About Us
For too long, too much of the world’s population has been left out of typical design processes. Through the co-design of products, services and policies, the lives of more than 2 billion people around the globe can be dramatically improved.
We believe in the power and potential of design. We strive to push the field forward with every engagement.
Our Journey
2008 -
Where We Started
Back in 2008, there was a critical gap in the delivery of aid to communities in need. Many NGOs had ambitious visions to improve conditions in underserved communities around the world, but there was no system in place to bring in the designers trained to make the products those NGOs needed to realize their mission.
Catapult Design was founded in 2008 to do just that: to help clients meet the needs of the underserved.
How We’re Evolving
Since then, Catapult has established itself as a leader in the movement it helped create: social impact design. We have learned a great deal from our experience leading projects and from the communities with whom we have worked. We continue to explore new roles for designers that include creating deep, meaningful local design partnerships in our priority regions. In those moments when we aren’t designing products and systems, we stay busy building capacity and doing research to continue to grow and innovate.
We are also highly committed to ensuring that our work is firmly embedded into the local and global systems so they can be sustainable. Our goal is to help our clients, partners, and end-users explore, prototype, and realize solutions capable of driving social change. We excel at turning those ideas into reality.
Our Mission
How we turn ideas into action
Catapult Design is a non-profit design firm that works in two ways:
The net benefit of our activities is nothing less than a substantial improvement in the lives of those who have long been overlooked by traditional design models.
We provide product design, design education, and design strategy services to organizations working to ignite social change. Using this fee-for-service model, we reinvest all profits to grow the organization and pursue our mission.
We identify areas where design is most needed, and rather than waiting for a client to provide the funding, we raise money for our own concepts in the form of grants, donations, and sponsorships, allowing us to be more proactive.
Team
Board of Directors
Board of Advisors
Job Openings
Join Us!
Development Consultant
Catapult Design is growing! We are hiring a Development Consultant with at least 5 years of experience. The ideal candidate is a storyteller and a strong communicator. The candidate will focus on securing funding through development agencies, foundations, and multinational corporations. They will hold responsibility for; compiling research, drafting and grant writing; coordinating grant applications and managing post-award tasks related to documentation as required.
Creative Director (Full-Time)
Catapult Design is seeking a full-time Creative Director to lead design projects for socially and environmentally driven clients around the world. The role will encompass leadership in service design, product design, human-centered design, graphics, ethnography, and innovation.
Experience from conceptualization through to implementation is required. The Creative Director will advise and consult with Catapult’s Designers, Strategists, and Client Managers to create strategic design directions for social entrepreneurs, philanthropy, corporates, and governments.
The candidate will be responsible and accountable for complex projects, the streamlining of design research, synthesis, prototyping, and insights, and manage a team of talented designers. This position calls for a candidate with considerable experience, creative intuition, and a passion for social impact design. The chosen candidate will have the opportunity to work on a variety of projects in global health, education, climate, and entrepreneurship. S/he will ultimately help shape social impact design globally.
