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Knowledge Sharing

We believe that transparency is a necessary step towards collective empowerment. Sharing knowledge, tools, and tactics gives others the ability to learn about their own work and adapt it to their needs. Shared terminology helps us all stay on the same page, jargon can isolate people and prevent productive conversations.

Planned Obsolescence

We believe our work as consultants follows the old adage, ‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish and he can feed himself for a lifetime.’ We love working with our clients but we measure our success by the degree to which clients feel empowered to continue the work we do together after we have gone.

Jason Lee (he/him)

Founder and Principal

First studying anthropology and architecture, Jason practiced as an architect in Europe and Asia before entering the human centered design field eight years ago. He co-founded an equity design firm in Boston before launching his own consultancy in 2017. Jason is a mentor and Advisory Board member at DesignX, MIT School of Architecture and Planning’s accelerator program, where he mentors student teams every year through the process of designing viable social innovation startups on topics ranging from education to flood mitigation. Jason has also been an invited assistant professor or lecturer at numerous universities including Northeastern University, The Illinois Institute of Technology, and the Berlage Institute.

Jason loves getting involved in the various communities he is a part of. He is on the board of LivableStreets Alliance, a non-profit that advocates for safe and vibrant public spaces and transportation. He is also a Town Meeting member in Winchester, where he lives. His favorite place to go is the Fells.

April Gao (she/her)

Designer (contractor)

April worked in and studied architecture and design for seven years before pivoting into equity-driven human centered design. She holds a B.S. in Architecture from the University of Cincinnati, and was attending the Master of Architecture program at MIT before her career transition. During her time at MIT, she co-founded the student website out of frame at the start of the pandemic as a platform to further connect students.

When she’s not working, April enjoys photographing her friends and making jewelry.

Kata Rolf (she/they)

Designer (contractor)

Kata has a background in education, curriculum design, and facilitation with a focus on equity and antiracism. Kata has been heavily involved in school innovation work. She co-designed the curriculum and processes at the recently opened High Meadows Graduate School of Teaching and Learning in Cambridge, MA. Additionally, she has worked as a design consultant for innovative high schools in both Massachusetts and Minnesota to support their work in reimagining what teaching and learning could look like if they were more grounded in community.

In their free time, Kata can be found biking, drawing flowers, playing Magic the Gathering with their partner, reading science fiction and fantasy novels about gender and racial justice, and spoiling their bearded dragon, Ducky.