Food Systems Change

a collaborative design cohort

2024 Focus Area

Why this and why now?

“Global food systems are broken – and billions of people are paying the price.”

According to UN estimates, over 780 million people experience hunger, almost 1/3 of all food produced globally is lost or wasted and nearly 3 billion people cannot afford healthy diets.

Unsustainable food production, packaging, and consumption are also contributing to the climate crisis, accounting for 1/3 of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, 70% of the world’s freshwater usage, and driving biodiversity loss.

Source.

Common Cause Collective brings people together across disciplines, challenges the status quo, addresses complex problems, and contributes to the commons.

Each year we pick a problem area to focus on and then organize a series of activities that invite our community to design a more just and regenerative future together.

In 2024, we've decided to open the doors and invite a new cohort of impact-driven leaders into the collective and let them decide how to intervene in this year’s problem area.

If you’re passionate about design and the food system… read on!

Let’s work on changing the food system, together!

We’re now accepting applications.

Apply to join the 2024 Cohort to get the opportunity to work with a diverse group of peers and expert advisors to develop creative interventions that could put us on the path toward a more just and regenerative food future.

Here’s how it will work:

We’re actively learning and evolving this initiative. Below is what we currently envision for the program, but expect regular updates as we continue to gain clarity on this complex problem space and our initiative.

Timeline

  • Dates coming soon!

Cohort Selection

Our program leads will review each application and select a group of diverse professionals to participate in the Cohort, aiming to cover the spectrum of food system expertise and professional skillsets.


Criteria: You must be residing in the mainland United States and have…

  • At least 3 years of professional experience in your field.

  • Skillsets that contribute to the development of creative solutions for positive impact like systems thinking, social innovation, sustainability, behavioral psychology, collective impact, etc.

  • A passion for making positive interventions within the complex food system, with direct knowledge of the broken food system being a plus.

  • The ability to see the program through and put enough time and energy into this to meaningfully contribute to the team.

Program Structure

Kickoff

The program will kick off with a 3-4 hour virtual orientation session and workshop aimed at getting to know each other, getting familiar with the program and your advisors, and brainstorming potential focus areas.

Focus Area

The Cohort will work together to select a focus area within the food system and then brainstorm and prioritize their target activities and outputs. This might look like an educational event series, a resource toolkit, an awareness campaign, a collective action project to align stakeholders, a series of white papers or webinars, etc. It’s really up to the cohort to decide.

Self Governance

The Cohort will establish member roles, accountabilities, communication patterns, and meeting cadence so they can work together smoothly and achieve their goals.

Monthly Check-Ins

Each month the Cohort will have the opportunity to meet with a Common Cause Collective Advisor and/or outside expert who can offer the Cohort feedback, guidance, connections, and resources related to their work. All of these sessions will be held virtually, at a time that works for the majority of the cohort members and advisors.

The Work

The Cohort will have roughly six months to define, develop, and deliver the activities and outputs they decide upon.

Final Report Due

The only predetermined deliverable is a ~20-30 page slide deck outlining what the Cohort did as a group, how it all went, what they learned through the process, what outcomes they saw or hope to see, and how the work can/will continue.

Celebratory Event

To wrap up all the amazing work of the Cohort, a celebration event will be held so the Cohort can present their report to their peers, advisors, industry experts, and the community at large.

Resources

Advisors

The Cohort will have access to Common Cause Collective Advisors, who each have decades of experience in their respective fields and deep knowledge of impact methodologies and frameworks.

Experts

They will also have access to food system industry professionals as needed along the way with expertise in topics such as farming, ingredient supply, manufacturing, distribution, branding, retail, activism, and more.

Money/Tools

Common Cause Collective is also actively seeking sponsors and the Cohort is encouraged to apply for grants. So while the 2024 Cohort’s time will all be unpaid volunteer hours, we hope to be able to provide the money or tools that can help bring the Cohort’s work to life.

Ready to Apply?

Click below to submit your application to join the 2024 Cohort for the opportunity to work with a diverse group of peers and expert advisors to develop creative interventions that could put us on the path toward a more just and regenerative food future.

 FAQs

  • This is for impact-driven professionals with 3-10 years of experience in their field, ideally with some experience using strategic creative processes, and a passion for changing the food system. See the full criteria on the page above.

  • We hate to turn good people away so we’ll aim to find other ways for you to get involved in Common Cause Collective programs or events.

  • No. This is a volunteer opportunity where you’ll determine your role in the Cohort and have a say in what you do during this program. While we can’t offer payment for your time, we can guarantee the experience will be valuable because you’ll learn a lot from the work itself as well as from your peers, advisors, and experts.

  • It all depends on what the Cohort decides to do and what role you take in the group, but we would guess a minimum of 1 -5 hours a week on average to accomplish anything meaningful together.

  • While we’re expecting each Cohort member to see the program through, we also understand that life happens. So if something comes up we’d ask that you do your best not to leave your Cohort team hanging and at least try to wrap up or hand off your responsibilities.

  • You’ll make powerful new connections, learn a lot from your peers, advisors, and experts, and ideally produce something you’re really proud of that has the potential to make a big impact on the food system.

  • You’ll have access to the founding members of the Common Cause Collective who have various degrees and decades of expertise in design, strategy, and impact processes, frameworks, and methodologies.

  • The program leads for the 2024 Cohort are:

    Dimeji Onafuwa, MBA, PhD is an expert in the commons, transition design, design for social innovation, and is currently a Principal UX Research Manager at Microsoft.

    Gage Mitchell is an expert in sustainable design, the food system, branding/marketing, and impact business models and is currently the Founder & Creative Director of Modern Species, Creative Director of the Kindship Group, the Host of the Brands for a Better World podcast, Co-Host of the Impact-Driven Community, Co-Chair of the Washington B Corp Collective, and Co-Founder & Brand Specialist for the Organic Marketing Association.

  • Most likely, yes. The Cohort will need some support in things like an email newsletter, social media management, event logistics, grant writing and more. Email hello (at) commoncause.design to tell us how you can help.

  • Yes, we will be accepting sponsors. More info is coming soon. For now just email hello (at) commoncause.design for more information.

  • We love connecting with other impact-driven experts. Please email us at hello (at) commoncause.design and let us know how you’d like to help.

  • At the moment we’re thinking of doing 1-2 Cohorts each year. So stay tuned for announcements by subscribing to our email newsletter below.