The Public Good

Sophia is a writer, a graphic designer, a radio DJ, and a print-maker whose passion lies at the intersection of storytelling and social design. Before joining the Public Policy Lab, her work focused primarily on issues of racial justice, immigration, affordable housing, gender, and sexuality. Sophia holds a degree from Brown University and has worked on design teams at Design for America, Human Rights Watch, and IDEO.org.

As Deputy Director of the Public Policy Lab, Shanti partners with communities and government agencies to make critical public services easier to access, more effective to operate, and more enjoyable to use. Before joining the Public Policy Lab, Shanti led business development for a tech startup and gave creative direction to large-scale conferences. Her prior innovation research and strategy consulting has spanned across public, social, and private sectors. She holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin—Madison and the IIT Institute of Design.

Chelsea Mauldin is a social scientist and designer with a focus on public-sector innovation. She directs the Public Policy Lab, a New York City-based nonprofit organization that designs better public services for low-income and at-risk Americans.

Prior to co-founding the Public Policy Lab, Chelsea led a community-development organization, oversaw government partnerships at a public-space advocacy nonprofit, and consulted to municipal and federal agencies. She is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and the London School of Economics.

As a visual designer with a commitment to human-centered methods, Kacia spends her time advocating for simple, clear, and effective design. She is passionate about creating meaningful connections between people and has a real knack for research, because she can’t seem to stop asking questions (and truly cares about the answers).

Kacia is a graduate of The George Washington University. Her journey into social design began when she participated in the School of Visual Arts’ “Impact! Design for Social Change” summer residency.

Kristi Brown served as a PPL fellow on our Veteran Mental Health project. 

Camilla Buchanan was a visiting PPL fellow and worked on our Jail & Opioid Use project.

Dom Crockett served as a PPL fellow on our Veteran Mental Health project.

Kristina Drury served as a PPL fellow on our Affordable Housing project. 

Jennifer Rose is an honorary PPL fellow, having served as the PPL’s design director for our Affordable Housing, School Choice, and High-Need Student Services projects.