Libremente is an SMS-based program that aims to address the challenges of post-disaster mental health. The program is designed specifically for populations in the early recovery stage of disaster relief.
Libremente’s program leverages behavioral activation, a psychological treatment proven to address post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and an SMS-based program to facilitate mental health recovery. Participants receive text messages that invite them to perform short activities that encourage personal reflection and community interaction.
Integrated impact evaluation
The first pilot was developed in Lima, Peru 2017 in collaboration with suburban communities affected by floods. Over the course of a one-week pilot, we saw a near 100 percent participation rate, and a 68 percent response rate in a group of over 30 participating mothers. This group included mothers sharing phones — and therefore only one phone number could reply — and at least one mother who was illiterate. These results underscore the importance and scalability of a wide-reaching media intervention in the post-disaster recovery space, particularly in regards to underserved communities in need of mental health resources.
In 2018, we worked with health providers in Puerto Rico to develop a second pilot for five local communities impacted by Hurricane María. After a six-week program, participants improved their perceived sense of support and learned about other resources in their community. A pre-post survey showed reduced levels of stress and anxiety.
My Role: Co-Founder & Design Principal
Team: Aashka Dave, Kari Strømhaug, La Victoria Lab, Koru, PUC, Clinica de Salud de COSSAO.
Client: Survivors of floods in Peru, and hurricane in Puerto Rico
Location: Lima, Peru (2017) - Utuado, Puerto Rico (2018)
Status: Developing a third pilot in Grand Bahama, Bahamas.
Awards: MIT Ideas Competition 2018
Strategy to Map Mexico City’s Transit Routes
MapatonCDMX is a gaming app designed to crowdsource the public transit routes of Mexico City. Before MapatonCDMX, the city lacked information on the informal transit system that accommodates 60 percent of the city’s commutes. In addition, the city lacked the resources for hiring a traditional mapping consultant. Instead gathered a team of creative consultants of which I was part.
The team developed a cell-phone game that helped citizens map their routes while rewarding them with virtual prizes. The algorithm for prices was designed to motivate the mapping of the most obscured routes and to identify potential cheaters.
Crowd-sourcing in a Crowded City
The MapatonCDMX app was first used in February 2016 to hold a civic competition to map Mexico’s urban transport. In two weeks the 3,557 MapatonCDMX users mapped 51,308 km (31,881 mi). Users spent a total of 685,188 minutes (equivalent to 475 days) actively mapping. The data collected is now openly available as a GTFS.
My Role: Mobility Consultant.
Team: LabCDMX, CETRAM, SEMOVI, PIDES Innovación Social, Krieger Electronics, ITDP Mexico, Planeación & Desarrollo SC, M+urbano, Transconsult, Ally, and Urban LaunchPad. Supported by the Hewlett Foundation and the British Embassy in Mexico.
Client: Ministry of Mobility (SEMOVI).
Location: Mexico City (2015-2016).
Status: Open GTFS with validated data.
Awards: Guangzhou Award for Urban Innovation, China 2017.
Papers: OECD Case Studies, IGLUS, Beyond Bureaucracy, Legible Policy
Platform and Strategy for Peer-to-Peer Aid Coordination
Manos a la Obra is a digital tool and a crowdsourced effort aimed to address the civic emergency caused by the severe earthquakes that impacted Mexico in September 2017. The objective of this tool is to first collect and then help connect offerings and requests for aid. In order to operate, Manos a la Obra integrated three components:
A website where people with filters by need and location.
An open database connected with two call-centers in Mexico City, a civic effort for verifying data called Verificado19s, and private consultants working for the federal government like Mckinsey.
Geotargeted Facebook advertisements to reach users that are far out from preexistent social networks.
Manos a la Obra was deployed two hours after a 7.1 earthquake shocked central Mexico. Both the tool and the team evolved quickly with an open-source and open-data philosophy. The strategy had a flexible design that stayed effective throughout the changing needs of the disaster; rapidly moving form requests on shovels and flashlights to food and water needs.
