DESIGN FOR CHANGE Global Movement

Design for Change (DFC) catalysed by founder Kiran’s Bir Sethi’s TED Talk in 2010 cultivates the ‘I CAN’ mindset in every child empowering them to express their own ideas for a better world and put them into action.

It is a winner of numerous education accolades and present in 70 countries. DFC was born out of the conviction that children are not helpless, that change is possible and belief that they can drive it. Through a simple design process of Feel-Imagine-Do-Share ( FIDS for KIDS) children are designing solutions for some of the worlds greatest challenges!

Since the inception of Design for Change in 2009, here is our collective global impact.

DFC GLOBAL
IMPACT

74

COUNTRIES &
REGIONS

40000

SOLUTIONS OF
CHANGE

2

MILLION CHILDREN
PARTICIPATED

30552

SCHOOLS
PARTICIPATED

111897

teachers
PARTICIPATED

DFC SOUTH AFRICA (SA)

DFC South Africa was founded by Juanita Rea in 2015. We have conducted programmes with a wide range of schools across the country that include Fordsburg Primary, Diepsloot Primary, Ikaneng Primary, Streetlight Schools, Spark Maboneng, Nova Pioneer, American International School of Johannesburg, Redhill School, Crawford Fourways, Sizwile School for the Deaf, St Stithians, St David's, Aristea Primary School, Rondebosch East Primary School, Holy Family College. We have also worked with TSiBA, RLabs, Ikamva Youth and MANCOSA.

Our funding is managed by our parent organisation, eduSOIL Education NPO (2014/157491/08 NPC) and eduSOIL Consultancy Pty. Ltd (2014/206906/07) www.edusoil.com
Our lead funders have been LifeCo UnLtd, First Rand Volunteers, LegalWise and Angel Rock Foundation (USA).
Youth participants, educators and mentors have represented South Africa at DFC global celebrations in India, Rome, Taiwan and Dubai.

Be inspired by past DFC SA projects!

Select South Africa or any other country in our network for more inspiration!

2015 > present

SA IMPACT

80

SCHOOLS/
ORGANISATIONS

25

STORIES OF
CHANGE

200

YOUTH
EMPOWERED

40

TEACHERS/
VOLUNTEERS TRAINED

5000

TOTAL
PEOPLE
IMPACTED

FIDS
Transdisciplinary Toolkit/ Framework

Powered by the principles of design thinking, Design for Change offers a simple 4 step framework FIDS (Feel-Imagine-Do-Share)- to unleash the I CAN superpower in every child.

Using this framework, children are encouraged to 'FEEL' (observe and identify any situation that bothers them), 'IMAGINE' (brainstorm a way to make it better), 'DO' (work in teams to implement their solution) and finally, 'SHARE' (their solution of change with the world) to inspire others to say, 'I CAN'!

I CAN VIRTUAL YOUTH EXCHANGE Nurturing Global, Intercultural Connections

The I CAN Virtual Youth Exchange programme empowers South African youth (13 - 17 years) to collaboratively take action on issues affecting them while sharing their journeys with peers from Sudan and Serbia. We enable and support teachers/mentors to nurture youth wellbeing, agency and social action and global citizenship through intercultural exchange. It culminates with the publication of youth-led stories of change on the global I CAN platform alongside a hybrid, celebratory showcase event.

There are funded spaces for 6 groups comprising 1 teacher/mentor with 5 youth (13 - 17 years). The online sessions take place on weekdays (Mon - Thurs) from February - May, with teachers/mentors responsible for, choosing an online call schedule, supervising attendance to the 8 x 90min biweekly online calls and, coordinating in-person meetings on alternate weeks for groups to work on their projects. Registration open until January 25th or until spaces are allocated on a first come first served basis.

BE THE CHANGE
CELEBRATION

Organized annually, the ‘Be The Change’ (BTC) celebration provides our young superheroes from across the world a platform to showcase their stories of change.

Youth who participate in I CAN Virtual Youth Exchange and submit a story of change will be considered as SA representatives at the 2025 Be The Change Global Celebration in Japan this November*

STUDENT COUNCIL

Youth who participate and submit a story of change are also considered as DFC Student Council members. Watch this video of Karma Vyas DFC Northern Ireland Student Council Member 2024 to learn how our DFC programmes open up to fantastic global interactions and leadership opportunities for youth.

DFC SA, NORTHERN IRELAND AND SUDAN FOUNDER/COUNTRY PARTNER

Juanita Rea is an Indian South African artivist, social entrepreneur and educator with many passions. She has a background in primary education (BPrim.Ed, M.Ed) and has worked as school teacher in government and private schools in SA, England, S.Korea, the Philippines, Sudan since 2000.

She is the founder of eduSOIL, an award-winning, international, arts, wellbeing and education social enterprise addressing the global mental health crisis through trauma-informed, intercultural community arts, youth leadership, yoga and mindfulness programmes and products. Since 2011, her global team has nurtured the innate creativity, compassion and resilience of 16,000 primarily black, asian and underserved people in 12 countries. Juanita has been a DFC Country Partner since 2010, launching DFC Philippines which she ran until 2020. She launched DFC SA in 2015, DFC Sudan in 2018 and DFC NI in 2022.

She resides in Belfast through a Global Talent endorsement through the Arts Council, is a Visiting Scholar at Queen’s University Belfast at the School of Arts, English and Languages and has received numerous awards from Arts Council NI for her interdisciplinary creative practice.

Collectively the eduSOIL NI and SA chapters have received funding/donations and has delivered programmes in the Philippines, India, Nepal, South Africa, Sudan, NI, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Juanita’s qualifications and certifications include BrimEd (Art & Design), M.Ed Educational Leadership and Administration, PGCert Sustainability Education, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and Cognitive Therapy, Children’s and Adult Yoga (Yoga Alliance) and a range of TES courses on Special Educational Needs, Safeguarding, Mental Health and Trauma-informed approaches.

Juanita has received numerous social impact awards for her work. Spark Changemaker (2015) LifeCo Enterprizer (2016), Lioness of Africa (2017) in SA; Minority Ethnic Awards, NI (2021- 2023) in NI, Changemaker Award (2023) in India. Through her work with the DFC global movement she has contributed to the global impact and innovation awards and accolades it has received.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/juanitarea/

DFC SA LEAD ORGANISATION

DFC SA IMPACT PARTNERS

DFC GLOBAL AWARDS

DFC GLOBAL PARTNERS