Design for America (DFA) @ USC is a network of passionate young thinkers and activists revolutionizing the way college students engage with and improve the world around us. We are moving beyond the classroom to design and implement local sustainable projects with real-world applications.

Design for America (DFA) is a nationally recognized organization that equips university students in the practice of human-centered design for social good. Our curriculum teaches a popular problem-solving framework called design thinking. By taking on a semester or yearlong project, students learn to emphasize with stakeholders, identify problems, and prototype solutions to social-related issues.

When you join DFA, you can get involved via 1 of 3 different hands-on projects:

  1. Join a team to offer pro-bono design consultancy for our nonprofit community partners. Nonprofits will gain insights, strategies, and project prototype launches by the end of each school year in May. In the past, we’ve partnered with **RootDown LA.** This year, our community partner is **CreateNow.**
  2. Apply for DFA’s National Project and consult for nationwide companies. Form a team of at least 5 USC students to solve social-related issues for companies such as Unilever, YMCA, Discover Financial Services, and **MELE.** You will be joined by other DFA chapters, such as Yale, MIT, and Northwestern. Conduct research and pitch final solutions to professionals at said companies.
  3. Collaborate with fellow members to identify and solve a case study involving the problem space of your choice, walking through every step of the design process with your team. Past projects include everything from digitally prototyping a portable mattress (team homelessness) to creating mockups for a clothing exchange app (team fashion circularity).

DFA members work in teams to understand the scope of the social issue that their partner is tackling. Each team is focused on a different aspect of this social challenge that resonates with them and aligns with their community partner’s work. DFA currently holds 38 university chapters nationwide. The University of Southern California’s (USC) chapter celebrates its graduate and undergraduate students who span backgrounds in engineering, entrepreneurship, design, and more.

DFA’s USC chapter seeks to root itself in the Los Angeles community by connecting with LA-based nonprofit organizations.

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Our mission

Design process

Who can join?

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