Social Media for Social Good
Manosalaobra’s Facebook group reached 7,279 followers. Posts had an average reach of 149,468 people, with a maximum of 512,053 and a minimum of 624 people reached. An open code on GitHub allowed collaboration from developers in both Mexico and the US. And future development of a similar tool for COVID-19 called frenalacurva.org In addition, the geospatial analysis showed that calls for help were coming from affected areas. Calls for help outside declared emergency areas were verified as legitimate by a local allied.
My Role: Founder & Partnerships Manager.
Core Team: Sergio Cantú, Adriana Crespo, Akemi Sato, Daniel Palencia.
Client: Earthquake survivors.
Location: Mexico - Boston (2017).
Status: 8 weeks of service, collecting 1,813 entries.
News: MIT News, TEC Review, CNN Latinoamerica.
Because during the COVID-19 pandemic, we know social distancing saves lives.
@6ftlove is an artistic Instagram solidarity movement for social distancing as we work to collectively #flattenthecurve during the COVID-19 Pandemic. We want to spread the message that just because we are practicing social distance doesn’t mean we can’t be social or connect with people - whether it be loved ones or strangers on the street. Solidarity and collective action are the keys to defeating COVID-19. Let’s spread the #6ftlove.
The purpose of this campaign is not to share specific guidelines (we will leave that to the experts), but the rather to mainstream the need for collective action and remove the barriers (psychological or otherwise) to social distancing.
We are at a turning point in the battle against coronavirus. It is more important than ever to build a collective movement for social distancing. We must act now to share accurate and consistent messaging around social distancing. While the exact restrictions and guidelines around social distancing vary from one place to another, for a global problem like this, we need a universal approach.
We are concerned that many people, young and old, have so far been complacent about the threat posed by COVID-19. Evidence-based action can help contain the spread of this unprecedented pandemic.
Press: The Hindu, Hindustan Times
Nano-concrete Street Furniture
M+urbano is an industrial design firm that designs, manufactures, and produces street furniture based on nano-concrete. m+urbano has designed a manufacturing process that trains and employs local labor and utilizes nanometric by-products of local industry (turning fly-ash from a pollutant into a material). In addition, our concrete mix reduces CO2 emissions by 80% because the mix requires only one fifth of cement.
m+urbano products ranges from a 30x30cm wall planter to a 50sqm bench installation. Our designs can be found in public spaces such as the Malinalco’s central square in Estado de México (64 benches) and Tamayo Museum in Mexico City; can also be found in design venues such as Blend Store and Design Week Mexico.
m+urbano products require low maintenance because nano-metric porosity reduces permeability and corrosion, and qualify for LEED points for Material and Resources (MR) and Design Innovation (ID).
My Role: Co-founder and Partner with Alejandro Carvajal
Location: México (2013-2016)
Status: Three years of operation before merging with MDC
Awards: Diseño Inédito, Mexico Design Week 2015
Team: Andrés Abella, Jerónimo Aguilar, Alejandro Carvajal, Jose Luis Delgado
Press: Podio 2015
Designing a Rooftop Expansion for the ImpactHUB Mexico
UpHUB utilizes scaffolding for building light, flexible and ephemeral offices at the rooftop of the Impact HUB Mexico. The proposal approaches the requirements for fast expansion in a leased building, which structure was not calculated to hold the weight of a rooftop construction. The scaffolding system can be rented for as long as needed or borrowed in exchange for publicity.
The design of the open spaces integrates self-reported needs and desires of current HUB users. A brief survey was utilized to collect all the activities that Hubbers would like to have in their office, including some activities that would create revenue to maintain the spaces. Results from the survey were classified by daily, sporadic and external activities and then integrated into the design of the UpHUB.
Team: Andrés Abella, Alejandro Carvajal.
My Role: Co-director at m+urbano
Client: ImpactHUB Mexico.
Status: Selected as Winner for Construction.
Location: Mexico City (2014).
