Michael O’Donnell & Naadiya Mills
“What design is, actually, is the bridge between what is and what should be.” That’s Brian Collins, CEO of COLLINS, encapsulating design’s essence in a short film by Working Not Working. Design solves problems, provides a momentum of hope, and builds a better future.
Because design touches every aspect of our lives, it’s important that the design industry looks inward and builds a bridge from what the industry currently is to what it should be. Its existing problems, which include a lack of accessibility and a lack of DEI, often take root at the educational level before a future designer ever lands their first job.
For longstanding Working Not Working Member Ritesh Gupta, there’s a practical way to address these educational deficiencies. Well, there wasn’t. So he built it. It’s called Useful School, the world’s first pay-what-you-can online design school for people of color, which he founded back in December and is currently in the midst of its first 10-week semester for product designers.
Working Not Working is excited and frankly honored to announce that we’re a founding partner of Useful School.
Working Not Working’s mission is to eliminate the obstacles between creative people and opportunity. When our community creates bold initiatives that share a foundational desire to look inward and improve the creative industry we call home, we eagerly embrace the possibility of collaboration, support, and partnership.
For Ritesh, the highs and lows of a product design career as an Indian American in advertising and tech have culminated in Useful School’s launch. He’s paying forward both what he’s learned and what he wishes he had, offering a design education that prepares BIPOC students to be successful in their careers and lead the way in changing the industry.
Useful Schools’s first cohort of students
Ritesh sees Useful School as not only a classroom but a community. That’s an important element of sustaining confidence and advocacy that will have lasting effects on the creative industry. The curriculum cultivates the kind of supportive and collaborative spaces that are in short supply for BIPOC talent in the corporate setting, which fuels the confidence to bring that same energy and approach to the workplace. In effect, a useful school breeds a useful industry.
Working Not Working’s goal is to be the most creative place on the internet, where you can discover the best talent. To back that claim, the first step is ensuring the best talent makes it to the table. We seek out and stand in solidarity with individuals and organizations with visions of a better future. Useful School perfectly embodies a mission of accessibility, diversity, equity, and inclusion.
We look forward to mobilizing our technology, community, and connections, and ultimately ensuring Useful School’s longevity and its students’ success.
If you’re interested in sponsoring or partnering with Useful School, email Ritesh at ritesh@usefulschool.com.