Mission

FMRĀ partners with clients to design for equity in the civic realm.

Vision

We believe the future of our society will be the product of all our voices - from the least to the most enfranchised citizens of our community. It will be more resilient because it will celebrate multiculturalism, mutual respect, and equity. We use the tools and tactics of design thinking, human centered design, architecture, and urban design to help our clients realize their part of this vision. Our goal is to empower client teams to build their own internal capacity.

 

Values

People over Systems

We believe that connecting with people and changing hearts and minds is the way to affect systems. If we understand people and their needs then we can collectively change the systems which affect us all.

The Speed of Trust

“Change happens at the speed of trust.” Real change takes time and a strong commitment from all stakeholders. We believe it is more important to take our time and build authentic relationships because they are the foundation of lasting and deep positive change.

Collective Power

Consensus-based decision making drives our processes. Through interviews, workshops, and stakeholder engagement, we embrace collective action and power as an essential part of our work.

 

Empathy

Thorough and careful observation, as well as direct conversations with stakeholders, help us to understand your vision and define effective goals from the start. From there, the process can be tailored to move the organization towards those goals.

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.