The Fall Design Catalyst Program

Business Milestones and Funding

Business growth milestones are significant achievements or stages that a company reaches as it expands and develops. These milestones indicate the progress and success of the business. Examples can include: revenue goals, customer acquisition, physical space and program expansion, new hired employees. These milestones vary depending on the industry, business model, and goals of the company.

These submissions will be reviewed and approved by our Catalyst Steering Committee. Based on these identified milestones and budgets you will be awarded funding to spend out over the remaining 3 months of the program (till December 2024). Please note that while you may submit a budget for each milestone, you may not necessarily receive the full amount of funding you request. The actual funding allocation will be determined by the Catalyst Steering Committee, taking into consideration the feasibility and impact of each milestone.

MEET THE INSTRUCTORS

Blake is also the founder and co-owner of Black Dragonfly Events LLC, a full service event planning and design company that specializes in fundraisers and social events. She, with her co-owner Andersson, plan, design, and decorate any event from baby showers, to weddings, to retirement parties and anything in between, as well as setting up photoshoot backdrops and the like. Providence is considered the Creative Capital of New England and, through her business and legal practice, Blake wants to help this little big state live up to that name.

She enjoys reading, baking, amatuer pohtgraphy, and spending time with her dog and turtle.

As the Senior Program Manager at Social Innovation and Change Initiative at Harvard University, Devin Samuels leads the New World Social Innovation Fellowship as the program’s resident educator, program designer, and implementer with the aim of fostering an exemplary learning experience that drives impact. Prior to this role, Samuels was Programs and Events Manager for DESIGNxRI where he led the small-business accelerator program, Providence Design Catalyst, and created Equity x Design RI, a multi-business program which led to the creation of new equity-based protocols within the field. Devin continues to bring this level of intentional program creation, management, and facilitation into his work at SICI.

Concurrent to this, Samuels has been an arts educator teaching and performing poetry nationally for the past 15 years. With a strong investment in community, Devin Samuels has spent years cultivating youth and adult arts education spaces. His pedagogy utilizes poetics and the radical imagination to grow critical thinking, self-reflection, and empathy as primary drivers of social change. Devin is a 2017 Poetry Foundation Incubator Fellow and his work can be found in City & Sea Poetry Anthology, Slag Review, Wayne Literary Review 2018 and Systemic Crises of Global Climate Change: Intersections of Race, Class, and Gender.

Devin Samuels currently serves on the board of Detroit Jews for Justice, is the Co-Director of the Providence Poetry Slam, and an active member of multiple movement and arts organizations.

Beyond her role at RISD, Sara co-founded O&G Studio and champions American design, craft, and manufacturing. Additionally, she contributes her talents as a world builder in theatre and performance, collaborating with luminaries like William Kentridge and the Centre for the Less Good Idea in partnership with the Brown Arts Institute. Sara’s multifaceted expertise and dedication to her craft make her a driving force in both local and global creative spheres.