Openbox is a design studio that uses a human-centered approach to make products and services work better for the people who use them. Working at the intersection of people and systems, Openbox applies innovative approaches to research, prototyping and refinement, with people's needs considered every step along the way. Using empathy and qualitative research to uncover the motivations of others, Openbox meets people in their element, interviewing them in their homes, workplaces, and neighborhoods to better understand and observe new ways to make things that are more useful and meaningful. Applying skills as both designers and facilitators, Openbox ensures that everybody feels included in the process, fostering a greater sense of ownership of the end result, which means greater impact.

Deem is an editorial publication focused on design as a social practice, existing as a biannual print journal and online platform. Founded with the intention of offering a unique perspective on design that is independent from exclusive institutions or industry categories, Deem explores human-centered design frameworks. Rather than focusing on design's aesthetic output, Deem provides an in-depth look into design’s function, and how it can be leveraged to improve communities. Through careful consideration of histories and exploration of futures, Deem brings its readers into a world where design forges inclusive dialogue and intersectional dignity, asking them to consider the lasting impact design can have. Deem creates conversations that are transdisciplinary and intergenerational, uncovering meaningful narratives, connections and patterns.

Artmatr is an international, open-source community of artists and engineers working to merge digital technology with traditional painting methods. Born out of the MIT Media Lab, Artmatr is both a laboratory for producing vanguard painting tools and an art fabrication house. Artmatr empowers artists and engineers to create new tools and hack existing ones, resulting in an unprecedented art and tech playground for anyone—of any age, technical background or discipline—to make great work. Using a 2.5-dimension process that maintains all the richness and layering of traditional painting, Artmatr creates prints utilizing digital printing technology, robotics, artificial intelligence, digital imaging software and beyond. Leveraging the enormous accomplishments that have been made in the sphere of digital printing, Artmatr develops custom technologies like inkjet tools, mechanized brushes and intuitive interfaces for creatives of every inclination and sensibility.

Opendox is a film production company that explores and documents lesser-known narratives. Based in New York, the Opendox team comprises experienced producers, directors, cinematographers, editors, and musicians, who work with corporations, institutions, broadcasters, and NGOs around the world to help create social, cultural, and commercial change. Through a close partnership with Openbox, Opendox offers a unique combination of research, strategy, design thinking and content development, telling beautifully crafted stories that are as engaging as they are important. Opendox also produces its own projects, which offer new perspectives at the intersections of art, science, nature and politics.

The Stae Civic Intelligence Platform is a modern data management platform that empowers civic leaders to take control of their data. Contact us to learn how Stae can help you manage your micro mobility program, pilot deployments of new “smart cities” technologies or improve your open data program.

Mobilus is a full-stack voice and data solution to enable teams of any size, to connect at any distance, from any environment. Using the mobiWAN wearable connected to the mobiTALK voice software platform, Mobilus brings voice communications in the Industrial Sector into the digital age.

Creative Capital supports innovative and adventurous artists across the country through funding, counsel, gatherings, and career development services. We seek to amplify the voices of artists working in all creative disciplines and catalyze connections to help them realize their visions and build sustainable practices.

The Lowline is a plan to use innovative solar technology to illuminate a historic trolley terminal on the Lower East Side of New York City. Our vision is a stunning underground park, providing a beautiful respite and a cultural attraction in one of the world’s most dense, exciting urban environments.

Urban Ocean Lab cultivates rigorous, creative, and practical climate and ocean policy, for the future of coastal cities. We harness collective wisdom to envision and design targeted solutions for the future of coastal cities, which drive development of policy frameworks and catalyze legislative change.

Riverkeeper protects and restores the Hudson River from source to sea and safeguards drinking water supplies, through advocacy rooted in community partnerships, science and law. Riverkeeper fights threats to clean water like destructive power plants, reckless development and decrepit infrastructure. We also specialize in solutions: we improve wildlife habitat, foster sustainable energy, increase investment in water supply/sewer systems, and rally thousands of volunteers to restore their local river fronts.

Urban Design Forum mobilizes civic leaders to confront the defining issues facing New York City’s built environment. We are an independent membership organization that empowers professionals of diverse backgrounds, industries and perspectives to shape a better future for all New Yorkers. We investigate complex challenges in the built environment, study alternative approaches from cities around the world, and advance progressive strategies to build a more dynamic and democratic city.

The Center for Architecture is the premier cultural venue for architecture and the built environment in New York City, informed by the complexity of the City’s urban fabric and in dialogue with the global community. The Center shares a home with the AIA New York Chapter and has the unique advantage of drawing upon the ideas and experiences of practicing architects to produce thought-provoking exhibitions, informative public programs, and quality design education experiences for K-12 students. It also leads New York City’s annual month-long architecture and design festival, Archtober. The Center for Architecture’s aim is to further public knowledge about New York City architecture and architects, foster exchange and collaboration among members of the design, development, building, scholarly, and policy sectors, and inspire new ideas about the role of design in communities by presenting contemporary and practical issues in architecture and urbanism to a general audience.

Founded in 2016 by artists Hank Willis Thomas, Eric Gottesman, Michelle Woo and Wyatt Gallery, For Freedoms is a platform for creative civic engagement, discourse, and direct action. Inspired by American artist Norman Rockwell’s paintings of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms (1941)—freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear—For Freedoms’ exhibitions, installations, and public programs use art to deepen public discussions on civic issues and core values, and to advocate for equality, dialogue, and civic participation. As a nexus between art, politics, commerce, and education, For Freedoms aims to inject anti-partisan, critical thinking that fine art requires into the political landscape through programming, exhibitions, and public artworks.

In partnership with the acclaimed visual artist Hank Willis Thomas and the production team Openbox, Incarceration Nations Network's art installation "The Writing on the Wall" is a pop-up art installation made from writing by people in prison around the world. In an effort to raise awareness about mass incarceration and center the words of those directly impacted at the heart of the fight for prison reimagining, it is displayed in public spaces as a form of verbal and visual intrusion.