NYC Opportunity’s New Design Fellows
The Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity (NYC Opportunity) is pleased to introduce the newest Fellows working on our Service Design team. In the following Q & A’s, they tell us a little bit about themselves and what drew them to this work.
Kiona Barnes
What brought you to NYC Opportunity, and to this work?
Service Design is a new sector to me, but a familiar friend. Working with organizations like BetaNYC and Carroll Gardens Association, my stance of providing a voice to communities that look like myself rings loud and proud. What better way to commit to a better NYC than to work in a department that not only creates initiatives, but teaches the public about these initiatives and how they can receive the benefits. Admittedly, I am fresh-faced from my user experience design bootcamp and still have much to learn, but that only drew me closer to the Design Studio as the mission emphasized continuous learning. I truly am thankful for this moment to learn, grow, and contribute to being the change I’ve always wanted to see in New York City with NYC Opportunity.
What were you doing before this? If you’re currently in school, what are you studying?
Before this fellowship, I worked as a production assistant and ticketing associate with a historical theater company. Theater is a childhood love of mine and art has enriched my life like no other and I wanted to be a part of a process to make that happen to other people.
How will you be spending your time with the design team?
I will spend my days providing support to the design leads on their projects, basically being a shadow to increase my confidence and understanding of working with collaborating agencies to support the residents of the city.
What are your goals for your time as a fellow?
While this might seem redundant, I am here to learn and grow. That includes strengthening my usage of plain text written language to communicate with parties interested in the work the Studio does and learning from my supervisor and department leads when they are facilitating a meeting. I am driven to expand on my project management knowledge and put it into use as I navigate this explorative time!
What do you like to do outside of work / what is something we may not know about you?
Outside of work, I like to binge reality dating shows and act like I’m a commentary content creator and just go on monologues whenever I feel passionate about a scene. Yes, I was a theater kid and this is how I cope. Also, I love House music and it’s a huge dream of mine to go to a Boiler Room set.
Josue Ramirez-Romero
What brought you to NYC Opportunity, and to this work?
What brought me to NYC Opportunity was reading the case study Medium posts about all of the past projects the Design Studio has completed. Seeing how the Studio is taking active steps to involve the community so it can have an impact on city services was not only refreshing but insightful. One highlight from their work was the HOME-STAT Case Study. Homelessness has had such a grip on NYC so giving the respect and assistance people need to get back on their feet is admirable work and made me want to learn more.
What were you doing before this? If you’re currently in school, what are you studying?
Currently, I work as a UX Design Teaching Assistant at a non-profit organization helping low-income residents gain access to high earning tech careers through educational fellowships. It has really put me in a position to see how New Yorkers are in dire need of more resources and how much more work we have to do.
How will you be spending your time with the design team?
I hope to use my fellowship to understand the process and implementation that they carry from paper to practice. I will use my UX and Graphic Design skills to create different forms of media for them to use for current as well as upcoming projects. As I establish my roots and grow beyond the beginner fundamentals, I will be conducting and leading service design projects either in collaboration with my fellow design team members or independently. I can’t wait to get started on seeing the backstage process of their brainstorming as well as how field research is conducted.
What are your goals for your time as a fellow?
My biggest goal as a fellow is to soak up as much information as I can about the Studio’s design process and how designs are implemented. I think that as a designer it is important to immerse yourself in different settings that challenge you. While I have never actively been a part of service design, I am excited to see how my established skillset can translate to these kinds of projects.
What do you like to do outside of work / what is something we may not know about you?
Right now I think my biggest outside space is healing my inner shy awkward child by doing all of the activities and I was either too afraid or didn’t have enough funds to take on. My biggest commitment to myself has been taking consistent dance classes and pushing myself to not be afraid to perform with others actively looking to do the same. I’ve also been taking Muay Thai and tennis classes to counteract the sitting in front of a computer that I do for work all day. Not sure if that’s how it works but they are really fun! Something that others might not know is that I am a writer and hope to either make my stories into an animated series or movie. I don’t know if that will happen but it doesn’t hurt to put it out into the universe!
Jack Neiberg
What brought you to NYC Opportunity, and to this work?
I was lucky enough to do an exchange program at TU Delft in The Netherlands where I was able to see the impact good service design can have on a society. This led me to finding the Service Design Studio over a year ago and identifying it as a place I would love to work because the mission resonates strongly with me. Governments should be hubs of design thinking as we think on how to make people’s lives better.
What were you doing before this? If you’re currently in school, what are you studying?
I studied Human-Centered Design at Cornell University. While there I worked on the Future Studies communication project InterRealities with the Pluriversal Futures Design Lab. I also consulted for the Ithaca, NY non-profit Finger Lakes ReUse to help them develop future strategic goals in their search to implement a local circular economy.
How will you be spending your time with the design team?
I will be spending my time using design research to help make social services more accessible to New Yorkers!
What are your goals for your time as a fellow?
I look forward to learning more about how city government works. I’m also learning how to apply my education to the real world. Getting a lay of the land. Helping people. And most importantly, learning how to improve services for all.
What do you like to do outside of work / what is something we may not know about you?
I am a large fan of Javanese Gamelan music and am a member of a band called Twin Court which fuses Gamelan music with post-rock. I am also a big Knicks fan!
