Lucy Borges, Apprentice, Resilient & Diverse Communities By Design.
Capacity Canada’s Apprenticeship Program, Resilient and Diverse Communities By Design, has been developed in partnership with the Suncor Energy Foundation (SEF). Through partnerships and relationships with those who are courageously seeking solutions, the Suncor Energy Foundation helps spark change and propel progress for generations ahead. Capacity Canada is grateful to the Suncor Energy Foundation for generously providing the resources to build resilient communities across the country through its Apprenticeship Program.
The nine-month Program is intended for individuals who want to learn the foundational elements of human-centred design to bring professional skills back to their communities to drive meaningful change toward more regenerative approaches.
Lucy Borges has been managing two homes for seniors for the past 16 years in Kitimat, BC. One is an assisted living facility – Delta King Place Housing Society, and the other is an independent living facility. When she first heard about human-centred design thinking, she realized the possibilities of using design thinking were infinite. She was attracted to the idea of using it in assisted living facilities that lack recreational activities.
“The pandemic has brought unimaginable challenges in front of us. It restricted visitors to our assisted and independent living residences. All the programs that we had in place for the seniors were cancelled. We had been getting numerous requests from residents for programs and activities daily,” says Lucy.
With enough funding to bring a recreation facilitator on board, Lucy wondered what the role would look like, and that question piqued her interest in Capacity Canada’s apprenticeship program. “If I hadn’t participated in Capacity Canada’s program, I would have designed a role that I thought would be best suited for our senior residents and would have failed during the implementing stage,” said Lucy. She further added that she quickly understood that not everyone’s wants and needs are the same.
Lucy is one of the four apprentices selected as part of Capacity Canada’s nine-month paid Apprenticeship Program – Resilient and Diverse Communities By Design. The program is generously supported by Suncor Energy Foundation. The SEF believes in sharing power and co-creating sustainable solutions to complex challenges and contributing to the development of the social innovation sector to develop programs.
In March this year, Capacity Canada invited young changemakers from diverse communities across Canada to apply for its program. “We encouraged people from under-represented groups to apply as we feel the spirit of human-centred design is well suited to addressing many of the challenges faced by our diverse communities,” said Cathy Brothers, CEO of Capacity Canada.
Human-centred design is an approach to problem-solving that begins with a deep understanding of and empathy with the people you’re trying to reach — and then designing and testing solutions from their perspective. By including key stakeholders throughout the process, the solutions generated are more likely to be accepted and embraced.
Lucy shared that after attending the first few sessions, she knew “what she was doing wrong”. “My greatest learning so far has been the observation and interview process, and problem framing. I could have created a recreation position and written a job description without consulting anyone. But now, knowing what the residents want, after interviewing them and gathering feedback, I have a better way of creating a prototype that is less likely to fail.”
“Involving those who will be the most impacted is the key to creating a successful program or service.” Lucy is confident her experience will help amplify community-led and community-informed efforts for sustainable solutions to complex issues that both Capacity Canada and the SEF strive to address. She is excited for the next phase of the apprenticeship program to begin.
While Lucy has already started to implement her learnings in her programming and the services her organization offers, after the completion of the program, she hopes to share her learnings with the board members for a more significant impact. “In my opinion, design thinking is one of the most powerful ways to drive change, and that is what this program is doing.”
The apprenticeship program builds on the work of Capacity Canada and the Suncor Energy Foundation to build and support resilient individuals, organizations and communities across Canada. In the next phase, apprentices will work on a virtual design project related to their connected communities. The project will be completed in the next few months with coaching and mentoring support from the Capacity Canada Design Team.
Learn more about the apprenticeship program on Capacity Canada’s website.
