We are designers, archivists, and historians working to create lasting social change.
Shift Collective
We strive to create measurable and lasting social change by developing inclusive cultural memory experiences that give voice to unheard narratives and perspectives. We help communities tell and amplify their own stories, so that incomplete dominant narratives do not persist. We are focused on inclusive narrative and historical representation in order to support social, cultural and resource equity.
MISSION
We support and design community-driven initiatives to boost social, cultural and resource equity.
VALUES
We are committed to core values of equity, compassion and transparency.
A bit of history: Shift Design, Inc was founded in 2011 and has collaborated closely with Shift , sharing research and methodology. Shift Collective was launched in 2020 with a refocused mission and governance structure, and still legally operates as Shift Design, Inc, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and Louisiana corporation, FEIN: 30-0718529
Founding Members
Bergis Jules
Bergis Jules is an archivist and public historian. He is interested in developing solutions that can grow capacity and achieve long term sustainability in community-based cultural heritage organizations that focus on documenting the lives of marginalized people. He is also passionate about incorporating ethics into how we collect and preserve digital content from the web and social media about people that are most vulnerable to harm in those spaces. He is a co-founder and project director for Documenting the Now, which seeks to develop digital tools and best practices that support the ethical collection, preservation, and use of web and social media content. He received a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science with a Specialization in Archives and Records Management and a Master’s degree in African American and African Diaspora Studies from Indiana University. Bergis uses he/him pronouns.
Project lead: DocNow, Architecting Sustainable Futures
Jon Voss
Jon Voss has implemented social justice strategies across sectors as diverse as finance, music, technology and culture. He helped build the Historypin network to over 4,000 cultural memory organizations, co-founded the Linked Open Data in Libraries, Archives and Museums Summit in 2011 and the Cultural Heritage and Social Change Summit in 2016, and has helped design and build community-centered engagement programs around the world. Jon led the Historypin project in the US for Shift since 2011, and founded the US non-profit that would become the Shift Collective. Prior to that his career spanned economic activism, impact investing, and technology consulting. Jon uses he/him pronouns.
Project lead: Historypin, Comparte Tu Rollo, CHSC Summit
Lynette Johnson
Lynette Johnson is a cultural historian working with cultural heritage institutions to create programs and tools to help them better connect with their communities, mostly around shared local history. Prior to joining Shift Design, Inc in 2017, she held positions as a journalist, art director, and digital media strategist at The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, The Journal News in New York, and The Los Angeles Times, overseeing various newsroom, corporate, and community engagement projects. She has a BA in Communications from the University of New Orleans, and is a Master of Preservation Studies candidate at Tulane University’s School of Architecture. In 2019, Lynette was named a National Trust Diversity Scholar by the National Trust for Historic Places.
Project lead: NHPRC Research, Storybox, A. P. Tureaud Historic District
Consulting Partners
Paulette Brown-Hinds, PhD
As a media and strategic communication professional, Dr. Paulette Brown-Hinds has over 30 years working in community media, and has served as an advocate for California’s ethnic and local media, as well as a strategist utilizing Black media as a tool for targeted outreach.
Michelle Magalong
Michelle G. Magalong, PhD is a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow at the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at University of Maryland. Dr. Magalong serves as President of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation (APIAHiP), a national volunteer-run, nonprofit organization. Her research and professional experience focus on community engagement, historic preservation, and social justice.
Erin Glasco
Erin Glasco is an independent archivist and researcher. Erin’s interests include exploring how to meaningfully integrate radical empathy, rest, and anti-capitalism into their archival practice, and supporting the documentation of Black, queer, feminist informed grassroots movement work. Erin uses they/them/theirs pronouns.
Harmony Labs
Harmony Labs is a 501c(3) non-profit on a mission to create a world where media systems support democratic culture and healthy, happy people. They’ve been doing audience, narrative, and story analysis for more than a decade, helping storytellers channel the immense power of audience, story, and narrative to shape the future. With the Narrative Observatory, for the first time ever, Harmony Labs is harnessing powerful industry relationships and an academic research network to develop data infrastructure purpose-built to identify and track narratives and story opportunities and threats, and to learn about audiences across platforms.
Tayo Medupin
Tayo Medupin is a researcher, facilitator, design strategist and design justice advocate. Previously Innovation Director of Shift UK, Tayo (she/her) operates under the name Hello Brave as a reminder of the important work of brave design, leadership and action needed to transform civil society for bold, abundant futures for those currently least served by the sector. Focused on early years and mental health, Tayo brings with her 12 years of experience putting humanity at the heart of business, health and social equity issues. She has worked with some of the worlds largest brands including Wellcome Trust, Alphabet X, Impact for Urban Health and NSPCC.
The Board
Monique Davis (President & Chairperson)
Monique currently works as the Managing Director for the Center for Art and Public Exchange. (CAPE) is a Kellogg funded initiative that uses artwork, exhibitions and programming as a vehicle to have conversations about race and equity. Monique is a CPA, and a graduate of Howard University.
Nick Stanhope
Nick is founder and CEO of Shift. Together with his team, he has shaped an innovative organization that brings together rigorous research, ambitious creativity and commercial expertise to design solutions to challenging social problems. Nick has grown the company from a tiny start-up to an international team, been actively involved in the strategic direction of all Shift's work and established many of the partnerships that have allowed their products, services and initiatives to reach scale and sustainability.
Chris Panos (Secretary & Treasurer)
Chris Panos is a long time social entrepreneur deeply interested in building communities that are mission driven, vital, and beyond the ken of existing, strictly political or economic organizational structures. He is Principal of Irinda Capital as well as being Board Chair for Zen Peacemakers International, Board President, Zen Hospice Project and an advisor for Wild Hair Media.
David Lubensky
David Lubensky is Principal at Bagatto, Inc where he leads strategic research and design efforts, facilitates executive workshops and brainstorms, publishes sustainability and international health research insights, mentors external research and design teams, and patents novel technologies with his collaborators. His contributions have led to the acquisition of three startups with valuations at over $300M.
Heather Bornfeld
Heather Bornfeld, a Clinical Psychologist who has practiced in San Francisco for the past 20 years, is continually humbled by the power of personal storytelling, both for the individual and within relationships. She provides psychotherapy to adolescents, adults, and older adults, with a specialty in working with persons in late-life.
Abigail Phillips
Abigail Phillips is Associate General Counsel at DuckDuckGo. She brings invaluable experience in Internet law, digital copyright and content issues, open licensing, privacy and regulatory concerns, transactional and corporate matters, and general business legal counseling.