<a href="https://welcometocup.org/making-policy-public" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Making Policy Public</a> is CUP’s annual open call that invites advocates to collaborate with CUP and a visual designer to create a resource that empowers communities to assert their rights, access services, and fight for social justice
Last week we announced the four organizations we will be collaborating with, and we want to take this moment to highlight the designers who will be bringing their visual skills, creativity, and commitment to supporting social justice into these projects:
<ul><li>Ishita Jain will collaborate with New York City Community Land Initiative (NYCCLI)</li><li>Ryan Davis and Sarah Wang will collaborate with Housing Court Answers, Center for Justice Innovation, and TakeRoot Justice</li><li>Shireen Mathews and Tara Tabassi will collaborate with The Door</li><li>Dennis Madamba and Jaclyn Reyes will collaborate with WeACT for Environmental Justice</li></ul>
Over the course of a year, project teams work together to break down the project’s focus. Advocates bring their deep knowledge of the issues impacting communities and trusted relationships they’ve built through their work; CUP staff facilitates a collaborative process that engages directly impacted people and centers accessible, actionable information. Together, we create projects that support justice and equity.
At the end of the project, advocates receive 1,000 free copies of the final project to distribute directly to communities and throughout their networks.
Thank you to all of the organizations and visual designers who applied to our <a href="https://welcometocup.org/news/mpp-2024-open-call" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">open call</a>, and to our <a href="https://welcometocup.org/news/meet-the-jury-for-making-policy-public" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">jurors</a> Ariana Faye Allensworth, Eugenia Mello, Daniel Chu, and Mayra Aldas Deckert for supporting our selection process.
Scroll below to read about our Making Policy Public designers!

Ishita draws everywhere she goes and documents the people, places and stories that surround her. She is an illustrator and designer from New Delhi, India and is now based in New York.
She will collaborate with the <a href="https://nyccli.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York City Community Land Initiative (NYCCLI)</a> on a project to support neighborhoods interested in organizing community land trusts—what you need to know about what that looks like in New York City, and how they can support community housing, green space, and development.
Check out Ishita's work <a href="http://ishitajain.in/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>.

Ishita Jain

Ryan Davis (he/him) is an illustrator from and currently based in Norwalk, CT. He is a recent graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, receiving a BFA in Communication Design. His work draws on the logic and archetypes of fairy tales to tell eclectic and playful narratives.
Alongside Sarah Wang, he will collaborate with <a href="https://housingcourtanswers.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Housing Court Answers</a>, <a href="http://www.innovatingiustice.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Center for Justice Innovation</a>, and <a href="https://takerootjustice.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">TakeRoot Justice</a> on a project to support tenants’ understanding of the Good Cause Eviction Law—whether their apartment is protected under the new law, what types of tenant behavior can justify eviction, and the rules around rent increases and lease renewals.
Check out Ryan's work <a href="https://ryandavismakesart.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">online</a> or on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/ryandavismakesart" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Instagram</a>.

Ryan Davis

Sarah Wang (they/she) is an award-winning designer, artist, and community organizer from Austin, TX, currently based in Lenapehoking (Brooklyn, NYC). She is a recent graduate from Washington University in St. Louis and specializes in print &amp; editorial design. Their practice is centered around decolonizing design, community care, queerness, and their cat, Bao.
Alongside Ryan Davis, they will collaborate with <a href="https://housingcourtanswers.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Housing Court Answers</a>, <a href="http://www.innovatingiustice.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Center for Justice Innovation</a>, and <a href="https://takerootjustice.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">TakeRoot Justice</a> on a project to support tenants’ understanding of the Good Cause Eviction Law—whether their apartment is protected under the new law, what types of tenant behavior can justify eviction, and the rules around rent increases and lease renewals.
Check out Sarah's work <a href="https://sarahwang.work/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">online</a> or on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/srahsart" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Instagram</a>.

Sarah Wang

Shireen Mathews (she/her) is a designer and organizer based in Brooklyn. She was born in south India and grew up in Oman, Canada, and the midwestern US. She works in communications at Right to the City Alliance supporting grassroots housing justice organizing. 
Alongside Tara Tabassi, she will collaborate with <a href="http://www.door.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Door</a> on a project to support immigrants, ages 18-21, arriving in New York City to understand their educational rights.

Shireen Mathews

Tara Tabassi (they/she) has been a designer, digital strategist and grassroots organizer for almost two decades — fighting for housing justice at Right to the City Alliance, crafting antiwar campaigns at Win Without War via the Kairos Fellowship, building national strategies to end police militarization with the War Resisters League, and community organizing with LGBTQ youth of color at FIERCE NYC. Tara believes in the power of community gardens, healing with plant medicine, and telling stories through illustration and art. Raised in the Netherlands, Iran, and the U.S., Tara dreams of an internationalist feminist remaking of our world so that bombs, borders, bans, and binaries are obsolete.
Alongside Shireen Mathews, they will collaborate with <a href="http://www.door.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Door</a> on a project to support immigrants, ages 18-21, arriving in New York City to understand their educational rights.

Tara Tabassi

Dennis Madamba is a community-focused illustrator with a creative practice that includes comic arts, printmaking, publishing, and teaching. His illustrations have appeared online and in print for publications such as The Baffler Magazine, Investopedia, and Parents.com as well as for local community organizations, like Little Manila Queens Bayanihan Arts. His work has been recognized by American Illustration, The Society of Illustrators LA, ICON: The Illustration Conference, and in 2023 won the Graphic Literature award from Solstice Literary Magazine for his short comic Untranslated. He received an MFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and lives in Jackson Heights, Queens.
Alongside Jaclyn Reyes, he will collaborate with <a href="https://www.weact.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">WE ACT for Environmental Justice</a> on a project to support tenants’ understanding of Local Law 1 which requires landlords to protect tenants with children under 6 from lead exposure in their homes.
Check out Dennis's work <a href="https://www.dennismadamba.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">online</a> or on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/denmada/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Instagram</a>.

Dennis Madamba

Jaclyn Reyes is an interdisciplinary artist, designer, cultural organizer. She received her BFA in Photography from Syracuse University and earned her master’s degree in Arts in Education from Harvard University. She has done work for the Campaign and Creative Services team at BerlinRosen, the International Rescue Committee, the United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, the Resilient Communities program at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Penguin Random House, Condé Nast, and Visionaire. She was also a 2023 Design Justice as Practice Fellow with the Center for Urban Pedagogy.
Alongside Dennis Madamba, she will collaborate with <a href="https://www.weact.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">WE ACT for Environmental Justice</a> on a project to support tenants’ understanding of Local Law 1 which requires landlords to protect tenants with children under 6 from lead exposure in their homes.
Check out Jaclyn's work <a href="https://jgrey.es/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>.

Jaclyn Reyes

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Introducing Our 2025 Making Policy Public Designers

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Hyperakt is a purpose-driven design and innovation studio that elevates human dignity and ignites curiosity. Since 2001, co-founders Julia Zeltser and Deroy Peraza, along with the Hyperakt team, have been partnering with change-makers moving society forward. We believe in design’s power to build a future filled with courage, optimism, and honesty.

Hyperakt

The Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) is a nonprofit organization that uses the power of design and art to increase meaningful civic engagement in partnership with historically marginalized communities.

Center for Urban Pedagogy

CUP uses the power of design and art to increase meaningful civic engagement, in partnership with historically marginalized communities.

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