Join us for a gathering of social impact transformers - the people, organizations, and initiatives that are improving our communities, our health, and our wellbeing.
Through a combination of curated explorations and co-created discussions (yes! part of time will be the much asked for Open Space!), this your opportunity to grow, learn, share, and connect.
Together we can design systems of compassion that minimize harm and maximize impact - join us!
EXPLORING: Health Equity and Design
MICROBIO: Monique is a builder and a translator; she has worked across five continents to deploy data and technology in expanding access to care, addressing supply chain challenges, and systematically tackling barriers to health inequity. She channels the experiences of her patients into reimagining how technology and new ways of providing care might bring about equity in wellbeing.
EXPLORING: AI in Health
MICROBIO: Stephen Konya is a distinguished leader at the intersection of technology and healthcare. His expertise spans policymaking, strategic development, and program management and he has made notable contributions in both public and private sectors. Stephen is a respected public speaker and thought leader, consistently sharing his insights on enhancing patient care through technology and advocating for a more efficient, patient-centered healthcare system.
EXPLORING: Health x Social Impact
MICROBIO: Claudia is the Chief Social Impact Officer for UC Berkeley School of Public Health. She is dedicated to accelerating progress towards health impact and leverages her business acumen, strategy and policy expertise, technology skills and passion for Medicaid and public health to do just that. From her time at the White House to growing Manifest MedEx in California, she has worked with incredible teams fixing healthcare’s most fundamental problems.
EXPLORING: The Intersection of Housing & Health
MICROBIO: Alexandra is particularly interested in how health care organizations are addressing social drivers of health - what's working, what's not, and how we can do better. She researches, writes, and brings people together to talk about the integration of health and social care for people, communities, and systems.
EXPLORING: Right Problem, Right Now
MICROBIO: A healthcare designer and systems engineer. Juhan spent time at Apple, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), and MITRE. His work has been recognized by the New York Times, BBC, and National Public Radio (NPR) and published in The Journal of Participatory Medicine and The Lancet. He currently lectures on design and engineering at MIT.
EXPLORING: Community as Medicine
MICROBIO: Thought leader and innovator in the field of health and wellness and a sought-after consultant for her unique insights and expertise in clinic-community integration, innovative approaches to mental health, and group facilitation. She is the co-founder of Open Source Wellness, an Oakland-based nonprofit offering experiential behavioral health and wellness
EXPLORING: Storytelling in Inclusive Design
MICROBIO: Kyle Peterson is a product designer and researcher at Exygy, a B Corp digital studio that partners with social impact organizations to build healthy and resilient communities through design and technology. Kyle's work has spanned multiple service areas with clients across the private, public, and nonprofit sectors, including the State of California's Governor's Office, QURE Healthcare, the City of Oakland, Benetech, and the Alameda Point Collaborative. He is committed to Exygy's Thoughtful Design approach to human-centered design, which leans on the principles of frameworks such as Equity-Centered Design and Trauma-Informed Design, to better serve the needs of the populations he designs for.
EXPLORING: Congress as Community: Engaging DC Policymakers in Meaningful Ways
MICROBIO:
Claire is passionate leader who has served at organizations across the spectrum in health care ranging from scientific discovery to public health to patient advocacy. She is passionate about the role education, engagement and collaboration play in making change. Claire holds an MSc. with Distinction from the London School of Economics in Media and Communications, where her dissertation focused on the construct of public opinion within the halls of the U.S. Congress.
EXPLORING: Congress as Community
MICROBIO: Alison leads efforts to strengthen operational efficiency across the Alliance’s programming and advance the organization’s mission to promote solutions-focused dialogue on health policy and health equity issues. Prior to joining the Alliance in 2023, Alison worked in federal advocacy and private philanthropy to advance evidence-based policy to improve access to quality, affordable, and accessible maternal and reproductive health care. Alison brings more of a decade in nonprofit program management experience and previously served on the Board of the D.C. Abortion Fund, where she led the development of the organization’s first-ever monitoring, evaluation, and learning program.
