, we're highlighting each of our Designing Environmental and Social Impact (DESI) interns. Meet Salina Armand from Roslindale! Salina is redesigning Forest Hills Station. She plans to emphasize sustainable practices, such as passive design, to improve the train station system at Forest Hills, aiming to better accommodate and enhance the lives of community members.

Register for Boston Area Research Initiative Conference 2025, taking place Friday, April 11! The conference is a unique forum for community leaders, practitioners, researchers, and policymakers to advance data-driven civic research and policy in Greater Boston—and how we could do even more through collective action. BARI is co-hosting this year's conference with Roxbury Community College’s Center for Economic and Social Justice (CESJ). https://lnkd.in/dSG_qB_6

Our Design Professionals Trivia Night last month was a success! We had a fun evening connecting with fellow designers over friendly competition. Thank you to our event partner BSLA/Boston Society of Landscape Architects, as well as our host SMRT Trivia, and congratulations to our winners! If you missed out, stay tuned for future events.

Thank you to David Lee, cofounder of Stull and Lee Incorporated, for inviting our Designing Environmental and Social Impact (DESI) interns to his firm and talking to us about the Southwest Corridor project. It was so impactful to hear his first hand accounts about how the community came together to move the highway from the originally planned site to create a beautiful green corridor along the Orange Line. This visit allowed our youth to reflect on the lasting impact of design on communities and that they have a responsibility to design for the greater good of our neighborhoods.

In 2024, 2018 Design Grants alum Charles River Floating Wetland from the Charles River Conservancy (CRC) continued to make waves in ecological innovation and community engagement. In partnership with MIT Sea Grant, CRC installed a solar-powered fish camera on the floating wetland to count and identify the fish in the Charles River, capturing over 1200 hours of footage. The CRC expanded engagement with 38 kayak trips and a riverboat tour to the floating wetland. The CRC also experimented with planting tomatoes on the floating wetland to explore the potential of hydroponic methods as an approach to promoting food justice. And tomorrow the wetland comes out of hibernation and heads back to its typical spot near the Longfellow Bridge! Have an idea to impact your own community? Apply for one of our 2025 Design Grants! Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eGGYJxac

Throughout the semester, we're highlighting each of our Designing Environmental and Social Impact (DESI) interns. Meet Raeanna Gray from Mattapan! Raeanna is designing an outdoor recreation space with a garden to give Mattapan residents access to organic foods and a safe space to gather. Her program highlight so far is that the garden could potentially be sponsored by a nonprofit food organization.

It's not too late! Join the Sasaki Foundation TOMORROW, March 12, for our Is It Racist? Is It Sexist? Workshop. This interactive workshop with Betsy Leondar-Wright, coauthor of the book Is it Racist? Is It Sexist?, will help you unpack your own values and habits in judging ambiguous situations, let you practice tricky conversations about racism, and offer recommendations for more effective antiracism. Lunch provided with free registration. Register today: https://lnkd.in/eBQiz2Zp