To improve the quality of life of underserved communities through accessible and innovative design.
ANNUAL REPORT 2020 1
Contents 01 Our Purpose 02 Hello from our CEO 03 Team 04 Our Projects 05 2020 Financials
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Our Purpose Catapult Design believes that all people, regardless of income and geography, should have access to thoughtful and inspired design that addresses their needs. Our mission is to improve the quality of life of undeserved communities through accessible and innovative design. Each engagement is unique, typically encompassing the following services: 1. Design Strategy: For projects of all types and scales, we begin by identifying strategic direction. This includes framing the problem, understanding the challenges and opportunities, and ensuring that project indicators—vision, objectives, timeline, project considerations, and focus areas—are well understood at the outset of any work. This provides the high-level design direction that guides each project. 2. Design: We imagine a world where everyone has access to well-designed products and services that stimulate and sustain better lives. From systems mapping to concept generation and distribution strategy, our team of designers, engineers, and business strategists have the skills, experience, and networks to offer a comprehensive approach to develop products and services for low-income and underserved communities. 3. Education: As we know, the role of the designer is constantly evolving, and we want to ensure that our clients, partners, and end users are well versed in our design ethos, tools, and methods. We believe tough problems require creative thinking by all stakeholders, beginning with the communities they are meant to serve. In all our engagements, we offer workshops, training, and mentorship. 4. Research: We investigate and disseminate design research focused on the acceleration and accessibility of quality market-based solutions to inequalities. We help clients, partners, and end users gain a deeper understanding of how design can spur their initiatives. 5. Participatory Policy: We research and identify underlying causes of inequality and injustice, and we employ participatory prototyping to find and test solutions with underserved communities. We take that data and experience, formulating policy recommendations for local governments and funders.
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Hello from our CEO As I take this moment to reflect on the challenges we have all shared and the progress we have all made over the last many months, and as I look ahead to the future of Catapult Design and our network of partners, I am reminded again of the importance of what Catapult Design does—providing design services to the communities that stand to benefit most from the power of design. One of those communities is one of our longtime partners—the Navajo Nation. High rates of poverty, inadequate healthcare, and a lack of safe drinking water and food options have left this community vulnerable to a range of risks, including COVID-19. Over the last year-plus, Catapult Design has partnered with Navajo and Hopi community members to develop important public health communication materials specifically designed to reach this community. As unlawful limitations on reproductive healthcare here in the U.S. grab headlines, Catapult Design continues its work to expand access to healthcare, family planning services, and contraceptives for women around the world, including pilot studies in India and Uganda. Our goal is to design contraception and shape public health perception of it in a way that works better for women. Though our focus is always on our work and on the communities we serve, it was such an honor to be recognized in 2020 with a National Design Award from Cooper Hewitt, the Smithsonian’s Design Museum. We are thrilled to extend our congratulations to each of this year’s winners, including 4
the winner in our Product Design category, BioLite, a group committed to expanding access to renewable energy. In a world and at a time with such uncertainty, I have been reflecting on the process of design and using those reflections as a way to move forward. Though many people think about design as an “a-ha moment”— problems neatly solved—for those of us who do design, we all know it is a long process filled with iterative steps that each inch us closer to solving a problem. This can be such a confounding time, with social, political, economic, and health-related stresses, but by working together on incremental steps, we can design a more equitable and resilient future.
With all my best,
Angela Hariche, CEO Catapult Design
Team Catapult Design Staff
Nadine Foik Design Manager
Board of Directors
Advisory Board
Laura Peters Chair of Board of Directors
Dawn Danby
Scott Boylston
Heather Fleming
Madiha Kotb
Evan Thomas
Catherine Howard Lovazzano
David Kaisel 5
Projects and Process Catapult Design’s work is rooted in our people-centered approach. We help our partners think about old problems in new ways as a way to spur novel solutions. We work across a range of focus areas, including global health, equity and inclusivity, climate resilience, and entrepreneurship in locations across Africa, Asia, North America, and South America. We are accustomed to the unique challenges of resourceconstrained environments and we understand the cultural, social, and financial lenses that must be considered when introducing new products and services into markets that design has too long overlooked. In every instance, we study and immerse ourselves in local contexts to gain insight into how a product or service might integrate into daily life. We then conceptualize solutions and create prototypes to test directly alongside users to inform the final design. Finally, we analyze the market systems and business models that enable solutions to thrive and evolve.
