Ceasar L. McDowell is a Professor of the Practice of Civic Design at MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning. His current work is the design of inclusive democratic processes capable of supporting beloved, just, and equitable communities that can – as his friend Carl Moore says – “peacefully struggle with traditions that bind and the interests that separate in order to build a future that is an equitable improvement on the past.”
McDowell is founder of MIT’s CoLab and Civic Designers consulting and co-hosts the MIT’s WeWhoEngage, a podcast series on civic design. He recently served as Associate Department Head for Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Associate Director of MIT’s Center for Constructive Communications. and co-chair of the Masters and City Planning Program. He has also been Director of the global civic engagement organization Dropping Knowledge International, President of Interaction Institute for Social Change, co-founder of The Civil Rights Forum on Telecommunications Policy, and founding Board member of The Algebra Project.