Responsible Design for Change
Fellowship
This one-of-a-kind program is for anyone eager to learn and apply responsible design practices while making a real-world impact. Unlike any other, this Fellowship combines practical training with the opportunity to contribute to meaningful social change from day one. Participants grow as designers and leaders through hands-on opportunities, expert-led learning, and a supportive community of like-minded individuals and thought leaders.
Ideal for
Designers at any level
Career changers into UX
Emerging leaders
Non-designer with lived experienced, also welcome
Topics
Ethics in AI
Trauma-Informed Practices
Research Decolonisation
Regenerative Leadership
Why one-of-a-kind?
This isn’t just another training program, it’s the result of over a decade of global experience connecting the UX community with the purpose-driven sector. What sets this Fellowship apart isn’t just what you’ll learn or unlearn, but the meaningful social impact you can create in just three months.
The Responsible Design for Change Fellowship brings together four essential elements: a meaningful cause, personalised training in responsible design, a global network connecting like-minded peers, and you. Because it’s not just about what you learn, it’s about how, why, and with whom.
By the end, you won’t just earn a certificate — you’ll leave with a renewed sense of purpose, lasting connections, and real experience designing in ways that bring hope, dignity, and wellbeing to people while caring for the planet. It’s a shift in mindset as much as in skillset — and it stays with you.
Meaningful Cause
Domestic abuse continues to be one of the most widespread human rights abuses and public health problems in the world. In the UK:
– Over 1 in 4 women are estimated to be victims of sexual assault in their lifetime.
– More than 1 in 12 women are victims of DA each year.
– The economic and social cost of domestic abuse could be as high as £85 billion.
Lesley Sackey, a former gold-medal boxer, started runing a 12-week boxing programme to help women rebuild confidence and reclaim their lives after domestic abuse. Her vision is to bring that same level of support digitally so women around the world move from surviving to thriving.
To learn more about Lesley story watch the one minute video below:
Connection
Sandra Gonzalez, created the Fellowship based on the same principles that have guided her work for over a decade: connecting the UX community with purpose-driven organisations, and ensuring a fair value exchange between learning and meaningful impact.
Responsible Design
Cecilia Scolaro, designer and educator, leads the Foundations of Responsible Design training of the fellowship. Her training challenges extractive, modernist design models and invites us to unlearn them through systems thinking, decolonisation, regeneration, and plurality. Her aim is to reshape how we design for people, non-humans, and the planet with greater care, equity, and intention.
You
The final ingredient and the most important is you. Your curiosity, your values, and your commitment to grow by doing. This isn’t a passive course. It’s a call to action. If you’re ready to stretch yourself, contribute meaningfully, and develop as both a designer and a human, this is your opportunity.
which Track is best for You?
The Fellowship offers two tracks — Individual Contributor and Regenerative Team Leader — and the right one for you depends on your experience and aspirations.
* prices do not include VAT
Individual Contributor
only 9 spaces available- The Individual Contributor track is ideal if you’re a junior or transitioning into UX design or research, a seasoned professional who prefers to focus on craft over management, or someone with lived experience looking to apply responsible design in a hands-on, supportive environment.
- You’ll join a diverse team of up to four people, each bringing unique strengths and learning goals — creating a space for growth, collaboration, and impact.
Regenerative Team Leader
only 3 spaces available- If you’re an experienced UX designer curious about leading people, the Regenerative Team Leader track offers a powerful introduction to compassionate, holistic, and regenerative leadership.
- You’ll guide a small team of individual contributors, with support from the fellowship team, while developing real-world leadership skills rooted in empathy and inclusion.
We offer crowdfunding support
UX for Change helps make the Fellowship more accessible by supporting your fees through creative crowdfunding.
Here’s how it works:
If you’re interested, you simply agree to a six months payment plan, and then start spreading the word to your loved ones and professional network. Every time someone contributes to your campaign, your next monthly instalment is reduced.
It’s a supportive, community-powered way to invest in your growth while making a difference.
Watch this short video to learn how the crowdfunding works!
It explains everything you need to know about how it reduces the Fellowship fees and how the monthly payment plan is set up.
If anything isn’t clear or you have questions, feel free to leave a comment on the video, and we will clarify.
The Fellowship Team
The Fellowship is led by three trailblazing women—each with a track record of incredible accomplishments. Together, they bring their expertise to inspire, coach, and support you every step of the way. Their guidance will challenge you to grow, think boldly, and design with purpose.
Sandra is the creator and driving force behind the Fellowship. She ensures you get the most out of the experience by providing everything needed to make it run smoothly—from UX operations and team retrospectives to mentoring team leads in generative leadership. She’s the connector, the guide, and the person who makes the entire journey possible.
Cecilia is the Responsible Design Coach for the Fellowship. She guides fellows through a powerful process of unlearning and relearning, creating space to explore complex and often uncomfortable topics—such as marginalization, climate collapse, and systems of exploitation.
Her role is to help fellows navigate these challenges with curiosity, compassion, and courage. While the journey can be intense, it is also deeply rewarding. Cecilia encourages participants to stay open, embrace discomfort as a catalyst for growth, and care for their mental well-being throughout the process.
Lesley is the visionary behind the unique opportunity the Fellowship offers to create real social impact. As the founder of Pillow, a purpose-driven start-up with bold ambitions, she has generously opened the doors of her community to the UX for Change fellows.