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Cooper Hewitt’s National Design Award
In 2020, Catapult Design was recognized with a National Design Award in the Product Design category. Given by Cooper Hewitt, the Smithsonian Design Museum, this prestigious award recognized Catapult Design’s innovation and impact in its work as a global social impact design firm. We are incredibly honored to share this award with each of the winners in the other categories. We wish to extend our thanks to Cooper Hewitt, the award’s jury, and those who nominated us for the award.
A huge shout-out to our incredible team of passionate, resourceful, and inquisitive Catapulters (present and past), our board members, advisors, founders, and designers around the globe. We would also like to acknowledge our brilliant partners, clients, and donors (“Catapult Design champions’’) as this award would not be possible without your vision and belief in Catapult Design’s capabilities.
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Project ACTION
Challenge: Voluntary family planning is one of the great public health advances of the past century. Enabling women to make informed decisions about whether and when to have children reduces unintended pregnancies as well as maternal and newborn deaths. It also increases educational and economic opportunities for women and leads to healthier families and communities. Some women do not access or use contraceptives for a variety of reasons, even when they want to avoid pregnancy. They may have misconceptions about their risk of becoming pregnant or be deterred by concerns related to cost, inconvenience, or side effects. In some cases, opposition from 8
family members or a limited range of available methods can be a key factor in non-use. Additionally, some current users might also be unsatisfied with current options. Continued innovation in contraceptive technology is needed to address these barriers and meet the demands of women in different circumstances and at different stages of their lives. Work: In 2017, the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation invested in the CT Innovation Lab project (see futureofct. org) to imagine the future of women’s contraception. The project leveraged humancentered design methodologies to facilitate insight-driven ideation in order to generate new product ideas in women’s
contraceptive technology. Building on this work, Catapult Design partnered with Matchboxology and PSI to better understand and prioritize the unmet needs of women as they relate to modern contraceptive methods (existing, in the pipeline, and blue-sky ideas from the CTI Lab) in order to catalyze opportunities and innovation in product development. Our team of human-centered designers, market researchers, and technical advisers will engaged with users/ nonusers, influencers, and providers in India and Uganda, along with contraceptive funders and developers to drive innovation in female contraceptives, validated by demand forecasting and market potential. Client/ Funder: Bill & Melinda Gates foundation Location: Global, with study areas in India & Uganda Catapult Design Service Line: Design Thematic Area: Global Health, Sexual and Reproductive Health
Navajo and Hopi COVID-19 crisis design Challenge: Native Americans have been among those most vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic, owing to generations of inadequate healthcare, grinding poverty, and a lack of safe drinking water and healthy food, among other essentials. Native people are also reported to have the highest rates of chronic disease in the U.S., including diabetes, heart disease, and lung disease. Work: Together with Native collaborators, Catapult Design identified an urgent need to develop creative new ways of adapting CDC COVID-19 guidelines to the Indigenous context to make messaging more relatable, relevant, and actionable. For behavior change messaging to be effective, communities and individuals
must feel that it speaks directly to their culture and identity, shared through a trusted source. While ensuring that its website shares critical and up-to-date information, the CDC has not created public health communications tailored to Indigenous communities. Therefore, we did. Catapult Design ensured that enough time was spent identifying and building a relationship with the right Native partners to collaborate on COVID-19 messaging with a uniquely Navajo and Hopi narrative. In close collaboration with the Navajo & Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief Fund, Catapult Design co-created a series of informational digital and print materials. By utilizing the
power of visual storytelling, the work is not just informative but also fun and engaging for all generations. Results: Through daily distributions of care packages by the NHFC19RF and weekly publications in the Navajo Times and Navajo Hopi Observer, our messaging consistently reaches across the Navajo and Hopi Reservations. Coloring contests, coloring booklets, and public signs further engage the Indigenous communities with COVID-19 and Kinship-specific information. The first design was made possible by a generous donation and pro bono work by Catapult Design. All subsequent work was funded by the Navajo & Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief Fund.
