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NADIA ROUMANI
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Papers, Articles, and Toolkits

Design and Strategy Articles
  • Integrative Design: How social sector organizations can integrate human-centered, systems minded, strategy-aligned, and equity-driven approaches for greater impact, with Thomas Both and Susie Chang. Stanford d.school (April 2022)
  • Equity Practice in Design: An update from the Designing for Social Systems program, with Thomas Both and Susie Chang. Stanford d.school (April 2022)
  • Integrating Co-designers with Lived Experience: Reflections on DSS Design Education Efforts, with Natasha Bach, Thomas Both and Susie Chang. Stanford d.school (April 2022)
  • Unlocking the Power of Design for the Social Sector, Stanford d.school (Summer 2020)
  • Designing Engaging In-Person and Remote Meetings, Stanford d.school (Summer 2020)
  • Social Impact by Design, Book Review of Design Thinking for the Greater Good, Nadia Roumani, Stanford Social Innovation Review (Winter 2018)
  • Design Thinking as a Turnaround Tool, Kriss Deiglmeier, Nadia Roumani, & Amanda Greco, Stanford Social Innovation Review (July 2017)
  • Human-Centered, Systems-Minded Design, Thomas Both, Stanford Social Innovation Review (March 2018)
  • August 2017 Designing for Social Systems Workshop Summary, Nadia Roumani (January 2018)
  • Problem Solving, Human-Centered Design, and Strategic Processes, Paul Brest, Nadia Roumani, and Jason Bade​
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Philanthropy Articles and Toolkits
  • Donor Stories: Centering Equity. Stories of nine donors who are centering equity in different ways.  Curated the stories with Ayushi Vig and Time to Act Committee Members. October 2021
  • Best Practices Snapshot: Learning from Donor Support Organizations' Equity-Centered Shifts Post 2020, with Ayushi Vig and The Time to Act Advisory Committee. August 2021.
  • Schwab Charitable Giving Guide for individual donors and their families.  Developed in partnership with Schwab Charitable team.  March 2021.
  • Schwab Charitable Fundraising Toolkit for Charities.  Developed in partnership with Schwab Charitable team. August 2021
  • How Can Philanthropy Rehabilitate U.S. Democracy, with Ayushi Vig,  Rob Reich, and Mohit Mookim. Stanford Social Innovation Review. January 2021
  • Democratizing Family Philanthropy: Shifting Practice to Share Power, with Ayushi Vig,  Rob Reich, and Mohit Mookim. National Center for Family Philanthropy. December 2020
  • Wealth Advisors Philanthropy Toolkit, Nadia Roumani, Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society Effective Philanthropy Learning Initiative, Winter 2019
  • Helping High Net Worth Individuals Give with Greater Impact: Exploring a Marketplace of Philanthropic Offerings and Emerging Philanthropic Collaborative Pooled Funds, Nadia Roumani, a project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Rockefeller Foundation, December 2019
  • Helping wealth advisors increase philanthropic impact for high net worth clients, Nadia Roumani, Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society Effective Philanthropy Learning Initiative, Summer 2018
  • Designing for Philanthropy Impact: The Giving Compass, Nadia Roumani and Julie Aleman, Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society Effective Philanthropy Learning Initiative, Summer 2018
  • Think Like a Designer for Greater Impact in Philanthropy, Exponent Philanthropy PhilanthroFiles Blog, September 2015
  • ​Design Thinking and Strategic Philanthropy - Raikes Foundation Case Study, Nadia Roumani, Paul Brest and Olivia Vagelos
  • Time for U.S. Foundations to Engage with the Arab Region, Moukhtar Kocache and Nadia Roumani, Alliance December 2011
  • U.S. Foundations Funding in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region, Molly Schultz Hafid, Nadia Roumani, & Archana Sahgal, Takaful, First Annual Conference on Arab Philanthropy and Civic Engagement. American University in Cairo, 2011
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Additional Publications:
  • ​Building Capacity and Developing Leadership among American Muslims and Their Organizations with Brie Loskota, Brookings Institution August 2011.

