Community | CONTEXT Studio

Meet Our Impact Project Partners!

Thank you for visiting. Learn more about the mission led organizations we work with and the impact they lead in their communities. Visit our social media in the meantime for updates. Send us an email to stay in the loop and grab the pdf to learn more about how we approach design for social impact.

My Little Tastebuds is a nonprofit organization supporting community health through nutrition and education. Located in High Point, North Carolina My Little Tastebuds seeks to overcome food desert conditions and its effects by educating children and youth on health and nutrition through community cooking classes. Participants are empowered only only through knowledge and nutrition, but also through civic leadership and employable sills.

Currently operating out of borrowed space executive Director LaPorsha Cain understands the organization’s outreach and impact is limited only by her space. My Little Tastebuds + CDS are partnering on strategic project development viewing program development and spatial design simultaneously so that MLT can realize and scale their mission to realize their vision to mitigate conditions of food scarcity in the community they serve not only through education, but social enterprise, and community.

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When she opened HPYS in 2019 her vision extended beyond a weekly schedule of classes and Yoga Teacher Training and certification. She knew she wanted to give back to the community as well as cultivate and utilize her additional interests and talents including the tactile and metaphysical properties of minerals and gemstones, the healing properties of plants, and the importance of self care. But didn’t know how to combine these varied ingredients to achieve her vision in an efficient and cohesive way.

Together we created a framework based on principles of social enterprise to combine her skills, passion, and vision to generate a ‘circular’ initiative. We developed a strategic plan which capitalized on her existing assets, made efficient use of sustainably materials and methods, generated revenue while maintaining an accessible price point.

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In response to the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory in 2014 I collaborated with Innovative 19 Architects in Dhaka, Bangladesh. We understood that simply rebuilding a code compliant replacement building wasn’t going to resolve the economic, humanitarian, and environmental issues surrounding the garment industry and the culture of fast fashion.

Rather, there needs to be cultural and systemic shift. We sought to identify the needs of the garment workers affected by the collapse and to find ways, through principles of social enterprise, for the predominantly women garment workers in Bangladesh to provide safe working conditions and fairly compensated employment while allowing women to also carry out their roles as mothers, partners, and community members. The result was a pilot project and formation of a collective enabling and empowering independent contractors working towards a single but dynamic vision while demonstrating the holistically sustainable potential of the garment industry.

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MAYEIN is an an education and leadership NGO located in Ibadan, Nigeria, promoting learning for all, positive youth development, skills for future-readiness and gender equality. MAYEIN recognizes that the current public education provision falls short in delivering adequate literacy and resources to children and youth across the nation. Those in rural and underserved communities are particularly vulnerable.

We approached the design challenge through the lens of Human Centered Design and the SEED Framework. We engaged not only the executive committee, but also volunteers, and users to under their wants and needs in order to develop the building programme.

Our proposed initial design-build project is a lightweight self-contained interactive learning and outreach pavilion acting as an extension of the community center in Ibadan. The pavilion is a connected and activated hub open to the entire community offering passible and active educational, cultural, and enterprise opportunities.

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People are saying...

“Amanda was there to support from sketching how the place would look to asking key questions and understanding what my goals for the studio are. Since then the studio has thrived and been voted the Triad's best yoga school two years running."

Jenn Newton, Owner, High Point Yoga School