EXPLORING: Design Principles for AgeTech & Longevity Solutions
MICROBIO: Kate is a Product Management and UX leader with 20+ years of experience working in growth stage software companies, including some homegrown Boston favorites – PatientsLikeMe, ezCater and Proof (formerly Notarize). She recently became an Angel Investor with TBD Angels and started a consulting firm, Kate Brigham Consulting where she continues her work as a Product Leadership Advisor and Fractional CPO. Her mission is to support the development of products, teams and companies that make PEOPLE better. Outside of her consulting work and Angel investing, Kate focuses on building community, sparking conversation, organizing events, mentoring early stage founders and supporting audiences and advocates in the AgeTech & Longevity ecosystem so we’ll all have a wealth of great options for living better as we age.
EXPLORING: Kindness as Strategy
MICROBIO: Joe Williams is a Design leader focused on understanding people problems, fostering partnerships and delivering cross channel solutions that make a real difference to consumers. Recently Joe led the Enterprise Design organization for UnitedHealth Group and helped foster a consumer centered vision for enterprise healthcare. Today Joe leads Lamppost, a small expert team helping drive vision and transformation for companies of all sizes and domains.
EXPLORING: Unlearning by Design: A Visual Diary
MICROBIO: Anita Ravi, MD, MPH, MSHP is a physician and CEO and co-founder of PurpLE Health Foundation, a groundbreaking non-profit organization that is advancing health equity for gender-based violence (GBV) survivors–including women and girls who have experienced human trafficking, domestic violence, and sexual assault. Her influence includes public health, policy, and service, including for the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Center. Dr. Ravi uses creative tools such as drawing to emphasize the need for radical healthcare system transformation to meet the needs of GBV survivors and other chronically invisible populations. She was selected as a"40 Under 40" Leader by the National Minority Quality Forum, a Presidential Leadership Scholar, and the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Residency Program. Her work has been integrated into reports by the WHO and National Academy of Medicine, and featured in Politico and the Wall Street Journal.
EXPLORING: Designing an LGBTQ+ Affirming Care Experience
MICROBIO: Sarah Konstantino, serving as the managing director of product within UnitedHealth Group's Strategy, Growth, and Innovation organization, is a seasoned product manager and strategist with a robust track record in healthcare technology and services. Since joining in 2016, Sarah has played a pivotal role in the development and deployment of new products, businesses, and technologies aimed at enhancing care for the company’s clients, patients, and providers. With a passion for transforming healthcare experiences and a focus on health equity, she has been instrumental in accelerating innovative solutions to complex challenges. Additionally, as a respected leader in LGBTQ+ health, Sarah is committed to crafting and advocating for healthcare solutions that significantly improve the experience and outcomes for LGBTQ+ individuals, ensuring their unique needs are designed for within the healthcare landscape.
EXPLORING: Workshop Framework for Designing for Dignity
MICROBIO: Ben focuses on the systems of innovation; how people create or respond to change in a complex world. Design for Dignity is part of his exploration of how those systems are shaped by values, optimizing towards the metrics and principles that have the power to shape experiences, products, and businesses. Ben leads the Design Innovation program at MassArt, lectures on Strategy + Innovation at Harvard, and spends the majority of his time building new experiences at Fidelity.
EXPLORING: Aging in All the Best Ways
MICROBIO: Lindsey uses research, design and strategy to help individuals and organizations create better, more delightful and useful brands and experiences, while helping them to be the best, most authentic and impactful, versions of themselves.
Her credo: think big. think bravely. be available. be kind. be open. act accordingly. rise to the challenge. work hard. laugh loud. listen well. cultivate hope. believe that it all matters.
EXPLORING: Talking Independence: A Co-Creative Canvas Workshop
MICROBIO: María has a knack for spotting patterns and connecting dots, she heads up the design team at Digital Scientists, steering digital strategies with a keen eye on user experience and service design. Off the clock, she's a fervent learner, mentor and community volunteer.
