The Sasaki Foundation announced today the winning teams for its 2023 Sasaki Foundation Design Grants. The Design Grants are an annual competition to showcase projects that support and drive interdisciplinary innovation and empower our local communities.
The Sasaki Foundation announced today the finalists for its fifth annual Sasaki Foundation Design Grants program. These eight teams will pitch to a panel of judges on Thursday, June 1, 5:30-7:30 p.m. at 110 Chauncy, the Sasaki Foundation’s new home in downtown Boston. The Design Grants are an annual competition to showcase projects that support and drive interdisciplinary innovation and empower our local communities.
Today, the Sasaki Foundation announces our 2023 Design Grants call for proposals. The Design Grants are an annual program seeking interdisciplinary, creative approaches to test new design concepts in communities in Greater Boston, the Gateway Cities, and Metro West. Since 2018, the Sasaki Foundation has received 72 applications representing more than 85 communities, and has awarded $218,500 through the program. Read more about our most recent grant winners here.
We recently connected with Emily Reckard-Mota and Juliana Soltys from 2022 Sasaki Foundation Design Grants project Groundwork Somerville’s New Urban Farm. Groundwork Somerville is designing their new farm, office, and marketspace to provide a unique gathering space for the community to engage with the local food system, grow culturally relevant crops, and empower youth to become environmental leaders.
We recently connected with Lydia Lowe and Jen Stevenson Zepeda from 2022 Sasaki Foundation Design Grants project Chinatown Energy Literacy Campaign. As part of a larger community-owned energy microgrid project, Climable, Chinatown CLT, and Chinatown Power, Inc. are creating a multi-lingual clean energy literacy campaign for Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood and an interactive webpage where visitors can access useful information about understanding their bills and utility options, or how to access alternative energy and efficiency options.
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[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label="Header big text" module_class="slide-white slide-massive-2 " _builder_version="4.27.7" custom_css_main_element="font-size:6vw;||line-height:6.2vw;" global_colors_info="{}"]REPORT: 2025 Hideo Sasaki Foundation Annual Report
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[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label="Post Title" _builder_version="4.27.7" text_font="|700|||||||" text_font_size="40px" text_line_height="48px" custom_margin="||50px|" hover_enabled="0" global_colors_info="{}" sticky_enabled="0"]REPORT: 2025 Hideo Sasaki Foundation Annual Report
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label="Author" module_class="post-date" _builder_version="4.27.7" text_font="|600|||||||" text_text_color="#d59999" text_font_size="20px" text_letter_spacing="2px" text_line_height="24px" custom_margin="||20px|" text_font_size_last_edited="off|" global_colors_info="{}"]Mary Anne Ocampo
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class="body-text" _builder_version="4.27.7" global_colors_info="{}"]In 2025, the Hideo Sasaki Foundation celebrated 25 years of advancing equity in design. We continue to create local impact through active community-based research, public programming, and design education, serving the communities of Boston and beyond. Thank you for joining us on our mission.
Investing in research, our sixth cohort of Design Grants wrapped up their projects in June 2025. The teams positively impacted the communities of Mission Hill and Roxbury, Dorchester, and Chinatown. And our seventh cohort, which will complete their projects in June 2026, is already doing incredible work. We also continued our partnership with the Cambridge Public Health Department on the Health Promotion Mini Grants. In 2025 the program funded 14 community organizations working towards a healthier Cambridge.
Our 2025 public programming sparked conversation around mobility equity and explored the past, present, and future of collaborative design. We also celebrated the power of women in the design industry. These programs brought more than 1,150 people together from Greater Boston and, thanks to virtual platforms, around the country.
Our design education efforts created space for young people to explore careers in design. Our Summer Exploratory Experience in Design (SEED) hired 45 high school interns and 10 college teaching assistants to advance design projects for local nonprofits. Our Designing Environmental and Social Impact (DESI) after-school program hired 10 high school interns and 3 college teaching assistants to use design to improve their own communities. We are grateful for the meaningful experiences, volunteer design professionals, and support we receive from state and local funders.
Wrapping up this milestone year for the foundation, we press on to set ambitious goals and generate a meaningful agenda of research, programs, and partnerships that grow our impact in communities throughout Greater Boston. In these uncertain times, we still envision a future where the power of community-based planning and design is fully realized for the benefit of the public good. We hope you will join us as we continue this important work.
