Subrina Pumford

4th Year - Industrial Design

Team Lead for Design for America (DFA)

Design for America:

This organization is made up of a national network of students that aims to use design thinking for social good. Each semester, we form several multidisciplinary teams across our studio, which each group being assigned to tackle a specific issue in our surrounding community. Through the user-centered design process, we research, ideate, and build lasting solutions.

Why I Joined & What I Do:

I joined DFA because I was fascinated by the idea of leveraging the very design skills I was learning in my classes and applying these to create an actual impact in Cincinnati. I also loved that DFA is part of a national organization, so we have a vast network of resources, contacts, and support to draw from. Now that I’m in my fourth year of DFA, I realize I joined for so much more than this initial idea. I’ve gained so much valuable (and fun!) design experience from working on diverse projects, everywhere from creating an efficient onboarding survey for UC CAPS to starting a mindfulness movement through a poster campaign. Now, as a Team Lead, I’ve gained the opportunity to develop my leadership skills, as I help guide my team members through the design process while facilitating discussions, holding meetings, and planning events.

What I Learned From the UHP Student Leader Roundtable:

Through my discussions as part of the UHP Student Leader Roundtable, I was able to learn so much from other leaders across campus. We were able to share common roadblocks and how we overcame them, which helped me realize that our organizations have more in common that I expected. We are all dealing with subjects such as retaining members, recruiting every semester, keeping members engaged, and transitioning leadership roles. Another aspect that I appreciated was that we could share how we as leaders are navigating the issues of today, a time marked by global health concerns and social tensions. These are unprecedented issues for club leaders, such as how to operate when everything is virtual and how to use our organizations as a force for good during social unrest. Finally, I learned about other students orgs! There were groups I’d never heard of as part of this Roundtable, which helped me form connections with other student leaders and develop a sense of community over our shared passion of leading students towards excellence.