EXPLORING: Futures, Equity, and Design
MICROBIO: Suzanne (Suzi) Hamill is a Designer, Organizer, Artist, and Business Lady. She has worked for organizations like Fidelity, Amazon, NASA, IBM, The Boston Globe. Her superpower is organizing people to "play" together to imagine futures and solve big problems. As an independent consultant she has been proud to have worked at Harvard, MIT, South Shore Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Global Health Team, GetCity (Gender Equity in Tech) and MassPeace Action. She is most proud to be a musician and mother to her son, Leo.
EXPLORING: Empowering Caregivers Globally
MICROBIO: Divya brings a unique blend of cultural insight and global perspective to her strategic management role. Her passion for applying creativity and analytical thinking to complex problems stems from her background as a former chess player, where she learned to navigate strategic challenges with precision. Divya sees her mission aligning with Noora Health's worldwide focus on addressing healthcare disparities and supporting caregivers. Her strategic initiatives aim to understand the global health context and shape the organizational culture and growth strategies.
EXPLORING: Talking Independence: A Co-Creative Canvas Workshop
MICROBIO: Maria Ines Zelaya is a passionate Design Strategist with a rich background in service design, UX research, and strategy, boasting eight years of experience transforming insights into impactful solutions in digital health. At Digital Scientists, she leverages her profound understanding of human behavior and qualitative research to translate user needs and experiences into innovative business opportunities. Maria believes deeply in the power of design to solve real problems and delight users through unexpected details. Her work, characterized by a keen ability to listen, synthesize data, and has a real calling for facilitating workshops that foster co-design and learning.
EXPLORING: Futures, Equity, and Design
MICROBIO: Hillary Carey is a designer, researcher, educator, and leadership coach who focuses on participatory, community-oriented design and imagining futures for racial justice. She received her Ph.D. in Transition Design from Carnegie Mellon in 2023, focusing on tools for envisioning more just futures through social design collaborations.
EXPLORING: The Future of Work
MICROBIO: Mike is a lover and producer of radical, human-centered collaborations. He got hooked doing this during his 10 years at Kaiser Permanente – where he worked with a trailblazing team of designers dedicated to using their craft to create better experiences with and for patients, families, clinicians, and frontline staff alike. Mike is currently Partner and Principal at Aspen Labs – where he brings his unique blend of skills, passion and energy to mission-driven organizations. His work in human-centered design has been featured in the Harvard Business Review and Fast Company.
Founder & CEO, Advisor & Strategist, Beneficent
CO-HOST & CO-MC
MICROBIO: Amy is the founder of Beneficent, a consultancy focused in humanity centered strategy and innovation. Dedicated to the cause of improving health and wellbeing, she nurtured and grew Mad*Pow to be a renowned leader in the design of health experiences and lead the design team at United Healthcare. She's a purpose-driven leader who is passionate about crafting bold vision to improve people's lives and enacting the collaborative transformation to make it a reality.
CO-HOST & CO-MC
MICROBIO: Chris is the founder of ILN Coaching & Consulting. He loves complex and messy challenges. The more ambiguous, the better. He gets fired up blending the latest research and real-world needs to create something that helps a fellow human wake up a little more content, a little more healthy, a little more joyful than the previous day.
We live in turbulent, dynamic times, often overwhelmed by both our national narrative and our post-normal reality. Meanwhile, closer to home in our communities, so much good is bubbling up and coalescing into powerful interventions that are changing lives for the better. They originate from systems, experiences, and actions focused on social drivers for better health, woven in new ways with new conversations that acknowledge our diversity, our lived experiences, and our fundamental personhood.
Hear from those who are leading transformation through storytelling, impact sessions, and future-forward workshops. Design for Dignity is both a celebration of this work and a call to action:
- How do we avoid designing systems that dehumanize?
- How do we codify respect and ensure dignity in all we create?
- How do we incorporate a focus on moral philosophy and ethics into our work?
