Design Challenge
How might we catalyze partnerships and investment to close the gender-digital divide?
Partners
The Gates Foundation - Gender Equality & Digital Connectivity Team · GRID Impact
Project
Co-design, coaching, and facilitation for the Gates Foundation’s Gender Equality & Digital Connectivity team.
Role
Senior Strategic Facilitator
Overview
In 2023, I joined GRID Impact, a collective of independent consultants who collaborate as interdisciplinary teams using design for social change.
Our first engagement together focused on designing and co-facilitating a four-day retreat for the Gates Foundation’s Gender Equality & Digital Connectivity team. The purpose of the gathering was to catalyze cross-foundation partnerships, nurture mutual learning, and identify opportunities for co-investment that advance gender equity in digital access and inclusion.
Through a blend of design thinking, participatory methods, creative facilitation, and intentional play, the retreat offered a capacious and thoughtfully structured space for reflection, relationship-building, and collaboration. The experience fostered new partnerships and deepened alignment toward shared goals of closing the gender–digital divide.
Number of Participants
45+
Duration of Engagement
Fall 2023 - Spring 2024
Acknowledgements
Design Team: Danny Vannucchi, Alex Fiorillo