THE SQUIGGLE
The squiggle is a visual metaphor for the creative process - its looping, unpredictable line a reminder that design is rarely linear. It asks us to pause, reflect, and move with intention.
Design, like lineage, is the use of power to shape what’s possible. To become good future ancestors, we must learn to navigate the squiggle with care - noticing where we come from, what we carry forward, and what we choose to release.
Every collaboration starts as a conversation with these questions:
Why are we doing this? Who is invited on the journey - and who should be?
What pace do we need - when to zoom in, zoom out, slow down, or speed up?
Where does power sit? How is it shared, withheld, or made generous?
What’s working well, and what must we unlearn to evolve?
How might systems change feel joyful, not extractive?
How do we design against dependency, creating futures that don’t rely on us to sustain them?
APPROACH
Align on purpose, people & place
Begin with acknowledgement - of the people, histories, and lineages that shape this moment. Create space and allocate resources for connection, reflection, care, and shared meaning beyond a single moment of collaboration.Understand context
Recognize the emotional, cultural, and systemic forces at play. Surface layers of privilege, marginalization, and power. Move at the speed of trust, knowing that understanding context is an act of respect and repair.Co-create while building ‘power with’
Those most impacted by design outcomes define the purpose, scope, and tone. Rituals, symbols, and shared practices emerge from their values and lived experience. This is how we seed better ways of working - together.Seek & build on what works
Whether drawing from tradition or imagining anew, build on what already holds meaning. Becoming a good future ancestor means honoring the wisdom we inherit while adapting and evolving it for what’s next.Embrace the organic nature of transformation
Transformation is rarely tidy. Explore what feels resonant, adapt as needed, and make space for stillness, joy, and deep listening.Weave continuity and transformation
A gathering is a threshold, not an endpoint. Design for what comes after - embedding reflection, kinship, and shared responsibility into the ongoing story.Design against dependency
Share tools, language, and practices that empower others to hold space for themselves and their communities. Compost the rest. Step away when my presence is no longer needed - that’s how regeneration begins.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Move thoughtfully with CARE & intention
In a culture that glorifies speed and disruption, I move at the pace of care. Change that endures takes time - and relationship.
Rest IS resistance
Productivity is not proof of worth. Rest, boundaries, and restoration are part of the work of liberation - for you, for me, for the collective.
Be kind, not polite
Politeness often protects power. Kindness tells the truth with care. I lead with honesty and good intent, and I expect the same in return.
Practice makes progress
This work is adaptive and iterative. I don’t claim to have all the answers; I stay open to feedback and use discomfort as a teacher.
Design with, never for
Everyone is an expert in their own lived experience. My role is to hold space, build power with, and center the voices most affected by what we create.
Reciprocity is non-negotiable
Liberation begins with fair exchange - of time, care, and knowledge. I share tools and resources freely, refusing extractive or dependency-based models.
Build on what’s strong
Innovation isn’t about novelty. Becoming a good future ancestor means tending what’s already thriving and helping it evolve.
MOVE AT THE SPEED OF RELATIONSHIP
Relationships are the real infrastructure of change. Brave space, as Micky ScottBey Jones reminds us, is where we practice repair, accountability, and transformation - in real time, not after the fact.
Take the work seriously, but not necessarily yourself
Parenthood has reminded me that play is wisdom. Curiosity keeps us humble, creative, and open - essential traits for any ancestor in training.
THE PURSUIT OF COLLECTIVE LIBERATION CAN ONLY HAPPEN IN COMMUNITY
My practice is inspired by my mamma, mamma earth, adrienne maree brown, Resmaa Manakem, Nat Vikitsret, Robin Wall-Kimmerer, Báyò Akómoláfé, Audre Lorde, the Design Justice Network, Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures, and so many other fierce, brave and beautiful people, more than people and communities whose wisdom, knowledge and lineage I have the honor and privilege of learning from and building on.