Client/ Funder: Navajo & Hopi Families Covid-19 Relief Fund Location: Navajo Foundation & Hopi Reservation Catapult Design Service Line: Design Thematic Area: Global Health, Wash Collaborators: The Navajo & Hopi Families Relief Fund, Indige Design Collab, Colin Lawler 9
ASME ISHOW 2020 Challenge: Social entrepreneurs and inventors around the globe face many challenges in successfully commercializing hardware in informal markets. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Innovation Showcase (ISHOW) exists to support these entrepreneurs with engineering and design support and related networks. The ISHOW brings together a panel of engineers and designers with an average of 20 years of industry experience, as well as other specialists in intellectual property, business, and implementation. Work: Catapult Design provides design mentorship to all 30 finalists at ISHOW events held annually in India, Kenya, and the USA. Additionally, we provide customized packages of design support to each of the nine winners to be used within three months of the contest. Our team provides a mixture of services from manufacturing optimization to CAD modeling, as well as sharing our networks and strategic advice. We also document the entrepreneurs’ design needs going forward, and help the most promising winners gain further support.
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Results: Catapult Design has helped several of the ISHOW social entrepreneurs get from prototype to market. We have also provided them with successful avenues for funding further product development. The biggest value-add has been helping the winners to visualize and communicate their potential to investors, customers, and the many stakeholders in between. In all of our design and consultations, we ensure that the most sustainable materials and manufacturing processes are being considered as viable product options.
Client/ Funder: ASME Location: Global Catapult Design Service Line: Design Thematic Area: Entrepreneurship
UN Sustainable Development Goals in The USA Challenge: The U.S. SDGs Network is a multi-sectoral alliance working to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the USA. This network brings together leaders from government, academic institutions, nonprofits, think tanks, funders, and the private sector. The group was looking to develop a more cohesive and strategic approach in their direction and operations. Work: Catapult Design surveyed the current membership, conducted a workshop with key stakeholders, and developed a simple website to house key messaging and group membership information. Our objectives were to: – Build on progress to date towards the SDGs in the USA through a
clear understanding of who’s doing what and where. – Draft key messages from the group – Understand the group’s targeted influence in the space to move the SDGs forward and grow the network.
Client/ Funder: Bread For The World Institute Location: USA Thematic Area: Cross-sector
Results: Catapult Design built a simple digital platform for the U.S. SDGs Network with the flexibility to be built out further over time based on future needs. Through targeted questions and workshop activities, Catapult Design initiated and facilitated critical conversations to hone in on the group’s strategic direction and expectations amongst its core members.
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2020 Financials Revenue Earned Income Donations & Grants Other Income Total Revenue
$616,270 $242,126 $264 $858,660
Expenses Program Management Fundraising Total Expenses
Net Revenue
$494,901 $271,609 $223 $766,733
$91,927
Assets Cash Accounts Receivable Donations Receivable Prepaid Expenses Total Assets
$582,261 $50,496 $0 $499 $633,256
Liability Accounts Payable
Net Assets $571,583
Net Assets (beg. of year) Net Assets (end of year) Change in Net Assets
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$61,673
$479,656 $571,583 $91,927
Donors, Funders and Clients Donations Ogino Charitable Contribution Fund Donation from Google, Inc Bhatia Foundation David Malwitz Lauren Peters Stacy Neier Beran Salesforce Coastal Canvas Products Grants USDA Grant National Endowment of the Arts Contracts American Society for Mechanical Engineers Navajo & Hopi Families Covid-19 Relief Fund Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Bread For The World Institute
A big thank you to all of our donors, funders, and general supporters!
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@catapult.design
@catapult_design
@catapultdesign
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