hope akello

experience design / systems thinking / facilitation

Designing for collaboration, learning and community

My facilitation practice brings together service design, systems thinking, and inclusive pedagogy. I design workshops and collaborative processes that help teams and individuals surface needs, align around shared goals, and translate ideas into action. This work spans community events, public galleries, post-secondary classrooms, and K–12 programming, all connected by a commitment to human-centered, participatory, and accessible design.

Vancouver Design Nerds 2018 – ongoing

Community Co-design Jams

Participants collaborating during a Vancouver Design Nerds jam

Vancouver Design Nerds is a community of practice for local designers. I've designed and facilitated several public jams, structured participatory events that bring 15–30 people together to think, make, and speculate. Each jam is its own design problem: what structure suits this audience? How do you create emotional safety for strangers to collaborate? When do you use a prompt and when do you let the room lead?

Events designed & facilitated:

Co-design Workshop facilitation Speculative design Community engagement
Various post-secondary institutions 2019 – present

Post-Secondary Education

Students working in an Emily Carr design studio

I've taught across the interaction design curriculum at several universities including Emily Carr University, Trinity Western University and Capilano University. My courses centre on intersectionality; students learn to research, prototype, test, and iterate, based on real human needs. I also supervised an 8-month interdisciplinary co-op in which a team designed and built an interactive career platform from the ground up.

Courses taught

UX research Prototyping Emerging technology HCI Studio pedagogy Mentorship
New Media Gallery 2021 – present

Creative Technology Workshops

Workshop participants at the New Media Gallery Art + Technology Lab

The Art + Technology Lab at NMG invites visitors to engage with technology as a creative and critical tool. I design and facilitate workshops for diverse public audiences; kids experimenting with 3D printing to adults exploring microcontrollers.

Workshops designed & facilitated

Public programming Curriculum design Emerging technology Prototyping Community engagement
Science World 2018 – 2019

K–12 Digital Literacy Curriculum

Workshop participants at a design-thinking professional development workshop

Tech-Up is Science World's province-wide initiative to help educators bring coding and digital thinking into their classrooms. I developed curriculum and hands-on learning resources for K–12 teachers across BC, translating computational concepts into creative and accessible experiences using Micro:bit, Scratch, and HTML/CSS/JS. In addition to developing curriculum, I also delivered professional development workshops and provided remote implementation support to schools across the province.

Curriculum design K–12 Digital literacy Educator PD
Crofton House School 2017 – 2018

Design Thinking Facilitation

Students working in the Crofton House School makerspace

Crofton House School is an independent university-prep school. As Design-Thinking Facilitator and Makerspace Technician, I collaborated with K–12 educators to integrate design thinking into the newly introduced ADST curriculum. Working across subject areas, I helped adapt assignments into hands-on, project-based learning experiences while supporting teachers in using the makerspace and digital fabrication tools to foster creativity, experimentation, and problem solving.

Design-thinking Workshop facilitation Educator PD