Durell Coleman

Durell Coleman is an American entrepreneur, and educator. He is the founder and CEO of DC Design, a firm that utilizes Human-Centered Design to co-develop validated, long-lasting solutions to complex social problems. Throughout his career, Coleman has worked with governments, foundations, non-profit organizations, companies, and communities to shift entrenched systems towards paradigms that function better for everyone.

Career

Coleman's work has involved redesigning various aspects of social systems, including the foster care system, criminal justice reform, healthcare service models, community-connecting apps, and educational models for the 21st century. With a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Science in Sustainable Design, Coleman is a two-time alumnus of Stanford University, where he attended the Institute of Design, famously known as the Stanford d.school.

As an educator, Coleman regularly teaches social impact design, innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership at Stanford University. He has taught design thinking to a range of audiences, including refugees designing solutions to challenges in refugee camps, school leaders seeking to redesign the culture of their school, students seeking to create a more inclusive campus, and corporate executives from renowned companies such as Sony, Oracle, and Santander.

Coleman is the creator and director of Design the Future, an award-winning STEM program run in collaboration with top universities. The program teaches high school students how to design products for individuals with physical disabilities. His original research serves as the basis for EndBlackInequality.com.

Coleman is an expert in multi-stakeholder, human-centred design and has been awarded the Jefferson Award for Public Service as a result of his work. He is also one of the subjects of the PBS documentary, "Extreme by Design," which is used as a design thinking teaching aid all over the world.