Designing for Lasting Change: Presentation on Trust, Joy and the A3C’s at Foothill College

The "A3C's of Systems Design" is a concept I developed while working with San Francisco Unified School District's Future Dining Experience (FDE). FDE focused on implementing ten design concepts into the school food system to remove barriers to meal participation and support students in joyfully eating at school. Over the course of five years, we learned a great deal about systems design and what it takes to create long-term, sustained change within a fortified system. From these insights, the A3C's were developed—a core part of which is the role of trust in enabling change.

In May 2024, I had the opportunity to share insights about the role of trust in systems design with students at Foothill College in Los Altos, California. The presentation was part of the campus-wide speaker series titled "The Art of Community: Conversations on Shared Values." The series is grounded in Foothill College’s values of Honesty, Integrity, Trust, Openness, Transparency, Forgiveness, and Sustainability. At the end of each talk, the goal is for attendees—students, faculty, and staff—to leave with a heightened awareness of their individual and collective values and a deeper understanding of what it means to live in alignment with them.

It was a pleasure to speak with the students and faculty at Foothill College about joyful design. After the conversation, I had the opportunity to visit the Owls Nest Community Resource Center, which includes an on campus food pantry that provides free access to nourishing food for students. It is well designed and provides not only a place to access familiar foods, but it is also a place to hang out and relax. This combination of experiences makes the space quite welcoming and is an incredible example of how the design of space and experience can transform how a resource is utilized.