Through her leadership—and alongside the inspiring founding members of Pillow—Lesley has created a space where women learning to thrive after adversity can share their stories, experiences, and insights. This collaboration allows fellows to apply responsible design practices in a meaningful, real-world context, while learning directly from a community shaped by resilience, empathy, and strength.
Her commitment to impact, responsible innovation, and inclusion makes Lesley not only a partner in the Fellowship but a powerful role model for what community-centered design can truly achieve.
structure & Time commitment
The Fellowship is structured in two key phases:
Phase 1: Responsible Design Training (5 Weeks)
You’ll begin with 5 weeks of self-paced, on-demand learning modules focused on responsible design.
Each week concludes with a 1.5-hour coaching session with Cecilia, your Responsible Design Coach, to help solidify your understanding.
You’ll be expected to reflect on the learning module content, engage with additional readings, and come prepared to make the most of each coaching session.
During this phase, both Individual Contributors and Regenerative Team Leaders will follow a similar learning path.
Phase 2: Practical Application for Social Impact (8 Weeks)
In the next 8 weeks, you’ll apply everything you’ve learned by working through a regenerative design process.
Your focus will be on creating meaningful solutions for Pillow, a purpose-driven start-up founded by Lesley, working directly with and for a community of women survivors.
This phase is your opportunity to bring your skills into action, co-designing for real-world impact with guidance, collaboration, and support.
During this phase, the Regenerative Team Leaders will lead a team of up to four Individual Contributors with the support of the fellowship team.
Next Cohort applications are now open
Start Date: Sep 8, 2025
End & Celebration Date: Dec 5, 2025
Time commitment
The fellowship required a 4 hours per week commitment for 13 week. The time will be distributed between:
🌱 Responsible Design Learning
🪶 Regenerative Design Process
📱 Impact-Driven Start-up Challenge
Flexible, Online, and Built for Real Life
The Fellowship is fully online, combining both synchronous and asynchronous activities to offer maximum flexibility. All core activities—including coaching sessions, team meetings, and training—take place virtually, with optional in-person meetups for those who wish to connect face-to-face. Teams typically meet once or twice a week, while the rest of the work can be done on your own schedule, making it ideal for balancing with other commitments.
Online Dashboard
All coaching sessions will be recorded, so you can revisit them anytime. Each team will also have a dedicated Trello board to stay organized and up to date with tasks, resources, and key activities throughout the Fellowship.
Regenerative Team Leader
Regenerative Team Leaders are expected to dedicate approximately 52 hours over the 13-week Fellowship, with time thoughtfully distributed to support both personal growth and team leadership:
🌱 19 hours on responsible design training (coaching, lessons and exercises)
🪶 28 hours on regenerative leadership development (main focus for this track)
📱 5 hours exploring the social impact potential for Pillow
As a Team Leader, you’ll guide a small group of Individual Contributors through their journey, with ongoing mentorship from Sandra, who will support you in keeping your team focused, motivated, and well-balanced.
This is a rare opportunity to begin learning the fundamentals of people leadership in a deeply supportive, real-world environment—unlike anything else currently offered UX leadership training.
- 🌱 Responsible Design Training – 37% of time
- 🪶 Regenerative Leadership – 53% of Fellowship time
- 📱 Aligning for Impact – 10% of Fellowship time
£ 825 plus VAT
🌱 Hours of Responsible Design Coaching
🌱 Responsible Design Lessons
🪶 Hours of Leadership Mentoring
📱 Hours of social impact Inspiration
Individual Contributor
Individual Contributors are expected to dedicate approximately 52 hours over the 13-week Fellowship, with time structured to support both learning and meaningful hands-on experience:
🌱 19 hours focused on responsible design training (coaching, lessons and exercises)
🪶 8 hours learning how to apply a regenerative UX process, guided by a Regenerative Team Leader
📱 25 hours applying your skills to create real social impact through the inspiring work of Pillow (main focus for this track)
You’ll collaborate within a small, diverse team of peers, supported by a dedicated Regenerative Team Leader who will assign weekly tasks to help keep the team focused, energised, and healthy.
This is an incredible opportunity to explore the fundamentals of responsible design in a fun, creative, and supportive environment—unlike anything else currently offered in the UX community.
- 🌱 Responsible Design – 37% of time
- 🪶 Aligning to Regenerative Design Process – 15% of Fellowship time
- 📱 Applying learnings for impact – 47% of Fellowship time
£ 350 plus VAT
🌱 Hours of Responsible Design Coaching
🌱 Responsible Design Lessons
🪶 Sessions to share and build confidence
📱Hours of Social Impact Inspiration
Testimonials
FAQ
Let us know if you have any questions
Where can I ask questions Not cover in this FAQ?
You can send any questions not cover on this FAQ via our LinkedIn page:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/ux-for-change/
We will respond within a week.
How many sessions is the fellowship (in person or remote) and how much time should they expect to allocate?
The Fellowship is primarily remote, offering the flexibility to participate from anywhere. While we do host an optional in-person celebration at the end of the cohort, all core activities take place online.
Participants should plan to dedicate around 4 hours per week, which includes independent work and one to two live video session most weeks for coaching or mentoring. This structure allows you to make steady progress while balancing other personal and professional commitments.
is the fellowship open to all genders?
Yes, all genders are welcome to apply to the Fellowship