We are a registered Benefit Corporation, Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) and Small Business Enterprise (SBE) firm in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with a social purpose of empowering people through design.

We work to identify systemic inequities through partnerships with local communities and build resilient solutions with

long-term social impact.

Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Reduce inequality within and among countries.

Our commitment to creating positive change is guided by the the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as our guiding framework.

We seek to make impact specifically around SGD goals 4, 9, 10, 11, and limited targets. Our commitment to measure and value impact guided by the SDG Impact Assessment Tool and the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) impact measuring frameworks.

Our Social Impact Purpose is to strive for equitable and Resilient Communities

SIC aims to make positive change by applying our design thinking tools & methods to help investors & communities tackle complex development challenges that can bring impact to their investments and communal lives.

We are committed to first thinking about how our clients and partner’s purposes can help drive long-lasting solutions to the challenges they face, followed by the collaborative creation of solutions that generate measurable social, environmental, and financial impact.

This commitment towards positive change is codified by our adoption of the UNSDG goals as a global aspirational framework and also through our commitment to measure and value impact through Impact Measurement and Management (IMM) toolkits SDG Impact Assessment Tool and the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) impact measuring platforms.

How we work

Our methods of working are driven by a clear intent that drives the change you want to make. We emphasis working together through collaborative processes, co-create solutions through people centered and environmentally conscious mind and with empathy for all in the system of the problems we are trying solve.

Our methods of work are centered on the following core principles;

  • Collaboration centered approach that values local knowledge, local stakeholder’s participation and human centered design
  • Problems are interconnected across social, environmental and economic aspects, therefore our design solutions will aim for maximum impact across the socio-economic and environmental aspects.
  • Collating data and Understanding critical data aspects towards understanding and measuring

"Design for the Other 90%."

Dr. Paul Polak
“The majority of the world’s designers focus all their efforts on developing products and services exclusively for the richest 10% of the world’s customers. Nothing less than a revolution in design is needed to reach the other 90%.” Dr. Paul Polak, International Development Enterprises

"Housing is a human right."

Jordan Flaherty
"Housing is a human right. There can be no fairness or justice in a society in which some live in homelessness, or in the shadow of that risk, while others cannot even imagine it." Jordan Flaherty, Floodlines: Community and Resistance from Katrina to the Jena Six
Goal 1
Identify systemic inequities
SIC works to develop community based research into social infrastructures in partnership with local stakeholders, including research educational institutions, local based advocacy groups and identity structural systemic inequalities issues in the built environment.
We work with local partners to develop design solutions and implement a projects aimed at addressing some these systemic inequities in housing, education, health, community development and other community identified priorities.
Goal 2
Capacity building and empowerment
We provide training & capacity building through workshops, webinars, conference presentations & multimedia outreach to local youth and other community stakeholders such as homeowners, municipal authorities and private sector stakeholders. SIC also provides open source information portal/platforms to make available building information and knowledge to the general public as an effort to demystify the process of development and home improvement as form wealth creation.
Goal 3
Skills training & Knowledge building
Through partnering with employers in the industry, SIC provides workforce training to upskill new and existing employees through hands-on training and knowledge building through training programs that provide existing and potential workers with the skills to complete tasks needed by employers to let the organizations stay competitive in a global marketplace.

We also help employers who are committed to diversity, equity and inclusion to identify and recruit new talent towards these goals through our networks.

Goal 4
Resilient Infrastructures &Communities
We believe that creating resilient cities and local communities has both social and physical dimensions. The reinforcing of local identity and culture in a community contributes to positive relationships among individuals by improving their collective ability to face change. Additionally, underfunded communities often have physical infrastructure vulnerabilities that are brought to light during extreme events such as large weather events, natural disasters, and even the COVID-19 pandemic. No matter the scale of the project, we work to find new holistic and systemic approaches to design and manage assets to be more resilient for the long-term future.

OUR TEAM

Michael Chavez

NCARB, NOMA, LEED AP ARCHITECT
Tel: 505-385-1212
I come from two worlds. With a white mother born in urban southside Chicago and a Latino father from rural New Mexico whose family continues to ranch to this day, my mixed heritage allows me to see the world through multiple lenses. My work as an architect and community organizer uses these lenses to understand all sides of the story from our community’s partners view point and design accordingly

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Julia Shuber

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGNER
Tel: 857-526-2299
I was born and grew up in Saint-Petersburg, the cultural capital of Russia. Meanwhile, I absorbed the exciting Ukraine culture from my mother as well. This multiculturalism helps me see uniqueness in each city, tradition, people, and landscapes. It helps me a lot also in the architectural practice: hear and feel our clients, local communities, partners to create and realize our ideas.

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H. Killion Mokwete

RIBA ARCHITECT
Tel: 978-701-5477
Growing up in Botswana, Africa, building of traditional homesteads was a sacred process of shared collaborative and cooperative means with a local neighborhood with materials harvested from available renewable local sources. As a trained Architect, I often wonder how these local embedded process can provide our entry ways into the design of modem cities and urban environments.

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Wandy Pascol

BENEFIT DIRECTOR
Tel: 800-700-6200
My experiences growing up in Luanda, Angola during a period of rapid urbanization were what first drew me to design. Questions of agency, independence, and place surfaced as the built environment changed in ways that were not always reflective of our collective needs. I believe that design methods that are truly inclusive must center the experiences of those who are deeply impacted by its results – often with the stewards of the lands on which we build.

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Omar Tawfik

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGNER
Tel: 857-762-3768
As a SIC Architectural Designer, Omar is responsible for working closely with firm principals and architects to explore project feasibility studies, visiting sites, and doing architectural design drawings, documentation and project visualizations and other related tasks. He assists with all phases of a project including preliminary design, schematic design, design development, construction drawings, and construction administration.

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