The Design Challenge Has

days
hours
minutes
seconds

Design with Empathy
Grow with Community

How might we partner with students, families, and communities to co-design solutions to serve those furthest from opportunity?

Have you been looking for an opportunity to combine the power of your staff, students, and teachers to address the most pressing issues facing your school community?

The 2025 Design Challenge is your chance to co-design solutions and tackle the most pressing issues in education today with the best and brightest ideas taking home top prizes!

Want to learn more?

We're hosting an informational webinar on January 29th!

Register

Participants Will Build Skills to: 

  • Conduct action research through empathy interviews, observations and shadow a student experiences

  • Collaboratively build testable solutions to impact a school specific design opportunity. 

  • Strengthen your school's design process and capacity for inclusive problem-solving

    Who Can Apply?

    Teams of 3-7 school leaders including: any CPS Principal, Assistant Principal, Counselor, Dean, Teacher or another role from the school or a youth serving community organization. 


        Design Challenge Process

        Register Your Team

        Sign-Up, Recruit a Design Team, and Identify A Design Opportunity

        Teams Should Register by March 7, 2025

        Milestone #1 Video Introduction

        Submit a 1-minute Video to Introduce Your School, Design Team, and Design Opportunity

        Milestone #2 Executive Summary

        Create a 1-page Executive Summary to Share Empathy Insights, Plans to Test Prototypes, and Lessons Learned

        Milestone #3 Slide Presentation

        Create a Compelling Slide Deck to Share your Design Process and Plans for Next Steps

        Milestones #1-3 Due April 9, 2025 to be scored.

        Live Presentation

        Five top scoring design teams will compete in a live Pitch Presentation for prizes on

        May 8, 2025

        Design Challenge Prize Structure

        One grand prize each for Elementary/ Middle and High School that presents at the Live Pitch Presentation on May 8, 2025

        Remaining finalists who present at the Live Pitch Presentation

        Semi-finalists with highest scores

        Additional Award Opportunities

        Early Adopter
        If you sign up between January 27-31, 2025 Teams will be entered to win 1 of 3 sets of the Leadership+Design Card Bundles in an L+D Waist Pack.

        Bundle includes: Collaboration Cards, Values Cards, Connection Cards and Truth Seeking Cards.

        Six schools will be awarded for their efforts impacting our core themes this year.

        2025 Priorities Include:
        Design Thinking in the Arts
        Artificial Intelligence (AI) Innovations
        Principal-Teacher Trust
        Teacher-Parent Trust
        Parent Involvement
        English Language Learners


        One Design Team will be chosen by the community for standing out in style, innovation, and heart.

        This team will be awarded an additional $1,500 regardless of other placement in the competition.



        There was a palpable shift in our team after the empathy interviews. The teachers and leaders had a deeper understanding of their students and it really provided a call to action. A highlight was the student participation, collaboration and ideation in the design process. The adult team members shared the themes and insights from the empathy interviews with the students. Together, we ideated possible solutions and narrowed the list to what felt best for the students. Our ideation session was full of hope, joy, and BIG thinking and showed students that they were heard and valued in the process.

        — Stephanie Cardella, CISC Longwood High School, 2024 Design Challenge Finalist
        Register

        The Chicago Public Education Fund is an organization that supports the efforts, development, and, satisfaction of Chicago Public School’s leaders. We believe in design thinking as a tool for driving impact because we have seen it in action since our design work began in 2012. Since then, over 100 school teams and thousands of educators have taken part in driving school-based solutions that rely on empathy and strategic design to keep changemakers from spinning their wheels with solutions. The Design Challenge is one of many ways that we thank you, those doing the work on the ground, to make school a little better each day for kids.

        Visit The Fund's
        Website