Vinay Kumar Mysore

community designer/researcher

co-founder community design workshop In Good Company. nonbinary parent. lingayat yogi. hazelnut farmer.

I create interventions that lie at the intersection of care and community identity, with a focus on amplifying lived experience, advocating for community needs, and challenging systemic inequities.

follow my in-progress thinking on substack.

My process continuously centers community empowerment through facilitation, ethnographic, and, co-design methodologies. This challenges traditional power dynamics by ensuring that community voices are prioritized throughout the design process.
I endeavor to cultivate partnerships rooted in care, respect, and shared ownership, in order to lay the foundation for long-term, sustainable change.

I’m a USA Leader with the Obama Foundation, and a member of the New Museum’s global art and design incubator, NEW INC.

My work has been spotlighted and published across industries including: social impact, healthcare, built environment, applied ethnography, international development, and innovation.

Current work: exhibit supporting Black community doulas in New Jersey

Design research, development, fabrication, and community outreach for exhibit advocating for Black community doulas in New Jersey.
Outcomes include design and build of traveling community exhibit.
The Burke Foundation, Aspen Institute and Narrative Initiatives. New Jersey. [9 months]

Portland Museum of Art: community pathways for belonging

Community research and prototyping with Wabanaki, immigrant and youth communities co-creating design and community recommendations grounded in lived experience.
Outcomes include senior leadership education, relationship building, and a community-validated strategy to guide future outreach, engagement and strategic planning.
Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME. [9 months]

Balboa Park Cultural District: reconciling colonial legacies for an inclusive future

Co-creation and outreach with Kumeyaay, cross-border, Black and Filipino communities for cultural district visitor experience plan.
Outcomes include actionable experience plan and successful engagement of complex array of local and administrative stakeholders.
Balboa Park Cultural Partnership, San Diego, CA. [11 months]

Ottawa Palliative Care: re-centering patients during care transitions

Co-design of interventions and metrics with patients and caregivers transitioning from hospital to home for end-of-life care.
Outcomes include development and design of final intervention currently in validity testing and academic publication.
Ottawa General Hospital & Hôpital Élisabeth Bruyère, Ottawa, ON. [24 months]

DC Public Library: honouring legacy through a community exhibit

Co-design and prototyping all elements of exhibit design with long-time Black residents, youth, artists, and activisits across DC.
Outcomes include successful final exhibit celebrating local figures and creating space for community engagement.
Martin Luther King Jr. Library, DC Public Library main branch, Washington, DC. [9 months]

East King County: design justice within a public-private partnership

Ethnographic research, futuring and community work with local leaders and advocacy within context of large-scale masterplanning initiative.
Outcomes include education, opportunity identification, and coalition building.
Private client, East King County, WA. [10 months]

HeyMama: supporting working moms and children during the pandemic

Provotype and participatory design research with working mothers and school-aged children done entirely over WhatsApp with 100% completion.
Outcomes include improved home-working relationships, design kit for families.
HeyMama, Nationwide. [2 months]

UN Women Fund for Gender Equality: facilitating participatory innovation

Design coaching and facilitation for implementation of participatory design methods with fund grantees.
Outcomes include successful community-led initiatives for multiple local feminist organizations.
Fund for Gender Equality, UN Women, global. [4 months]