An Open Letter to Those Driven by Purpose

Image © Gensler

Not-For-Profit employees are the most purpose-driven workers out there. For this crowd, waking up every day is about the work. They’re also among the top performers across all industries because they’re driven, resourceful, passionate and smart. We believe that whether you are packing boxes full of soup cans, writing grant proposals, or creating Public Service Announcements, the space where you do it should reinforce the mission that brought you there in the first place.

As a mission-driven company, that sense of passion and purpose strongly resonates with us. We believe in leveraging the power of design to create a better world.

Our Not-For-Profit practice is made up of designers, project managers and strategists working across disciplines with 501c organizations of all kinds. We set out to create a manifesto stating our team’s core beliefs to speak directly to all the professionals, board members and volunteers who inspire us.

Not all design moves need to be grandiose. Because we believe in the power of collective impact, we know that each step we take toward creating a better world is worth taking. This drives our small teams to seek out those special places where we can add value, drive change and create magic however we can. Whether that means helping you run meetings more effectively, advising on a fundraising campaign, engaging employees and board members through a change, designing your workplace experience or recognizing your donors on a wall, our designers want to help you do good—better.

Image © Gensler

Amanda Ramos is a firmwide leader for Gensler’s Not-for-Profit Practice Area and holds a degree in architecture and building science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Through nearly 20 years of experience, she has developed innovation initiatives, organizational programs, campus master plans, workplace prototypes and change communications across virtually every industry sector, from not-for-profit institutions to Fortune 500 companies, including Ad Council, Johnson & Johnson, Acumen, Ericsson, LatinoJustice, GSK, Foundation Center, Nokia, Ford Foundation, Nonprofit Finance Fund and the Robin Hood Foundation. Contact her at amanda_ramos@gensler.com.

David Weinberg is a studio director in Gensler’s New York office and serves as the leader for the Not-for-Profit practice area in the Northeast. His entrepreneurial approach allows him to bring a high level of strategic business planning to support client objectives. As a registered architect, he is involved in all facets of a project from inception to completion. In addition, David also provides project and client services throughout North America and globally, and is a member of the board of directors of CaringKind, formerly the Alzheimers Association NYC Chapter. Contact him at David_Weinberg@gensler.com.