- How do we keep human outcomes centered in our work?
- How do we minimize harm and maximize impact?
- How do we design for human flourishing?
Join us for this gathering of social impact transformers: the people, organizations, and initiatives that are improving our communities, our health, and our wellbeing.
It's time to imagine together.
To learn together.
To connect together.
To BE together.
The Design for Dignity Conference is a collaboration between Chris McCarthy of ILN & Amy Heymans of Beneficent.
Chris and Amy have teamed up to combine years of experience running successful events in human-centered innovation. Chris led the Innovation Learning Network (ILN), gathering health systems innovators and Amy led the Health Experience Design Conference out of Mad*Pow gathering those working at the intersection of health and design. They are setting out to convene changemakers working in health and social impact to explore future possibilities, connect and walk away inspired.
Who is the ILN Coaching & Consulting?
ILN Coaching & Consulting is a spinoff off from the original Innovation Learning Network, both founded by Chris McCarthy. Its focus is healthcare innovation through the lenses of systems thinking and human(ity)-centered design. The ILN has been hosting healthcare innovation gatherings since 2006, using a combination of liberating structures, open space, human-centered deisgn, and smart networking.
Who is Beneficent?
Beneficent means for the good of all. With that people first focus Amy Heymans, former founder and Chief Experience Officer of Mad*Pow, formed a collective of advisors, consultants and agencies to explore possibilities and envision vibrant futures - from research through strategy, ideation and execution. Beneficent crafts human-centered business strategy in collaboration with the people an organization serves to design experiences that uphold dignity, enrich relationships, and improve people's lives in tangible ways. We partner with clients committed to delivering whole health, financial wellbeing, and social impact to benefit individuals, their communities, and our planet.
Where is the event being held?
MassArt Design & Media Center
621 Huntington Ave
Boston, MA 02115
Who should attend?
- Anyone working at the intersection of health and social impact who wish to intersect and weave the many threads that lead to individual, community, and societal health.
- Leaders, changemakers, doers, visionaries, innovators, futurists, designers, and strategists
- Those designing systems, implementing interventions and influencing change
- Those passionate about social drivers for health, health equity, and social ROI
Is that you?!
Why join us?
- New intersections
- New weaving
- New connections
- New energy
What themes will be covered?
Practices: Systems Thinking, Futures Thinking, Human-Centered Design, Inclusive Design, Participatory Design, Vision, Experience Strategy, Service Design, Behavior Change Design, Leading Change
Sectors: Health & Human Services, Public Health, Community Health, Social Innovation, Health Systems, Health Equity, Social Determinants of Health, Pharma & Life Sciences, Health Insurance
How many attendees?
Up to 125. Secure your place!
How do I become a sponsor?
We have limited number of sponsorships available. Check out the prospectus and get in touch with Amy Heymans today!
Can I Present?
Due to an overwhelming speaker response, we now have a full and fantastic lineup. However, you can convene a group to explore with you via Open Space. See Below.
What is Open Space?
Part of our meeting will be in the Open Space format. This is an opportunity for attendees in real-time to co-create the agenda, and then meet with others who are interested in exploring these emergent, attendee-driven topics. These are NOT presentations or lectures; they are discussions, share-outs, or anything else those in the session deem it to be. If you've never done one, you are in for a treat!
Hotel recommendations?
We do not have any room blocks reserved but we found some options that might work for you!
- Affordable: The Revolution Hotel: ~ $230 per night, 3.4 miles away
- Mid-Range: Courtyard by Marriott Brookline: ~$350 per night, 1.3 miles away
- High-End: Westin Copley: $599 per night, 1.4 miles away
What meals are included?
On both days, there will be a continental breakfast, lunch, breaks with snacks, and all day coffee/tea service. On June 4th, there will be a 2-hour reception with appetizers, wine, beer, and soft-drinks.
May I get a refund or transfer my registration?
While we can't refund, we can help you transfer your spot to anyone you choose.
