- The School for
Social Design
Entrepreneurship & design to tie society together, instead of breaking it apart
The internet and markets have a bias towards individuality and meaninglessness. Our 5 week values bootcamp and subsequent design course teaches a new entrepreneurship. One that focuses on meaning and togetherness.
Next Batch: July 3
Current Students
Adam Morris
A PhD researcher at Harvard, working on new formats for scientific collaboration.
Louise Tiernan
Interaction design at Google, focused on creating a thriving information ecology.
Chet Corcos
Alternative organizations for making software. Previously, first hire at Notion.
Tyler Alterman
Co-founder of EA Global, now building location-based creative communities.
Stephany Zoo
A repeat founder and executive, working on new ways to integrate death in support groups and medical insitutions.
- This curriculum is the best way for designers of social systems to do their jobs responsibly. My hope is that this can lead more people to articulate and confront how their company’s tool or platform is letting people down — and inspire them to do better.
Katherine McConachieMIT Media Lab - Awareness of personal values has been life changing. Everything starts to make sense. Before, I thought everyone had the same values: be nice to people, work hard, enjoy life. Now I realize we each have a specific fingerprint, infinitely detailed and complex.
Ryan MatherGoogle ATAP - I found the “hard steps” concept really helpful. Translating from values to specific difficult actions seems to reliably generate insights.
Andy MatuschakiOS at Apple | R&D at Khan Academy. - Learning to see the world in terms of values has been one of the most important learning journeys of my life.
Daniel ThorsonCreator & Host, Emerge Podcast | Disciple at the Monastic Academy - This marks one of the most important shifts in my design career and I believe in our industry.
Kate PincottRemote Design Coach, ex- Facebook - This curriculum is the best way for designers of social systems to do their jobs responsibly. My hope is that this can lead more people to articulate and confront how their company’s tool or platform is letting people down — and inspire them to do better.Katherine McConachieMIT Media Lab
- Awareness of personal values has been life changing. Everything starts to make sense. Before, I thought everyone had the same values: be nice to people, work hard, enjoy life. Now I realize we each have a specific fingerprint, infinitely detailed and complex.Ryan MatherGoogle ATAP
How it Works
The School for Social Design offers a five week values bootcamp, followed by a 2-month, online design coaching program.
The textbook is free and online.
Meaning Articulacy Intensive
$700
5 weeks @ 5h/week
What Do Students Say?
Ryan
Stephany
Ari
Wiley
Our Team
Joe EdelmanfounderJoe is the entrepreneur behind the School for Social Design, and wrote most of the textbook. He coined the term “Time Well Spent” which was adopted as a guiding light in metrics by teams at Facebook, Google, and Apple, and has led to many product and ranking changes.
Ben GabbaiguideBen is a scholar of Talmud and Jewish Thought. He is hands-on about education, holding a B. Ed., teaching 4th grade and homeschooling with his wife. He enjoys reading other old books too, especially about philosophy.
Anne SelkementorAnne has a background in organizational psychology, creative writing, game design, and design thinking. She specializes in tracing people's hard-earned wisdom and how they grow, and in tracking what practices work in what contexts.
Nathan VanderpoolmentorNathan has a PhD in Sociology and a speciality in redesigning faith-based and wisdom-based organizations, org processes, and rituals.
Learn more
About the Program
Philosophical Background
History of the School
Compare with Other Design Methods
Meaning Articulacy Intensive
$700
5 weeks @ 5h/week