by Atim Annette Oton

This is the second blog in my series, The Pulse of Africa talking with Global Africans working in Africa and across the Diaspora. It takes an inside view on Africa’s progress, issues on arts and culture, technology and opportunities in this decade. See the first here.

In 2000, when I joined Parsons School of Design as the Associate Chair of Product Design to work with the chair Tony Whitfield, he was clear about his mission: design and social interventions, collaborations with not profits and global engagements. From Guyana, Sweden to France, we took Parsons design students across the globe to educate them about the role of design and thinking outside the box from social entrepreneurship to designing for social good. Then, it was impossible to get design publications to pay attention to this unique sector and focus. We walked alone in the world of glamour design. How time has changed and shifts things. Now, it is all the rage in design schools and publications.

See more here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/atim-oton/global-design_b_1459468.html