Podcasts & Webinars

Schwab Charitable's Giving with Impact Podcast

Season 4 Episode 4
Exploring Philanthropic Approaches: Trust-based and Strategic Giving
​Featuring Nadia Roumani and Philip Li of the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation

Since the late 1990's, the philanthropic sector has been focused on data- and results-driven approaches, often referred to under the umbrella of "strategic philanthropy." It can be argued that this thinking has strengthened the field of philanthropy in many ways, helping to bring greater rigor and focus to the hundreds of billions of dollars in annual charitable giving. At the same time, some have argued that an unexpected outcome of these practices is a distancing between donors and those grantees who are doing the work of effectively addressing issue areas, lessening their voice, and reinforcing systemic inequities. These critiques have led to the emergence of the movement known as trust-based philanthropy. At its core, trust-based philanthropy is about redistributing power—systemically, organizationally, and interpersonally—in service of a healthier and more equitable nonprofit sector. So, as a donor, how do you reconcile these two approaches? What does each mean for giving strategies? And are they really as disparate as some would believe?


​Stanford Social Innovation Review Webinars

Designing Thinking for the Social Sector (III), 2019, Stanford Social Innovation Review
​Integrating Design Thinking in Strategic Planning, October 1, 2019

Design thinking provides powerful methodology, mindsets, and tools to take on social sector work in more creative, effective, and human-centered ways. The exploratory nature of the design thinking method allows for the discovery of important insights at the people, program, and systems levels, and can lead to more effective solutions and programs. In Part I, we will showcase how design thinking and strategic planning can be linked, leading to a more manageable and tangible use of design thinking. Social sector leaders seeking to adopt innovative methods to tackle problems must do so while navigating resource and time constraints. While the design approach is exploratory, we provide the structure to learn, discover, and experiment with intention.

Strategy, alongside the design approach, keeps goals and pressing questions in view while applying creative thinking to project work. Using a case study, and working within a guiding framework, you will learn how to link design and strategy, and approaches to implement both. We will introduce a theory of change framework that clarifies an organization’s current logic and vision, and illuminates existing questions and assumptions. These questions and assumptions help you frame your design work and launch a design thinking approach. We will then show you how to craft a ‘design expedition,’ which helps you identify what you are looking to learn, scope the process for gathering the information, and carry out the work. Expeditions are intended to be discovery focused, but simultaneously time-bound, allowing individuals and teams to integrate deep insights into their work while continuing to adhere to a traditional project timeline.

People, Programs and Systems, October 8, 2019

Rarely does an organization receive a blank check and unlimited time to explore a challenge and discover new opportunities. Instead, overworked and under-resourced teams are asked to be innovative, but not given the resources to do so. In Part II, we will tackle the most common issues and obstacles of using design thinking, specific to the social sector. Design thinking is action-oriented, deeply human, and experimental; this method can help us create interventions that serve people better and create more effective change in the world. While many design thinking approaches are thought of as natural human behaviors , they can sometimes run counter to current norms and practices in social sector organizations. And knowing when, how, and which methods to apply can be a challenge in itself. Using real world examples, we will discuss common obstacles and questions to using design thinking, and ways to overcome them, including:
  • How can I integrate this into my and my team’s work, when we have such limited time and resources dedicated to exploratory work?
  • How do I share unfinished work and the overall approach with other teams in an organization that does not have a culture of change and exploration?
  • How do we help teams that have been working for years in a massive bureaucracy to believe that their creativity and efforts matter and can have an impact?
  • How do you manage and track a design project? How can we report on a design approach in the same way we track our project delivery programs?

Designing Thinking for the Social Sector (II), 2017, Stanford Social Innovation Review

Design Thinking for Social Change (I), 2015, Stanford Social Innovation
Design Thinking to Solve Social Problems with Nadia Roumani​
Design Thinking to Drive Organizational Strategy with Nadia Roumani and Paul Brest


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