Common Bond is a method for educators with diverse student bodies who want to build a strong parent community – across class – that supports and encourages the diverse friendships their children form in school. In our research, we found that while children form diverse relationships easily, parents do not. To encourage their children’s relationships, our platform enables parents from different classes to better communicate and relate to each other through their children.
Lauren Gardner is originally from Houston and went to college at American University, where she pursued a degree in International Studies with minors in Graphic Design and Communications. After graduation, she moved to India for a year to work for the Alliance for Global Education. She joined the World Bank upon her return, where she worked on education research in Pakistan and Zambia. Lauren came to DSI to better merge her love of design and international development with her concern for social justice, especially issues surrounding development parity, peace and conflict resolution, and gender equality.
Lauren is currently based in Austin, Texas, where she works as a Design Researcher at the Design Institute for Health (part of the Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin). Previously, she worked in government and international development at Reboot and the World Bank. Some recent projects from her work include improving the patient experience when leaving hospitals, designing a service to help people clear low-level warrants in NYC, and redesigning how countries apply for and receive vaccine support from Gavi.
Caroline McAndrews has worked in the nonprofit sector for 14 years conducting research and assessments, writing, presenting, and running programs. She’s worked with academics, activists, funders, and community members to explore questions such as how to develop the next generation of leadership, engage clients in social change, and build a systems approach to social service work. She received her BA in Urban Studies with a focus in architecture from Stanford University and is the author of What Works: Developing Successful Multigenerational Leadership and co-author of Structuring Leadership: Alternative Models for Distributing Power, among other titles. In addition to her coursework at DSI, Caroline is also consulting for the Building Movement Project, where she most recently served as the Director of Research and Documentation.
