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Past Program

Community Design Sprint

A 3 week immersive, online program with a curated cohort passionate about designing and growing communities for lasting impact.
SPRINT PARTNER
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How can we grow sustainable communities where skills, passions, and incentives are aligned to become an unstoppable force for change

Community Design Sprint

We choose to tackle complex challenges through a community mindset. Our priority is to better understand the connections and catalyze interactions in order to prepare the ground for creating positive impact.

Statistics

65
Participants
21
Countries
14
Project Pitches
11
Live Sessions
20
Hours
7
Alumni Events
Community

Who joined the Cohort Alpha

Cohort Alpha is a community of like-minded individuals with diverse backgrounds who are passionate about community design.

Meet our Neolians

Cohort Alpha was the first step of building a community that aims for creating a positive impact through Neol’s mission to learn, connect and create together.
Umay Ozturk
Community Specialist
I’d like to make an impact through my writing, design and management abilities.
Goksu Kacaroglu
Service Designer
I'd like to discuss what to do more in life and the blocks that are keeping me from realizing them.
Zeynep Aykul Yavuz
Senior Learning Designer
I’d like to write about web3-powered learning communities/cohorts as an autoethnography.
Tania Santos
Director, CRU Creative Hub
I’d like to build new knowledge in community building & management in a digital era.

Who are Neolians

We call our community members Neolians.
Here is how our top contributors defined what it means to be a Neolian in our Listening Circles:
Connected Problem-Solvers
“As a Neolian, I don’t feel alone in this world with the knowledge that there'll be a Neolian community wherever I go. If there is a problem to be solved, I can trust the Neolian community to solve it.”
Multidisciplinary
“I feel like in a couple of years it will be a THING to be a Neolian, people will say “Oh Neolians are those who believe in community-led learning and help change the education scene, empowering learners by being makers rather than only delivering/receiving content. Neolians are multidisciplinary humans! And web3 on top of it!”
Impact-Minded
“People with good intentions & hunger for knowledge. Neolians are in a quest to discover possible ways for collaboration and bring positive social and environmental change.”

How did being a Neolian affect their lives

We care about improving our community experience through active listening.
To do this, we mapped out where we shine as Team Neol, and where we can improve our community experience through organizing Listening Circles with our top contributors.
Moving Forward Together
“I got even more curious to know about community concept and why we need now more than ever to get support and move as individuals, groups, and nations.”
Re-thinking Roles
“It inspired me to rethink my role as a person in my family, workplace, and in the communities I belong. It also motivated me to consider starting a community for youth in my country.”
Empowerment
“I’m collaborating with some entrepreneurs in my country on empowerment projects in freelance work and education for youth; and we are integrating community-thinking into our business model.”

Journey of a Top Contributor

We value actively listening our Neolians and shape our future programs through looking at the past experiences we provide to our community.
I've tested over 15 online learning platforms, Neol has been the BEST so far. Neolism is all over me: the small details, hats, music, echo, daily photo and nuggets of inspiration. One day I might be learning again or hosting a learning experience with Neol. This learning community is so unique because it's so human. I hope to bring my joy and weirdness to share with hungry learners from around the globe.
Hiba HajjOmar
Humanity-Centered Designer
Week 01
I expected meet amazing people and I did! Canvases are super helpful and flow-y, that it feels like developing a story! human-centered design magic ✨ You are bringing the best support* ever, more than what I had during a physical class at university.
Week 02
I like how the framework is bringing ideas to reality as we move into different community elements. I started to connect with more Neolians outside the course and learning how our interests might bring new concepts to life. 🍀
Week 03
This fireside chat was really intense and future-oriented. I pushed the limits of my thinking on the virtual future. If possible, I would’ve stayed more and asked tons of questions, the topic is really wide and fluid 🥹

We asked,  Neolians rated*

We take pride in the Team Neol support we provide to our Neolians before, during and after the cohort. Here is how Neolians rated Team Neol support and if they’d recommend our cohorts:
9.7
Team Neol Support
9.3
Recommend to a Friend
Badges

Cohort Alpha POAPs

The owner of these POAPs are the first Neolians and has completed Cohort Alpha on Community Design.
Only a handful of people will own this POAP which signifies the owner has completed the cohort.
Completion of the cohort:
with Contributor Merit
for Neolians who are exceptional ideators
Community Gardener Badge
Completion of the cohort:
and/or Prototyper Merit
for Neolians who are exceptional builders

Meet your guides

Atilim Sahin
Cohort host
Head of Community Systems
Neol

Atılım is enthusiastic about weaving meaningful connections between individuals and organizations, especially within the fields of creativity, design, and technology.

He helped grow creative communities within organizations like ATÖLYE, European Creative Hubs Network, Kyu, and Nesta and consulted numerous entities to cultivate their own collaborative communities.
Aslı Sevinç
Cohort host
Head of Design
Neol

Aslı is passionate about building human-centered products and experiences at the intersection of community, education, and technology.

Community has always been at the heart of her work; such as the EdTech startup she co-founded, the digital platform she built for an education non-profit, in her past design projects at ATÖLYE and at the university where she currently teaches.

Guest Speakers

Luisa Covaria
Guest Speaker
Head of Partnerships, Neol
Mert Çetinkaya
Guest Speaker
Director, ATÖLYE Academy
Leen Sadder
Guest Speaker
Head of Community
ATÖLYE
Richard Bartlett
Guest Speaker
Co-Founder, The Humm Director, Enspiral
Fabian Pforrmüller
Guest Speaker
Community Builder
Together Institute
Victoria Stoyanova
Guest Speaker
Founder
Institute of Belonging

Shuya Gong
Guest Speaker
Design Director, Systems Change
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