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// about social workers who design.

Social Workers Who Design started informally as a seed of an idea in 1998, was nurtured more in 2008 and became a slowly-flourishing pursuit in 2018. We function as a small, social justice, design advocate studio and practice lab. We work with partners worldwide committed to the caring aspects of design research, education, and practice.

Our values guide the way we work. Read our principles with purpose and how we practice with our living model of change.

// work with us.

Are you or your organization interested in remote or on-site speaking and learning engagements? Email us to learn about our design care offerings on:

• serious and complex subject matter research,

• design care and team supervision,

• trauma-informed and trauma-responsive design research and practice facilitation, and

• experienced speaker topics and conversations on the value of social workers in design and tech, why the future of design must be trauma-informed, and models of care-full design.

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// about our founder.

Hi. I am Rachael, a macro-focused, licensed clinical social worker-designer. I am also the founder of Social Workers Who Design and an active member of the Design Justice Network and the Social Work Futures Lab. My practice, research, and writing examine the intersections and integrations of anti-oppressive, futures-focused social work values, trauma-responsive principles, and care-focused design research methods.

My writing on these approaches can be seen here, here, and here. In addition, I am working on my first book about trauma, design, and care for MIT Press (forthcoming in 2024/2025).

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// experience and background.

Rachael earned her Master of Social Work in 2010 with a focus on Advocacy, Leadership & Social Change and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology focusing on Social Movements and Social Movement Organizations in 2000 — both from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Since the late 1990s, Rachael has built a lifelong service career in social justice work, the federal government, and higher education while working closely with values-aligned design teams worldwide.

From 2019 - 2021, she completed coursework in UIUC’s Design for Responsible Innovation MFA program. Before taking a break in January 2022 to join the U.S. Digital Service team under the White House, her thesis was centered on Trauma Responsive Design: Addressing the Hidden Gaps in Design Research Methodologies and Practice. (More about this work can be found here.) As a social worker-designer, Rachael engages in ongoing self-study and continuing education to maintain licensure and keep growing in her practice.

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Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Rachael was an activist for environmental justice issues, an organizer in state and national campaigns to abolish the death penalty, and a frequent performing musician in the Midwest independent music scene.

She has served as an AmeriCorps member with the American Red Cross, an NGO delegate to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and Human Rights Council, a Mayor-appointed member of the City of Urbana Human Relations Commission, and a Governor-appointed member of Serve Illinois.

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// care to connect.

You can find Rachael on LinkedIn or email her at rachael (dot) dietkus (at) gmail (dot) com.

(Psst… don’t forget the second “a” in Rachael.)