Read more in our 2025 Annual Report, and subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date in 2026.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type="1_8" _builder_version="4.16" custom_padding="|||" global_colors_info="{}" custom_padding__hover="|||"][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure="1_8,3_4,1_8" _builder_version="4.16" use_background_color_gradient="on" background_image="http://www.sasakifoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/previous-post.png" custom_padding="100px||100px|" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_column type="1_8" _builder_version="4.16" custom_padding="|||" global_colors_info="{}" custom_padding__hover="|||"][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type="3_4" _builder_version="4.16" custom_padding="|||" global_colors_info="{}" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_text admin_label="PREVIOUS POST" _builder_version="4.16" text_font="|600|||||||" text_font_size="20px" text_letter_spacing="2px" text_line_height="24px" global_colors_info="{}"]PREVIOUS POST[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label="Previous Post Link" _builder_version="4.27.7" text_font="|700|||||||" text_font_size="40px" text_line_height="48px" custom_margin="50px|||" global_colors_info="{}"]Hideo Sasaki Foundation welcomes Stacey Beuttell as Executive Director
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[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label="Post Title" _builder_version="4.27.7" text_font="|700|||||||" text_font_size="40px" text_line_height="48px" custom_margin="||50px|" hover_enabled="0" global_colors_info="{}" sticky_enabled="0"]REPORT: 2025 Hideo Sasaki Foundation Annual Report
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label="Author" module_class="post-date" _builder_version="4.27.7" text_font="|600|||||||" text_text_color="#d59999" text_font_size="20px" text_letter_spacing="2px" text_line_height="24px" custom_margin="||20px|" text_font_size_last_edited="off|" global_colors_info="{}"]Mary Anne Ocampo
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class="body-text" _builder_version="4.27.7" global_colors_info="{}"]In 2025, the Hideo Sasaki Foundation celebrated 25 years of advancing equity in design. We continue to create local impact through active community-based research, public programming, and design education, serving the communities of Boston and beyond. Thank you for joining us on our mission.
Investing in research, our sixth cohort of Design Grants wrapped up their projects in June 2025. The teams positively impacted the communities of Mission Hill and Roxbury, Dorchester, and Chinatown. And our seventh cohort, which will complete their projects in June 2026, is already doing incredible work. We also continued our partnership with the Cambridge Public Health Department on the Health Promotion Mini Grants. In 2025 the program funded 14 community organizations working towards a healthier Cambridge.
Our 2025 public programming sparked conversation around mobility equity and explored the past, present, and future of collaborative design. We also celebrated the power of women in the design industry. These programs brought more than 1,150 people together from Greater Boston and, thanks to virtual platforms, around the country.
Our design education efforts created space for young people to explore careers in design. Our Summer Exploratory Experience in Design (SEED) hired 45 high school interns and 10 college teaching assistants to advance design projects for local nonprofits. Our Designing Environmental and Social Impact (DESI) after-school program hired 10 high school interns and 3 college teaching assistants to use design to improve their own communities. We are grateful for the meaningful experiences, volunteer design professionals, and support we receive from state and local funders.
Wrapping up this milestone year for the foundation, we press on to set ambitious goals and generate a meaningful agenda of research, programs, and partnerships that grow our impact in communities throughout Greater Boston. In these uncertain times, we still envision a future where the power of community-based planning and design is fully realized for the benefit of the public good. We hope you will join us as we continue this important work.
Read more in our 2025 Annual Report, and subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date in 2026.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type="1_8" _builder_version="4.16" custom_padding="|||" global_colors_info="{}" custom_padding__hover="|||"][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure="1_8,3_4,1_8" _builder_version="4.16" use_background_color_gradient="on" background_image="http://www.sasakifoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/previous-post.png" custom_padding="100px||100px|" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_column type="1_8" _builder_version="4.16" custom_padding="|||" global_colors_info="{}" custom_padding__hover="|||"][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type="3_4" _builder_version="4.16" custom_padding="|||" global_colors_info="{}" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_text admin_label="PREVIOUS POST" _builder_version="4.16" text_font="|600|||||||" text_font_size="20px" text_letter_spacing="2px" text_line_height="24px" global_colors_info="{}"]PREVIOUS POST[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label="Previous Post Link" _builder_version="4.27.7" text_font="|700|||||||" text_font_size="40px" text_line_height="48px" custom_margin="50px|||" global_colors_info="{}"]Hideo Sasaki Foundation welcomes Stacey Beuttell as Executive Director
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