Blair Corcoran de Castillo

About Blair Corcoran de Castillo

As a strategist and designer, I believe in community-building and co-design because I have seen meaningful change happen when we build understanding, connections, and solutions together. For over a decade and a half, I have used participatory methods and human-centered design to inform strategy, policy, and program design at public sector and mission-oriented organizations.The complexities of today\'s challenges require a variety of skillsets, world views, and ideas. It requires a society in which we are all encouraged and empowered to bring our skills and potential into service. Throughout my career, I have designed and delivered learning and capacity building experiences that allow employees and civil servants to explore their own talents, build complimentary ones, and share their expertise with others. As an instructor and facilitator, I am constantly learning and growing alongside participants.Here’s some of my work that I’m most proud of:• Leading a project that showed human-centered design’s promise as an alternative to traditional technical assistance with grantees of three federal human services discretionary grant programs • Scaling a design thinking training program to over employees whose trainings received an average 75+ NPS and a 92% likelihood of participants to apply design thinking in their work (with an amazing team!)• Co-creating two instructor engagement models with healthcare instructors that proved effective in empowering trainers to devise innovative strategies to improve student persistence in the classroom• Co-designing and delivering an experimental, week-long “Design School” for federal employees whose success resulted in delivery multiple times per year (5 times in the first year) and in 3 federal hubs outside of Washington, DC• Convening and co-moderating a series of peer-to-peer exchanges by heads of state on strategies for recovery after the global economic crisis

Experience

1. Vice President, Stars Policy

   Opportunity@Work

   Jan 2024 — Present

Education

• George Mason University

  Masters

• Cornell University

  B.A

• Parsons School of Design - The New School

  Masters, Strategic Design and Management

Skills

• International Relations
• Design Thinking
• Grants
• Policy Analysis
• Human Centered Design
• Governance
• Program Evaluation
• Program Management
• Leadership
• Research
• Policy
• Strategy
• Brainstorm Facilitation
• Editing
• Community Development
• International Development
• Capacity Building
• Public Policy